Hey loves. I didn't sleep last night, so this happened. Hope you enjoy the insomnia induced writing ^_^ I am halfway through my semester, which means in about 8 weeks I'll be able to start work on the follow-up story to this installment. How exciting is that!?

Is that ending a cliffhanger? I suppose it is...sorry 'bout that =/

My Feathered Scales - Oh my goodness! I can't believe someone marathoned something of mine! Is it weird that I feel like that's a huge achievement for me? Like, I feel all warm and fuzzy, haha. You are such a doll! Thank you so much for that HUGE compliment. My goodness, you just made my entire week. No crying! I promise that I'm dragging them through the mud for good reason and so much good is coming sometime in the sort of near future that this will all be worth it. Deal? =D

Sweetie420 - Awe thank you so much my dear! I promise you I will keep updating, just not on a regular schedule of any kind haha! I have so much planned for this story and then following stories that I hope to keep writing for quite some time =D

Chapter Eight – Chasing Shadows

"I-I need to know about the spell. The one that…that brought me back. I, I'd ask Willow, but..."

Buffy was trying to hide the concern in her voice, but she couldn't hide the concern etched on her face. Tara had been surprised when Buffy had called her, fearing that Willow had gone too far or had gotten herself hurt. While she was relieved that Willow was okay, the distress she found Buffy in was enough to break her heart.

"You think it's you?" Tara asked.

"I don't know. I feel…different. There are things... I-I think, maybe, I came back wrong," Buffy choked on her words, realizing how hard it was to admit it out loud.

Tara tried to speak firmly, but found herself stuttering as she spoke. She hadn't stuttered in years, but she had found herself falling back to her old ways. Ever since she left Willow. "No, Buffy, that's n-not - no. You didn't…"

"Can you check out the spell? Just see if there's something that…Could you just check? Please?" Buffy begged her, her eyes wide.

Tara nodded in agreement. She wasn't even sure where to begin, but she could see that Buffy was desperate, and she needed to help.

ӁӁӁ

"It was here alright," Sam traced the footprint in the mud with his fingers.

Dean nodded in agreement, "yeah, but when?"

"The print looks kinda fresh, the edges are still soft," Sam continued his analysis of the muddy print.

"I dunno, Sammy. Looks old to me. It's probably onto the next town by now."

Sam look up to his brother with a sympathetic expression. If that was true then both brothers knew what that meant. It meant that they were too late. It meant that there was already a list of new victims that they had been unable to reach in time. It meant that they had failed. Again.

"Fuck," Dean ran his fingers through his hair, "I'm getting really tired of always being one town behind this bastard."

"I know, Dean. I'm getting sick of it too, but we'll catch up," Sam said, standing up and dusting the grime off of his hands.

"When? How many more bodies are going to pile up before we find it?"

This was the fifth town that the Winchesters had come to looking for the Suvolte demon that Garth had sent them to take down. So far they hadn't been helpful at all. All they had done was arrive to the location too late. There were victims piling up, and they felt like they were carrying each of those victims with them now. This footprint was the first bit of evidence other than a victim that they had found, and even that gave them nothing to go on other than another sign that it was, indeed, here. There was no rhyme or reason as to who the demon killed, or what direction it traveled in. There was no real way to track something that had no thought process.

"Dean?"

"So now we're stuck waiting until the next death is reported before we can even find a direction to go in," Dean stated, ignoring Sam's interjection.

"Dean…"

"An-and then what? We drive night and day until we get to that town, where we'll probably find a victim list and a missing demon all over again," Dean's rant continued.

"Dean!"

"What!?"

Dean looked at his brother, silently demanding a good reason for him to have interrupted him. Venting may not help him get any closer to this demon, but it sure as hell was making him feel better. He found that Sam wasn't paying any attention to him, but rather looking intensely towards the alley that was to their side. Dean followed Sam's gaze to see a strange shadowy shape partially hidden by the dumpster.

"Well why didn't you say something?" Dean hissed.

Sam shot him an incredulous look before speaking quietly, "is it the Suvolte?"

Dean shook his head, "I can't tell from here. C'mon."

