Summary: After the car accident, Blaire discovers things about herself that really begin to frighten her, but on their quest to stop the yellow-eyed demon, the Winchesters realise they have to be stronger than ever before. Please R&R.

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or its characters. I only own Blaire Winchester. I don't own some of the lines used either.

A/N: Damn, it's been a while since I updated this. I can't seem to get out of this episode, but I don't care since it's one of my favourites. I'm so close to the end now, but I reckon we could go into the forties with the chapters, maybe further.

Hope you enjoy! Please leave a review! I'd love to know what you guys think of the series since my hits tell me a lot of you read it. If you wanna submit any ideas or things you'd like to see for the upcoming stories, please feel free to! Also, this entire series is going to a friend and I desperately need an artist for it! There are details on my profile and my deviantart profile!

Enough of my ranting now and ENJOY! Thanks for all the support so far, especially Carver Edlund, luckypixi and Lily Luna Snape Riddle who continues to provide amazing support for the upcoming stories in the series!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Paths We Tread: Facing Our Truth

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Right, we didn't see this one ourselves either," Sam began to explain, "We kinda put it together from the evidence, but this guy he was a..."

"He was a research scientist." Blaire almost snarled, "Animal testing. The bastard."

Blaire had always hated animal testing which was why she didn't have many make-up, skin and hair products. The ones she used weren't tested on animals and in some towns they were quite hard to find, which meant that sometimes Blaire had to go against her value which her brothers knew she would carry considerable guilt for. She took a swig of her beer and Dean continued.

"Yeah, y'know, a dick. Which fits the pattern." Dean said, "The cops didn't release a cause of death because they had no clue of what the cause was.."

"So," Sam sighed, "We checked it out ourselves."

The window into the mortuary was opened by Sam's skill with a knife, and he edged Blaire forward gently. He was mindful of her back since it had been giving her a few problems lately, and also, he and Dean were being really wary because of her headaches she'd been getting recently.

"Ladies first." Dean whispered, he and Sam helping Blaire lower into the room before throwing her their torches and following her, closing the window behind them.

They went to find the body, Dean opening a hatch and shining his torch inside.

"Well, this ought to be quick." He said, sounding a little pissed which didn't surprise Blaire.

He'd been a bit pissed for a while with all that had gone on recently, and of course, he'd yelled at her earlier that day for complaining about her back. Sam had really laid into him for that and he'd apologised but she knew he was a ticking time bomb so she knew to be careful. After getting the remains onto the table, Dean pulled back the sheet covering them to reveal the lower part of two severed legs. Blaire gagged while Sam looked away and Dean turned from it completely.

"Okay, that is just nasty..." He said, Blaire nodding and keeping her mouth covered.

"Beautiful." She whispered, pulling her scented mask out from her pocket and placing it on.

She moved towards the remains and inspected them closely, her brothers trying not to gag at the sight of the remains. They were proud of her damn courage. They weren't brave enough to go near them, yet here Blaire was, diving straight in there like she was on CSI or something.

"Alright, definite mutilation." She began, "Whatever this thing was, it was hungry. They identify him yet?"

"Yeah, a research scientist at the college." Sam revealed, "Guess where his office was, by the way? Crawford Hall, same as the professor."

"Ooh, interesting..." Blaire said, patting Sam's shoulder, "Good work. I need to get a closer look."

"Why?" Dean asked, Blaire taking a small knife from her pocket and poking around the mangled flesh which made her brothers gag, "Crawford Hall's right where the frat boy had his close encounter."

"Yup." Blaire whispered, "God, it's like minced meat...Something really laid into him...Hey, grab me that magnifier, would you?"

Sam shared looks with Dean and the older Winchester shrugged, going to get what Blaire needed. She and Sam were the best with the forensic area, but Sam was more squeamish than Blaire was. She'd always had a strong stomach, and that combined with her knowledge of the human anatomy made inspecting bodies one of her biggest strengths. He grabbed the magnifier and rolled it towards her, turning on the light while she had a look.

