Chapter 6
Ever since Alistair had announced that the students of his defence class, Sam had taken to watching all of her opponents, including her friends. They (Crowley and Balthazar) knew that she was watching them, seeing their different styles, learning how they moved. Balthazar and Crowley had a chance against each other, indeed, most of their class, but they knew that they had no chance whatsoever against Sam. Crowley and Balthazar, along with Anna, had all started their weapons training when they turned ten; Sam had started magic and weapons two years before them, and Adam had started four. They knew that she would hand their asses, along with everybody else, to them within minutes. The ones they weren't too certain on was the 'new recruits'; Jensen and Richard both goofed around, but so did Balthazar, and he was pretty fierce with his weapons, especially his swords. Matt, Misha and Mark all kept their past pretty close to the chest, telling them only generic stuff, nothing concrete.
What was also strange was the fact that the five of them had been disappearing after classes each day for a week. Sam told them that it was only natural; they had been there a week and therefore didn't exactly need her anymore. When they heard this, Balthazar cornered them one night a week later.
"Look, I know that the six of us only met less than a two weeks ago, but after what you said last week, I honestly thought that you guys were going to help Sam get over her little problem of her self-confidence. I feel as if that girl is like another sister to me, and if you honestly think I'm going to let you five jackasses hurt her, then we may as well have a duel right here and now."
"Even though against five experienced warlocks you'd loose within five minutes; a minute each?" Matt asked and Balthazar nodded his head with conviction.
"I may act like a hedonistic goof off nine tenths of the time, but when it comes to family I'd take on Merlin himself." Balthazar said and, though he meant what he said, he couldn't help but feel nervous about the looks the five men were giving him.
"That's good to know; what we've been working on the last two weeks is something that will just so happen to help Sam and even Adam if you're so inclined." Richard said
"If I'm so inclined? What the hell have I got to do with anything you five cook up?" Balthazar asked the five as Mark and Richard moved to either side of him.
"Tell me, I've seen the way you look at Adam; are those the suspicious glances of a man who is looking out for his little sister, or the leers of a man who sees another man for how attractive he really is, and daydreams about how said man would look sitting on his cock?" Mark asked
"That is possibly one of the dumbest things I have ever heard; Adam may be an attractive man, but I know he and Anna are truly in love and I would never do anything to hurt her!" Balthazar all but shouted at them.
"What about a threesome between them and you?" Jensen asked innocently
"You sick son of a - !" The next thing Balthazar knew, a potion was thrown and most of it landed in his mouth. He started coughing violently, trying to get the awful taste out of his mouth when he felt Mark and Richard grab his arms and pull him into the empty classroom they had been working in (which just so happened to be Ruby's classroom). Finally, the coughing ceased, and he felt as if a dark cloud had been lifted from his mind.
"Brother? Are you alright?" Misha, no, that wasn't his name, not his true name, asked him.
"Cassie? Wha-, what the bloody hell is going on? The last I heard, you were in America, and had just been sealed away by that Campbell bitch." Balthazar then found himself with an armful of Castiel.
"Michael! It worked!"
"Welcome back cousin; it's been a long time." Rich- Gabriel said as he hugged his younger, though taller, cousin.
"Quite a long time if these memories are correct."
"Then that means the memories are merging; not one taking over the other?" Mar- Lucifer asked him and Balthazar nodded.
"I'll be able to still act like Sam's friend without anyone getting suspicious, which will allow you to get Anna and Crowley and help them remember as well."
"Good, I want you to do another job as well; I want you to feel around in your house, find out what each persons core is and who we can corrupt. You will also take a more active role in defending Sam from Walker and Masters; if either Adam or Sam get suspicious, you are to tell them that after six years of watching her get picked on, four of which you spent as her friend, you got fed up and decided to actually do something about it, which would be a half truth anyways. We are still too weak to actually do anything, so you, and Crowley once we get him back, will have to act as her bodyguards until we can. Also, making more of the potion will only take a day or two at the most; who should be next, Anna or Crowley?" Michael asked his cousin. Balthazar thought about it for a moment, and though he wanted his sister back mentally as well as physically, he replied
"Crowley; Anna is strong, but Crowley is older, stronger, and has the ability to manipulate dreams, which will help you get Sam. But we mustn't take too long in reminding Anna where her loyalties lie; she does have Sam's ear, and will listen to her advice. But, what are we going to do about Robert Singer? His influence on Sam is even more potent than Anna's, but if you kill him, then she will never forgive you, and she probably could succeed where her ancestor failed and kill you, with the help of Adam; he's almost as smart and strong as Sam, though he is faster, so you basically have Samantha Campbell times two." Balthazar pointed out, and many silently cursed themselves; that particular man was no fool and no child; he was indeed a powerful sorcerer, and one that could lead Sam and even Adam away from them if he thought they were a threat.
"We'll have to keep him preoccupied with something else; something that will keep his attention away from us and away from Sam." Dean remarked and they all nodded.
"You know, this might sound crazy, but Crowley may be the answer to that one as well." Gabriel suggested and the others stared at him for a moment before Castiel said
"You think that he would potentially jeopardize his job for a student?"
"If Crowley plays his cards right and really lays it on? Yes."
"It could potentially work." Lucifer said.
"I seem to remember I got Crowley to confess to me last year that he actually did have a crush on Bobby; it may not have to be that much of an act." Balthazar told them and they nodded.
"Then I believe it will work; in the old days, when he was faking it, Crowley could get nine out of ten people to do whatever he wanted. Imagine what he could do if he was actually sincere?" Lucifer pointed out with a smirk and again they nodded.