Sam followed closely behind Dean as they dashed across the street, closing in on the alley's mouth. Dean shot his brother a glance and they both pulled their handguns out and hopped into the alley, guns both pointed at the shadowy figure they had seen.

"Oh my god," Sam gasped, shoving his gun back into its holster.

Both brothers knelt down next to the person that they had found leaning against the dumpster, struggling to keep himself on his feet. There was blood pouring from the claw marks on the man's sides, as well as a large bite mark that spanned from his shoulder to his throat. The man gurgled, trying to speak, but no sound would come out as blood spewed from his mouth. He sunk to the ground as the two brothers struggled to stabilize him.

"Sam, we gotta go!"

"What? No, we gotta call for help!"

"This is a Suvolte attack, Sam. It's close. We can't lose it again," Dean tried to reason with his brother.

Sam shook his head, "we'll find this bastard, but we don't abandon victims."

Dean paused a minute before he took off running down the alley way. He didn't disagree with Sam about how to treat victims, but he also knew that any chance to catch this damn demon before he took off again needed to be utilized. They couldn't lose it again. Dean couldn't keep losing this demon. He knew Sam would stay behind, and that was fine. That was good. Sam was right, they didn't abandon victims. Dean knew he could handle this, and a partner would only slow him down. It was time to end this fucking hunt so they could stop adding people to their list of victims. So another demon could be wiped off of this Earth. So he could finally make it to Sunnydale.

He hadn't had much of a chance to call Buffy since Garth had sent them on this chase, and for that Dean felt guilty. The Slayer had been dealing with a lot the last time they spoke, so much so that Dean was ready to drive all the way to see her. All he wanted to do was help her somehow. He still didn't know what he had expected to do for her once he got there, he just knew he had to try. Dean wasn't even entirely sure how long it had been since the two of them talked at this time, which told him that it had been far too long. What made matters worse was that Buffy hadn't called him, either. Somehow Dean knew that his hope that things were going well, and she didn't feel the need to call him, was in vain. He just hoped that things hadn't become too much worse in the meantime. No matter what, he vowed to call her at his first opportunity. Even if it was just to hear her voice.

Right now, however, he needed to focus on finding the Suvolte and putting it down before anything else could happen. As always, no matter how important the other things were, hunts always came first. Dean kept his gun low and out of sight while he ran through the alley, following the blood trail from where the poor bastard had stumbled away from the attack. In the case of Suvolte attacks, survivors didn't happen, so he had to wonder what had allowed that guy to get away from the demon. Dean couldn't think of a single situation that would allow someone to escape. These demons were ruthless and relentless in their attacks, and there wasn't much that outranked them on the food chain, so it probably wasn't another predator that had interrupted the attack.

The further that Dean went, the more impressed he became with the bloodied man they had found. He may have been barely clinging to life, but he had run a good distance if this blood trail was to be believed. Either that, or the Suvolte was dripping blood as he stalked off in the opposite direction. Either way Dean figured that he would eventually come up on the demon. Or at very least the initial attack spot which could give them some vital information. All the time they had spent on this case, and they still had no idea how the demon moved around or where it liked to make it's attacks. It wouldn't be as pleasing to Dean to find that information, but if he couldn't find the bastard then he'd take anything he could get.

Dean was about four blocks over from where he and Sam had seen the survivor when he finally found a pool of blood. The building walls were splattered with a large volume of blood, and the trail did not continue past this point. Obviously this was where the man had been attacked. It may not be the demon, but it was a good place to start. Dean tried to ignore the welling up feeling of defeat, at least long enough to investigate the scene. Now he was wishing that Sam had followed him; Sam was always better at this part than Dean was.

"Alright, you left me something to go on. Just gotta find it," Dean muttered as he holstered his gun.

Dean knelt down at the pool of blood, his finger touching it briefly. It was tacky, but still slightly wet. It was confirmed completely now that this attack was recent. Maybe if they had come from this direction to check out the print they could have stopped it. Damnit. Dean cast his gaze in each direction, hoping to suss out where the demon may have come from, or even where the guy had come from. There was a door next to the dumpster, propped open by a piece of cardboard slid in between the door and the lock. Next to the door was a small pile of cigarette butts, as well as a trash bag that had burst on the ground.