"Huh." She huffed has she spotted something.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"Looks like..." Blaire began, a look of confusion crossing her beautiful features, "A belly scale?"

"A belly scale?" Dean asked, "From what?"

"Uh..." Blaire replied, "An alligator?"

"An alligator in the sewer?" Sam asked.

"Come on." Dean said incredulously.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Dean, it's a classic urban legend." Blaire told her older brother.

"Kid flushes baby gator down the toilet and it grows huge in the tunnels." Sam added.

"Yeah, but no-one's really found one." Dean said, "They're not real."

"Neither is alien abduction, wise ass," Blaire pointed out, "But let me tell you, something really went to town chomping on this guy."

"This couldn't get any weirder." Dean breathed.

"We should get some help." Sam suggested, "I'll call Bobby. Maybe he's run into something like this."

Oh, how Blaire would love to see Bobby again. She loved that man like he was her father and maybe he could sort the two idjits she had for brothers out, and maybe they could finally solve this case. She wondered if maybe she'd get to see Jay again while they were still here.

"Oh, I'm sure he has." Dean began, "Just your typical haunted-campus, alien-abduction, alligator-in-the-sewer gig. Yeah it's simple."

"Hey, don't you doubt Bobby's knowledge, okay?" Blaire snapped, "You have no idea what that man's been against before."

Hurt flashed across her eyes for a moment and Dean and Sam saw it. Dean went to apologise but Blaire held up her hand to stop him and he decided to let her speak.

"I'm sorry." She sighed, "I shouldn't have snapped at you. But, please don't doubt Bobby's knowledge on this kinda thing. He's the most experienced hunter I know, and he'll probably have some way of helping us with this."

The others nodded and watched as Blaire gained control of herself while they started to clean up the room.

"We decided to search the sewer anyway." Sam said, "So we split up. Dean and I each took one end of campus."

"And Blaire?" Bobby asked, the brothers sharing looks with each other while Blaire bowed her head.

"Uh...we kinda upset her..." Sam began, "And she wouldn't come with us."

"What do you mean?" Bobby asked.

Really, the Winchester siblings were trying his patience some that day. He'd never heard anything like the bickering that was going on between them, and he suspected that Dean and Sam had ganged up on Blaire about something. When they were kids, John used to tell him stories about how Dean and Sam would team up against Blaire.

John and Bobby both knew why.

It was because she was by far the strongest and most mature out of all three of them, and the threat of her being the strongest made Sam and Dean a little wary. They never meant to gang up on her, it would just happen, then she'd get upset or pissed and the boys would hate themselves until they managed to make it up to her.

"They said that because of my headaches, I was a liability." Blaire said, Bobby gasping and raising his eyebrows at the other two.

"No, we didn't." Dean denied, Blaire beginning to pat her knees out of frustration.

"You did in effect, Dean." She replied, "You did. You said that I wasn't safe to come with you guys because if I had a headache no-one would be able to come to me. And when I suggested I team up with one of you, you denied me that opportunity because apparently searching the sewers and carrying dead weight is too hard for you."

There was silence and Dean and Sam knew that Bobby was glaring at them. They were supposed to be treating Blaire with more responsibility and the older hunter would be kind of mad at them for not including her in that part of the hunt.

"However, Blaire spent the entire day researching," Sam said, trying to make her feel better, "Despite her headaches, and even though she found nothing to help, that didn't matter. She'd put a damn load of effort in and had made herself really sick in the process."

Bobby nodded and looked to Blaire who sighed and rubbed her temples, before he turned his attention back to the boys.

"Did you find anything?" He asked, moving a little closer to the brothers.

"Yeah, I found something, just not in the sewer." Dean replied, Blaire groaning and rolling her eyes which alerted Bobby to the fact that what he was about to hear was going to piss him off greatly.

Blaire and Sam sat in silence, Blaire incredibly pissed that she'd found her computer broken too. Now they were stuck to researching from books and it certainly wasn't as quick or as fun as the internet. The two shared soft smiles, Blaire holding her hand out to Sam who took it gently and rubbed it.

