chyp: Thanx.

Matthew and Wesley followed James down the stairs, all three making extra care to be as quiet as possible. Wesley inadvertently bumped into Matthew as he tiptoed behind James.

"What is it?" he whispered, annoyed.

"I'm scared," Wesley answered back.

"Some hero you are," James said, not bothering to look back.

"Not now," Matthew cut in. "Let's focus, people!"

The three crept into the living room and found it empty. James and Matthew peeked into the kitchen, with Wesley following close behind. No one was in there. They moved to the dining room, but found it to be empty as well.

"Maybe we were just hearing things," Wesley said faintly. "There's nobody here."

"Could be a burglar," James said.

"In broad daylight?" Matthew countered. "Get real."

"Let's check the…" James began.

Another thud and a long groan cut James off mid-sentence as he and his brothers automatically turned to the source of the sound: the basement. Wesley whined to himself as he followed James and Matthew towards the door. James turned to his younger brothers and nodded. Their eye contact was enough to explain their course of action.

"Freeze," Wesley sighed.

"Hit," Matthew said.

"Move," James finished as he mouthed a countdown. "One…two…three!"

He waved his hand and the door of the basement flew open with excessive force. As they peered through the door, they were surprised to see not a demon or a warlock, but a young boy lying on the ground, just a few feet from the Book of Light.

"This is new," Matthew observed as James checked the boy's pulse. "Homeboy, go get the first-aid kit. He looks really banged up."

"He's still alive," James said as he and Matthew hoisted the unconscious boy up. "Let's get him to the living room."

A few minutes later, Wesley joined his brothers in the living room with a small box full of first-aid supplies. James and Matthew laid him on the couch. Matthew took off his shirt, or what remained of it. They all noticed a large dark red mark on his back.

"What is it?" Wesley asked.

"It looks like a burn mark," Matthew guessed. "Could be where his shirt was burned. There's a huge hole in the shirt."

"Fireball," James and Wesley concluded at the same time.

"I've never seen anything like this before, though," Matthew said, further examining the wound. "It's like he took the full force of it, if it was a fireball."

"The question is," James said, "how did it happen?"

"And how did he get here?" Wesley added.

"He could've been after the Book," James said. "We'd better be careful."

"Who's he gonna hurt?" Wesley asked, pointing to the still unconscious person.

"Let's just focus on helping him," Matthew said.

Matthew took some ointment and gauze from the first-aid kit and began to treat the oversized wound while James held him steady. As Matthew wrapped the area, the boy groaned a little, a sign that he was slowly regaining consciousness. He gradually drifted back to life, his eyelids fluttering open to reveal his deep blue eyes. He looked at James with a confused expression on his face.

"D-d-d…" was all that the boy could say.

"You should save your strength," James advised. "You can take a nap here until you're strong enough to move on your own. My brother'll get you something to drink."

"Me?" Wesley asked innocently as James pointed at him. "You ain't my daddy! Why not Matt?"

"Don't start again," Matthew said, pushing Wesley in the direction of the kitchen. "Just go."

James was about to say something else, but noticed the boy's body go limp again. He slipped back into unconsciousness. James propped his head onto a pillow joined Matthew, who stood halfway between the couch where the boy lay and the swinging kitchen door.

"What do you think he was trying to say?" James asked Matthew.

"I don't know," Matthew answered. "He's really hurt, though. I think he came to us for help."

"Who would do something like this to him?" James asked. "From the looks of it, he just barely made it out alive."

"Alright," Wesley announced, emerging from the kitchen, "I have orange juice, apple juice, grape juice, pineapple juice, cranberry juice, prune juice, I don't know who bought it and how it slipped in, but I guess you need something when nature calls and you don't pick up…"

"Forget the juices," Matthew said, directing Wesley's eyes to the boy. "He's out again."

"Damn," Wesley said. "Any news on the situation?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," James said. "Matt doesn't think he's a threat, that he's here because he needs our help."

"I'd agree with that," Wesley said. "I don't think any demon would take it this far. They seem too proud. So, where do we go from here?"

"We have to wait until he wakes up," James said. "He seems pretty young, though. Tough break."

"I'd guess about fifteen or sixteen," Wesley said.

"Let's go look in the Book," James suggested. "We might get some kind of clue about what's going on."

"Jimmy," Wesley said, "we can't start from scratch like this. If he got hurt from a fireball, that doesn't even narrow down the search at all. Any basic demon can do fireballs. The best thing for us to do is let him rest and just wait until he's up, like you said. I'm gonna go write."

"He's right," Matthew said as the phone rang. "I'll get it."

James looked back at the sleeping boy, noticing something strangely familiar about him. He couldn't quite place the suspicion, but he felt as though he knew this boy, or at least should know him. His nagging suspicions were put on hold as the doorbell sounded.

"I got it," he yelled, heading for the door.

He opened the door halfway and Sam stood on the other side, smiling politely. He quickly glanced back at the passed out boy on the couch and a worried look crossed his face. He compensated the situation by hurriedly stepping outside and closing the door behind him, replacing the look of worry with an oversized smile and an awkward chuckle.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she answered. "I was in the area and decided to stop by. You're not busy, are you?"

"Me? Busy?" James asked, letting loose a loud laugh. "Not really. You know, just the usual weekend stuff."

"Oh," Sam said. "It just seemed like I caught you in the middle of something."

"No," James said, "it's just my…my cousin's just come to town out of the blue without telling anybody, that's all."

He felt very ill at ease trying to weave a lie with Sam. Over the past few months, he and Sam had begun a relationship that actually started with a heated argument at the power company where she worked. Now, their status had changed into a more or less stable dating relationship. James enjoyed what he had with her; it was probably the most normal thing he had in his life anymore. With the constant barrage of demons and the constant bickering with his brothers, nothing seemed normal anymore. At the very least, he just wanted an honest and open relationship with someone. Lying did nothing to help his desire for that.

"That's a big surprise, huh?" Sam said, laughing. "I hope you two are close, otherwise I'd probably be upset, too!"

"We've got it under control," James said. "He's…sleeping…in the living room. That's why I came out here."

"Oh," Sam said. "Sorry about that. Oh, I wanted to tell you that I got two tickets to the symphony tonight. Wanna go?"

"The symphony?" James asked uneasily. "You know how I feel about that kind of stuff."

"Well a friend of mine got them for me," Sam said. "I don't wanna go with anybody else."

"Since you went to all the trouble," James said, "I guess I can put up with it for one night."

"It'll be so much fun!" Sam cried. "Let's meet there at seven. You'll love it!"

"I'm sure I will," James said dryly. "But to compensate, there's a car show in town next weekend. I don't wanna go with anybody else…"

"Touché," Sam responded, changing the subject. "How long is your cousin staying?"

"I don't know," James said. "He pretty much just came in asleep. He's not gonna keep me from you, though."

"Aww," she said, pinching his cheek, "that's sweet."