"That answers that question," Dean said, noticing the smear of blood on the door.

"What's that?" Sam asked, joining his brother.

Dean looked over at his brother, blood soaked through his jacket.

"Is he…"

Sam shrugged morosely, "I doubt he'll survive. I waited until I heard the sirens getting close. Figured I should be gone before they got there."

"Good. That you stayed I mean. At least he wasn't alone."

That was Dean's way of apologizing without actually apologizing; that was something Sam had learned over the years. Dean hadn't wanted to leave that guy any more than Sam did, but he was focused on getting this job done. Sam took stock of the location that they were in, immediately understanding that his brother had found where the attack had started.

"Looks like the Suvolte caught the guy as he came out for a smoke and to take out the trash," Sam noted.

Dean nodded, "that's what I figured too. Now if we can figure out where the demon came from we might be able to better pinpoint it next time."

Sam looked around for something that might give them a clue. They weren't far from a fork in the alley, and there were several more doors that lined the alley. He cast his eyes up to the roofs, but they were substantially higher than he had ever seen a Suvolte climb or jump. A downwards glance landed his eyes on a manhole cover. The sewers were likely, but the hole was still covered. Suvolte demons were not known for their intelligence; it wouldn't have thought to replace the lid. That seemed as unlikely as the roof option.

Sam couldn't help but wonder what the demon was even doing this close to the downtown area. Every other stop they had made to hunt for it, all the signs of the Suvolte had been in the woods. Up until now Sam had been sure that the demon liked to hide in the woods, using the shadows and trees as cover. It probably felt comfortable with animals and away from people, rather than close to civilization. They had been, after all, indigenous to the jungles in South America. Here, the forests and wooded areas around small towns were the closest thing to what they were used to. The Suvolte tended to avoid cities, and the busier parts of small towns, so again Sam marvelled at the strangeness of the situation. If he hadn't have seen the victim first hand he may have figured it was a different type of monster, but there was no mistaking a Suvolte attack. They were on the right track, so he kept focused on the task at hand.

"Maybe further down the alley?" Sam asked aloud, even though he was mainly speaking to himself.

Sam wandered down the alley towards the fork. He looked in each direction, but nothing jumped out at him as a possible direction for the demon to have come. It was doubtful that the demon had been wandering the streets searching for it's prey. It may not be intelligent, but it did know better than to tear through the streets.

With his search turning up empty, Sam headed back to his brother. Just behind the dumpster something caught his eye. There was a sewer grate embedded in the bottom two feet of the building and about a foot out from the building in the ground. He may have paid no attention to it if it wasn't for the bars that crossed through the opening. They were bent to the sides and coated with a strange grey-ish black liquid.

"Hey Dean?"

Dean poked his head out from behind the dumpster, "yeah?"

"I think I found it. It is using the sewers after all," Sam pointed to the grate that was hidden behind the dumpster.

Dean came around and stood with his brother, his eyes gleaming at the prospect of finally making some progress on the case.

"Well done, Sammy. Let's go," Dean dropped down through the bent bars.

Sam hesitated slightly. It wasn't for sure that the demon had moved on, and it was likely that they were going to be dropping in on it's lair. The Suvolte demon would always have the advantage against them, but in a small and confined space it would be even dicier for them. Despite his hesitation, Sam knew this was what they had to do. There was no way he was letting this thing get away again if they could catch it now. There was even less chance that he'd let Dean take it on alone. Sam dropped in after his brother.

The brothers both landed with a resounding thud and splash as their boots hit the concrete and the puddles that inhabited the tunnels.

"Ugh, what is that smell?" Dean exclaimed, his face pulled in disgust.

"More than sewer smell, that's for sure," Sam made a similar face as he glanced around. "I think it's him."

Dean looked in the direction that Sam was pointing to find a crumpled body in the corner behind them. The body was well decomposed, but it was obvious that it had once been human, and by the looks of it, food as well.

"That thing was definitely here."

Sam nodded, "recently to attack the guy up top, but long enough to have dumped this guy here. It must stay within a comfort zone or something."

"So if it's still in this town, then it's probably nearby?" Dean asked, eager to get his hands on the demon.

"It seems likely anyways. We should take a look around. Even if it isn't still here, we may find some clues as to how it chooses where it lurks."

This was more information than they had been able to compile in five towns. Sam was thrilled at uncovering this much, and he was eager to find more. Anything that could help them.

"Do you hear that?" Dean paused, eyeing the passageways around them.

Sam too paused to listen, "What is that, a sucking sound?"

"It's definitely not a dripping or running water sound."

"Check it out?" Sam questioned, already knowing the answer.

Dean nodded. Hearing strange noises usually meant that something weird was happening nearby. Weird usually meant supernatural, and right now he was hoping that supernatural meant Suvolte. Finding the source of the noises, however, was going to prove much more difficult than Dean would have liked. The concrete walls of the tunnels that surrounded them created an echo. This echo drew the brother's attention in all directions, and there wasn't enough time for them to investigate the sprawling maze. Somehow they needed to pinpoint the source of the sounds, and Dean knew it needed to be soon.

His time in Purgatory had taught him a lot, but right now it was a lesson he had learned from watching the Slayer that was going to aid them here. Dean shut his eyes and slowed his breathing down. It was quite possible that this only worked for those with Slayer powers, but Dean thought it was worth a try. He knew that Sam must be looking at him quizzically, but there wasn't time to care. He just hoped that he could get a direction to move in. Much to his surprise, it had become much easier to find the direction the noise was coming from. Dean's eyes flew open again, and without a word he headed off towards the tunnel behind them. Sam was hot on his heels, his gun at the ready. They didn't have to run far, as they came around the first corner and came up behind the demon. It didn't notice them as it was too absorbed by the prey that it was eating. The poor girl looked like she hadn't stood a chance.

Without hesitation Sam fired his entire clip into the back of the demon, Dean did the same as soon as Sam's gun fell silent. He was ready to smile in relief that the hunt was over, that was until the demon stood, turning to face the two brothers. They could see straight through the wound tracts, but it looked as though it wasn't even phased by the bullets. Alarm washed over both of them as they fumbled to reload their guns.

The demon was fast though. Faster than the brothers could have expected. It emitted a whining growl before it lurched at them, it's claws slashing through Dean's shirt. He was able to move back just in time so that his shirt was the only casualty in that attack. Sam shot off another two rounds in hopes that he would be able to drive the beast away from their current location. In the brief reprieve that Sam allowed him, Dean was able to reload his gun as well and drive it back even further. The Suvolte howled, but still was not deterred. Dean took this opportunity to dodge and roll past the demon to split it's attention. With a Winchester on either side it was impossible for the demon to take down both of them in one attack, and they may be able to get the upper hand. That was proven to be a fantasy and nothing more, however, as the Suvolte did exactly what Dean hoped it wouldn't.

It ignored Dean and leapt towards Sam. It's strong jaw clamped down on Sam's shoulder with a sickening crunch.

"No, Sam!" Dean yelled as he unloaded the rest of his clip into the back of the demon's head.

The bullets did nothing to halt the vicious attack as Sam struggled to break free. Dean grabbed his blade from his holster and ran at the demon, plunging it deep into it's neck. The Suvolte's armour was much too strong to allow the blade to make it far, but he hoped that he would be able to take it away from Sam. It did exactly what he had hoped, as the demon let go of Sam to howl in pain once more. Dean withdrew the blade and plunged it as deeply as he could again into it's neck. The Suvolte emitted the same whining growl that was a constant indicator of what it truly was: a monster. Both of the brothers readied themselves for another attack, their previous confidence that they could end this long gone. Much to their surprise the Suvolte looked up to the ceiling and then burst through the manhole cover that was above them. It was gone in an instant.

Dean dashed to his brother, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. Could be worse," Sam winced as he spoke. "It's gone, isn't it?"

Dean nodded, "probably off to the next town now. If we go now we might be able to tail it."

Sam buried the pain down and followed his brother out of the tunnels. They had known how vicious and brutal these demons were, but now it was truly driven home.

ӁӁӁ

"I-I've double checked everything. There's nothing wrong with you." Tara assured Buffy.

"Are you sure?" Buffy asked, confused by what Tara was telling her.

"I am. Shifting you out of…f-f-from where you were, funneling your essence back into your body, i-it, it may have altered you on a basic molecular level. But it's all just surfacey physical stuff," Tara tried to be reassuring, but felt like her stutter had hindered that.

"I didn't come back wrong?"

Tara shook her head, "No, you're the same Buffy. I mean…there was something un-unexpected…"

"What? There's a thing? What's the thing?"

Tara shook her head, "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, but there is something…different. There's a p-p-part of you that's…fractured? I can see it when I look at you, but I can't see wha-what's fractured."

"So…I am wrong?" Buffy's shoulders sunk.

Tara was alarmed, "no!" Tara shook her head again, "n-no, you're Buffy, I promise. Maybe the spell Willow used blocked the funneling process from you? So you wouldn't re-remember that part?"

Buffy took a deep breath, fighting back a sob, "maybe?"

Tara gave a small smile, "I'll keep looking into it, okay?"

ӁӁӁ

"How was your birthday?" Dean cradled his phone in his shoulder as pulled the gas nozzle from its hook.

He had wanted to call her on her birthday, but never got the chance. He had wanted to call her plenty of times before and after that as well, but what he wanted and what he got to do were very different things. Price of the life, and all that jazz. The hunt that they had taken on had taken much more time up than they had expected. He figured that the day after her birthday was good enough, and should still get him the brownie points for remembering.

Buffy laughed, "oh ya know, best Buffy bash ever. Full of curses, blood, and near death experiences."

Did she feel like telling him the whole truth? Not really. She didn't want anyone else to know that Dawn had been so miserable that she went to a demon for help. That no one in her house had even noticed how much pain Dawn was in. She didn't want him to know that they had been trapped in the house all night with a demon that had been able to travel through the walls. It was bad enough that she knew she was screwing up as the big sister, but she didn't need Dean to know that too. Dean was an older sibling too, there was a chance that he'd understand completely, but truth be told...she was embarrassed. Buffy knew she should have done better.

So she laughed. She laughed to hide how awful the whole situation had been.

"Geez, you sure know how to have a good time, Slayer," Dean joined in the laughter.

"Still better than my other birthdays, and worlds better than my shifts at the Double-Hell Palace," Buffy sighed as she dropped her stupid hat on the table next to her front door.

"Well you could always start charging people for saving their lives, no more greasy burger shifts that way," Dean was only half-joking.

"Have you been talking to Anya behind my back?" Buffy smirked.

"Who?"

Buffy chuckled, "nevermind. So since you know my birthday, when's yours?"

"Actually, it's in a few days," Dean winced as he returned the gas nozzle to the hook.

He hated his birthday, and over the years it had become just another day. When he was a kid he had always looked forward to his birthday, and every year he was let down. Any hope for a gift, cake, or even just a card had always been in vain. Most years his dad didn't even remember what day it was. By the time Dean had gotten to junior high school he had stopped hoping for much of anything, and by the time he got to high school he had started to forget the day himself. If Buffy hadn't asked about it, he probably would have once again passed it by without even realizing.

"Get out! And you didn't tell me!?" Buffy exclaimed.

"It's nothing really. Just another day that I'm grateful for living to."

That's all his birthday was now, anyways. A marker that he had survived another year. Macabre way to look at it? Probably. Realistic? Definitely. It had been a long time since Dean had cared though. Who did he have to celebrate with anyways? What good was a birthday when all it did was remind you that your days were numbered?

"Oh..."

Buffy was disappointed. She had found herself wishing that Dean could have made it for her birthday, even if it was for an hour. The hope that maybe he'd be able to make it into town for his own had lifted her spirits, but that wasn't going to happen either. He was much too far away to make it here by then. She was going to miss his birthday too. It had meant a lot to her to be able to celebrate something like that together, even if she wasn't sure why, but she would have to let it go. At least for this year.

Dean broke her thoughts by speaking again, "how are things on the hellmouth front?"

"It's actually been kinda quiet around here. I should probably be worried about that, but I'm too busy enjoying it for once."

"Quiet? What's that like? We've been on case after case for weeks now."

She didn't know that Dean had been about four hours from Sunnydale before this rash of cases started. Dean thought about telling her, but didn't want her to think that he was checking in on her. He especially didn't want to disappoint her, if that was the reaction she would give. He would be disappointed enough for the both of them.

The Suvolte demon case had proven to be more difficult than anyone had hoped for. Sam's gaping bite wound had only just started to heal in the last couple of days, and both of them had been sleeping in shifts in the car as they traveled. It had been weeks since they had slept in a real bed, and it was beginning to wear on them both. Dean was getting tired of this chase. He was tired of finding victims and not the demon. It kept pulling them further and further from California. The last sighting had dragged them all the way out to Ohio.

"Rather you than me," she teased.

"Gee thanks. Actually that's why I was calling."

Buffy frowned and feigned offense, "what you didn't actually care about my birthday?"

Dean chuckled, "of course I did! What kinda guy do you take me for?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" She teased.

"Hey now, play nice," Dean smirked.

"Alright, what did ya call for?"

Dean wanted to tell her that he called because he wanted to hear her voice. He wanted to tell her that he called because he missed her. He wanted to tell her that he called because he had been so close to getting to see her again. He wanted to tell her he called because she meant more to him than he could ever wish to express.

Dean didn't get to tell her those things, though.

Instead Dean had to invent a reason, just like he had ever since that first phone call. He was still far too afraid that he would be the cause of the fall of the walls Cas built. So he'd keep those thoughts to himself. For now, at least. Dean would still hope that they could rebuild the relationship they'd had before.

For right now, though, he'd share a story from the stop in Cleveland that he and his brother were just leaving.

"Remember that argument we had about vamps and how to kill them?"

Buffy rolled her eyes, "how could I ever forget?"

Dean had insisted that decapitation was the only way to go and they left behind a corpse. He had laughed at the idea that they could be staked and turned to dust, claiming that it was only a myth. It didn't matter what Buffy had said, Dean refused to believe anything else. It was infuriating. She may not have been in the game quite as long as he had, but she did think herself as something of an expert on vampire killing.

"Well, Sam and I ran into a few like what you described," Dean fiddled with his keys, killing time before he had to start driving again.

"Really? Where?"

"Uh, Cleveland. Found a couple nests of 'em actually. Imagine my surprise when one burst into dust when I took it's head off."

"Did ya try staking a few?"

Dean laughed, "actually yes. You're right. Totally fun. Little dusty…"

"Right!?" Buffy paused, "Hey Dean?"

"Mhm?"

She remained silent for a moment before answering, "it's really good to hear your voice."

Buffy had wanted to say more, but she couldn't put her thoughts into words. How did you explain to someone how much they meant to you, when even you didn't understand it? She was pretty sure he'd think she was nuts if she were to tell him that he was the best part of her day. She had spent no more than fifteen minutes with him once, and that was months ago now. How crazy did it sound that she missed him just as much as she missed Giles? For now, she'd have to be satisfied with saying she was happy to hear from him.

He could hear the sadness in her voice, despite how cheery she had tried to remain throughout the conversation. She was overwhelmed, that much was obvious. Dean wasn't sure if their conversations helped her in anyway, like it did him, but he hoped that it did. He hoped that was what she meant with her comment. He was relieved that she had said what he had been thinking the entire time. Talking to Buffy, hearing her voice, it was like coming home to Dean. Dean, the boy who never really had a home, felt like he had finally found one, even if it was just in phone calls.

Dean smiled, "you too, Buff."

Though his response felt like it wasn't enough. He wished he could put into words what he wanted to say, but that was all that would come out. It would have to do. He just hoped she understood the feelings behind it. He hoped she understood that these phone calls were everything to him.

ӁӁӁ

Buffy sighed as another grubby customer stepped up to her counter.

"Welcome to the Double Meat Palace, how may I help..." she looked up to realize who she was speaking to, "you…."

"Hey."

"Huh?"