"You know I forgave you as soon as I saw you after the exorcism." She whispered, "You don't have to keep trying to make things up to me, sweetie, okay?"

"Okay." Sam replied, kissing his sister's hand, "I love you, Blaire. You know that, don't you."

"I know that, darlin'." Blaire said sweetly, "And I love you too, okay? Never ever forget that."

"You think this is funny?"

Both siblings turned around at the sound of Dean's angry voice. Great. Another melodrama for the day. How wonderful.

"What's up your ass?" Blaire asked, Dean glaring at her, "Do we think what's funny?"

"'What?'" He mocked, "The car!"

"What about the car?" Sam asked.

"You can't let air out of the tires!" Dean yelled, "You're gonna bend the rims!"

"Hey, jerk, we didn't let the air out of your stupid tires, okay?" Blaire snapped, "We didn't go near your stupid fucking car!"

"Oh, yeah?" Dean asked, "Then how'd I find this?"

He pulled out Sam's stash of money and Sam looked totally confused. Blaire had spent the whole morning with Sam and neither of them had left the motel room. The youngest Winchester stood up and held his hand out to his brother.

"Hey, give me back my money."

"Oh, no." Dean huffed, "No. Consider it reparations for emotional trauma."

"Dean just give him back the damn..." Blaire began, crying out as sharp pain shot through her head, "Ow!"

It was enough to blind her and reduce her to sobs immediately, and forgetting their petty squabbling, Dean and Sam ran to her, holding onto her gently as she gripped her head.

"Okay, easy, Blaire..." Dean said in the quietest voice he could, "Shhh, we're gonna get you heat pack, alright?"

Sam closed the curtains in the room and Dean helped Blaire to bed, the two brothers rushing around to get her heat pack and to tuck her into bed. Dean sat by her and stroked her head as she cried into the pillows and he continued to do so until she fell asleep.

"Okay, I've heard enough." Bobby sighed, staring at the brothers with his hands on his hips.

He was about to give them a good lecture, and of course some would be directed at Blaire, but not a lot of it. Why was she the good one out of the trio? Why couldn't it be Dean who was supposed to set the example?

"Anyway, you showed up about two hours after that." Dean said.

"I'm surprised at you three." Bobby began, "I really am, especially you boys."

Each Winchester bowed their heads and Bobby felt like he was scolding three children rather than three adults.

"Sam, Blaire, first off, Dean did not steal your computers." He said, Sam going to interrupt only for Bobby to shush him, "And Dean, Sam and Blaire did not touch your car."

He looked to Blaire and went to stand by her side, rubbing her back gently.

"Sam and Dean, Blaire is not a liability because she's been suffering with some headaches recently." He said, "You know better than to make her feel like this, and to leave her out of the hunt because of a couple of migraines. She's not here to be peace-keeper between you idjits, and she's certainly not here to stay home and do the research while you two are doing the job she's probably the best at out of all three of you."

He watched the looks of realisation wash over the boys' faces and he sighed again. God, this day was tiring him out.

"And if you all bothered to pull your heads out of your asses, it all would've been pretty clear." He finished, Blaire smiling at the other two.

"Told you not to doubt him, didn't I." She said, "See, Bobby, I knew you'd know what we were dealing with."

"And Blaire, do you know what we're dealing with?" Dean asked, Blaire smiling smugly at him.

"It kinda hit me when we've gone back through everything that we're dealing with a Trickster."

"Well done, Blaire." Bobby said, "Hallelujah, someone's got it! But, I gotta tell you, you guys were the biggest clue."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"These things create chaos and mischief as easy as breathing." Bobby said, Blaire realising what had been going on.

"And it's got us so turned around and at each other's throats that we can't even think straight." She sighed, Bobby nodding in response, "Damnit!"

"The laptops." Sam breathed.

"The tires." Dean added.

"It knows you're on to it." Bobby said, "And it's been playing you like fiddles."

"So, what is it?" Dean asked, "Spirit, demon? What?"

"It's kinda like a demigod." Blaire said, "There's Loki in Scandinavia."

"There's Anansi in West Africa." Bobby added, "Dozens of 'em."

