SHOUTOUTS\ANSWERS

FLOAT-ON-CLOUD-9 (ch 1-3): Thanks. I will. Thanks. I'll try to make them a little longer. Glad you think so. Thanks. I will.

DISCLAIMER

Supernatural and BTVS belong to the WB. The Shadow King belongs to Marvel Comics.

As Dean drove down the road, Sam went into his phone's contacts. From the first time he had gotten a cellphone, he had tracked down his Sunnydale friends and had put their numbers in his info list. Of course, calls between them had been few and far in between due to their extracurricular activities, but they always managed to keep in touch and give each other updates, whether from calls or e-mail. Find the number he wanted, Sam pressed the green button. Then, he waited as the phone rang.

"Hello?" a voice asked.

"Hey, Willster," Sam greeted. Dean looked at his brother in surprise. Since when did Sam come up with cutsy nicknames for his friends?

"Sam? Oh, my gosh!" Willow Rosenburg exclaimed. "How are you?" she asked.

"Uh...as good as can be expected," Sam responded.

"Yeah. I remember gettin' the e-mail about your girlfriend. I can't tell you how sorry we all were to hear about that," Willow recalled.

"Thanks," Sam smiled sadly. Then, "Oh, hey. My dad called. He said you guys needed help. What's going on?" he wondered.

"Oh, it's just been chaos in Sunnydale. Earthquakes, storms, lightning, thunder..." Willow trailed off.

"Why's the weather acting so weird?" Sam asked.

"Sammy, a little weather problem doesn't exactly say evil incarnate," Dean stated. Sam smacked him.

"Who was that?" Willow questioned.

"My idiot brother," Sam answered. "Has anything else happened?" he prodded.

"Wait, hold on. Buffy just came in," Willow requested. Sam heard her talking, though he couldn't make out the words. Then, she came back on the line.

"Sam?" Willow queried. Sam's stomach knotted at the sudden gravity in her tone.

"Willow, what's wrong?" Sam asked, even though he wasn't sure he wanted the answer.

"Sam, Buffy just came back from where the high school used to be," Willow told him.

"The high school? Wasn't that where the Hellmouth was located under?" Sam asked, furrowing his brows in concentration.

"Yeah," Willow confirmed.

"So, what's it spewing out?" Sam asked.

"Sam, I---I'm not sure---" Willow stammered.

"Willow, you have never played games with me. Don't start now," Sam interrupted.

"It released him," Willow told him.

"Who?" Sam queried. However, something told him he already knew. Please don't be him. Please don't be him. Pleasse don't be him. Please don't be him, Sam thought frantically. Willow's answer was the last one he wanted to hear.

"The Shadow King," she told him. Sam's face paled, and he dropped the phone onto the floor. Dean quickly picked the phone up.

"Sam?" he heard a female voice asked.

"He'll call you back," he said, then shut the phone off. Dean looked at his brother.

"Whoa. Dude, you okay?" he queried in concern. His only answer was silence. "Sammy?" he continued.

"Floor it," Sam answered. Confused, but mostly worried, Dean did as he was told.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Yeah, I know Buffy and her friends didn't have cellphones in the series, but I just think it makes sense.