"Very well then; Crowley will take care of Bobby while subtly corrupting Sam in her dreams, Anna will corrupt her while she is awake, you will handle Masters and Walker, and both you and Anna will take care of Adam; everyone is to keep an eye on their mark while making sure that the others are in no danger of losing theirs. We've all waited too long for this; I for one am not going back in that infernal book." Michael recapped with a snarl and they all nodded.
"By the way, before we depart for the night; you might wanna take a look in Sam's file; there is something in her past that causes her trouble from time to time, but she wont talk about it." Balthazar said and the five wondered what it was that he was talking about; sure, Sam didn't let a lot of people near her, but they thought that was a result of the bullying. Now that they thought about it though, that didn't explain why she was sometimes jumpy around the adult males; bullied children sometimes would seek comfort and help from the adults, hoping that someone even bigger than their bully can make it stop (A/N: speaking from personal experience here, not sure if it's the same for everyone). But it was late now, and they did need their sleep, though in the morning, they would have to reassure Sam that they had not abandoned her; only made her a little safer.
Next Day, in Transfiguration
"Sammy, Balthazar told us last night that our absence had troubled you. We wanted to reassure you that we have not abandoned you, we simply wanted to make sure we were caught up on everything our parents didn't teach us. We would have asked you for help, but we knew you had your own homework to do." Jensen told her as they sat down around her, making sure they left a spot for Adam to sit next to her and Anna next to him.
"That's alright; though between the ten of us, you probably could have seen that there was little that you were behind in. Piece of advice though? Don't fuck around in Bobby's class." Bobby had been ill the last two weeks and they had had a supply in, so the five had not yet met Bobby, but had been informed about him by Lilith, who was currently going through the files and some old friends to find out what had happened to Sam when she was a child. At the moment however, Bobby had just come through the door, and they noticed that Crowley did seem a bit eager at this, perhaps Balthazar was right after all.
"Alright you idjits, vacations over; I see that that idjit they got to replace me taught you stuff every second year should know. At least any second year that I taught. But now you're all going back to where we left off; changing your element into the next step, and for those of you feeling bold, changing your elements controller into its next step. You five new kids, what are your elements?" Bobby asked and they all replied
"Metal." Jensen answered and Bobby gave him a small sheet of metal.
"Wood." Misha said and was given a small log.
"Earth." Richard answered and was given a plate with a handful of soil on it.
"Water." Matt replied and was given a small dish of water in it.
"Fire." Mark said and Bobby carefully handed him a ball of fire. Richard managed to turn his earth into metal, Jensen was having difficulty changing his metal into water, Matt easily changed his water into a small banzai tree, Misha, after a couple of tries, managed to set his log on fire, and Mark transformed his fire into earth without scorching his desk. He then noticed that Sam seemed to be having some difficulty with it.
"If I may, you are never going to get it at this rate; you are thinking about it too complexly. Try thinking of the ways fire and earth are similar."
"Like how?" Sam asked while keeping her fireball in the air.
"They are both forces of nature; they are both terribly destructive, yet we are unable to live without them. If we did not have earth, then we would have no food as the trees would have nothing to live off of. If we did not have fire, then we would freeze to death during winter. Also, refer back to the Earth herself; she gives birth to the trees, but can easily destroy them should she ever wrench open her mouth and swallow them. As for fire, the heat from the sun gives them life but it is a delicate balance; too little fire, the tree will wither and die, and too much fire will cause it to burn and die. You must understand the balance and go from their; use just enough fire to return it to the second step of creation, first their was water, then there was earth." Mark told her and to Sam, it finally made sense. She focused, envisioned how much heat was necessary to turn a tree into ash which would become soil or perhaps fertilizer for the next tree that grew in its place. As she envisioned it, the fire burned brightly before becoming ash, though there were still a few scorch marks on her desk.
"I did it!" Sam said excitedly with a smile and Mark needed a moment to catch his breath, for she was breath taking when she smiled, though he knew she would probably look a lot better if she didn't wear that dark make up that made her look so pale.
"Very well done, and don't worry about those scorch marks; practice will eventually make them fade, as do all marks with time." Mark said and he noticed Sam's smile became a little dimmer at that remark.
"So, when do you think the first match in Alistair's class will be and who will it be against?" Crowley asked them, having managed to change his element into it's next stage, but not feeling bold enough just yet to try his controlling element.
"It's tough to say; Alistair is one of the creepiest teachers this school has because of his unexpectedness. Could be an obvious fight like between Sam and Walker in two weeks, or unexpected like between you and Atkins next class." Balthazar remarked and the others all nodded.
"Hey, Balthazar." Adam whispered, hoping to get his attention without alerting the others.
"Yeah? What is it Adam?" Balthazar whispered back.
"I noticed that Masters was eating her eggs today at breakfast, and when you walked by, they blew up in her face. You mind telling me about that?"
"Now Adam, how could I possibly be responsible for exploding eggs? Maybe one of the cooks got fed up with her and set up a small explosion hex in her scrambled eggs." Balthazar suggested with a smirk before returning to the conversation. Adam wasn't fully convinced; not only was Balthazar acting up in his pranking, he was exuding a different aura than the one he had when they first met. This one seemed a bit darker, more cunning, less caring about people's safety, and all around, more cruel. A few days later, he noticed Crowley acting a bit different, and a few days after that Anna was acting strangely as well. If he didn't know just how ridiculous it sounded, he would have searched the castle to see if there were any giant seedpods lying around that were starting to look like him and his friends.