"How the hell do you know all this?" Dean asked Blaire, who sat playing with her hair and biting her lip.

He didn't know his sister knew so much. Perhaps it was down to the many times she'd spent with Bobby before, especially when she'd run away from the family. She used to do it a lot in her late teen years. Once she'd learned how to hot wire a car she knew she could leave whenever she wanted. No wonder she was so damn clever if she'd gone and spent several days with Bobby at a time.

"It's all down to Bobby." Blaire explained, "Demigods are immortal. They can create things out of thin...air..."

Everyone watched as she stopped for a moment, and horror, realisation and sadness washed over her all at once. It was Jay. The Trickster was Jay. She'd fucked the damn Trickster.

"Oh, my God..." She gasped, covering her mouth, "It's...It's Jay..."

The others took in how sad she looked all of a sudden and it wasn't a shock to them when she became a little tearful. She didn't cry but her eyes filled up a little. She'd become quite attached to that little janitor, so the others knew it had to be a little tough for her to handle.

"You win some, you lose some, kiddo." Bobby whispered, "I'm sorry, honey, it's just the way things go sometimes."

"Yeah." Blaire replied, "Well...you want me to double check the theory? I can bed him again."

"Blaire, we're not gonna make you screw the damn thing we're hunting." Dean sighed, Blaire shaking her head.

"Hey, this guy's the first one I've been with since Ash." She laughed, "I got my needs, and anyway, a little piece of action ain't gonna kill me is it?"

"Maybe with a Trickster." Sam said, Blaire shaking her head.

"He hasn't got a clue that I know what he is, he thinks I'm just into him." She whispered, "Let me handle it."

Sam, Dean and Bobby watched as she marched into the bathroom and they knew that this was just a cover for her to have one last day with the guy before they ganked him. Or at least tried to.

"Mmm..." Blaire hummed as Jay turned her onto her back, kissing her gently and leaning into her neck, "Damn..."

He pulled out of her and took her into his embrace, holding her close and pressing tender kisses to her face and hair. She bit her lip, wanting to know if he genuinely liked her or if really, he saw her as a target.

"Jay...?"

"Yeah, Blaire?"

"Do you actually like me?" Blaire asked, "Or am I just another screw to you?"

The Trickster looked down at her and gazed right into her eyes with utter sincerity resting in those beautiful golden orbs.

"You're the most beautiful and amazing woman I've ever met." He said softly, "I'm just sorry you'll be leaving town soon."

"So am I." Blaire replied, kissing his lips deeply, "What time do you want me to leave?"

"Blaire, you're staying all night." He said quietly, "If this is our final day together for God only knows how long, then I'm asking you to stay with me. We can stay in bed or I can order food in?"

"Bed sounds wonderful." Blaire whispered, holding onto Jay and kissing his chest that was still clammy from the sex they'd just had, "You're amazing, Jay."

"So are you, Blaire." Jay replied, "So are you."

The next day, Dean, Sam and Blaire returned to the building for Jay to show them around, and the boys had noticed a certain glow about Blaire all morning. They wondered what the hell was up with her to make her so happy.

"Sorry I'm dragging a little ass today, guys." Jay began as he led the others up the stairs, "I had quite the night last night."

He turned to the brothers with a smirk that made Blaire's legs go weak.

"Lots of sex," He said, "If you catch my drift."

He winked at Blaire which earned her slight surprised looks from her brothers. She blushed and shrugged, following Jay up the stairs.

"Yeah, hard not to." Dean said, "Listen, we won't be long, we just need to check a couple offices up on three."

"No problem." Jay replied.

"Oh, damn." Sam said, "I forgot something in the truck. You know what? I'll catch up with you guys."

"Okay." Dean said, he and Blaire following Jay up the stairs.

Blaire took every glance she could at Jay's gorgeous butt while she still had the chance to. She hoped Sam could do his job properly and that if they found a way to kill the Trickster that it wouldn't be too painful.

She couldn't do it to Jay.

-TBC-

Hope you enjoyed!

Thanks for reading so far!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx