Oh my goodness. I finished my Business Statistics midterm about 2 hours ago, and the amount of weight lifted off of my shoulders is UNREAL. I mean, I still have another paper kicking my ass, but for now - man I feel better. Which is why you get this! It's a little longer than my usual chapters, mostly to thank you all for sticking around through the sporadic updates. Plus I figured you'd enjoy this ^_^

My Feathered Scales - I'm sorry about the cliffhanger! Really! Hopefully made ya come back though ;-) I only made you wait a week, too!

HolyCowsAndFlyingPigs - So you're saying I should use a cave soon? Check! Haha. I'm glad you've enjoyed the banter, because there is going to be a ton of it in the next installment, and of course still some in this fic. Awe I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I hope this chapter makes up for the cliffhanger!

Sweetie420 - You're such a doll! I hope this chapter delivers just as well!

LoneButterfly05 - Well hello there! This is a new username to see. Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to leave a comment! It means a ton! Ya, I feel ya about the Scoobies. I had some stuff that bothered me too, especially now looking back. I haven't changed much of that just because I didn't wanna alter the canon stuff for BtVS much. I am, however, going to play with it a little in the next installment in the series, make it make more sense and stuff. The plan is most definitely for Buffy and Dean to end up together...though I can't say much about her memories and what happens with them, that'd ruin too much! Haha.

Alex - Haha! Trust me, I have a lot of the same issues with the Scoobies in the last two seasons. I may not alter what happened, but I do plan on addressing it better in the next installment of the series, that I promise! Dean is going to play a HUGE role in a lot of Buffy feeling better and readjusting, and even dealing with some issues that her friends kinda let fall by the wayside. I have so much fun planned, I can't wait to write it all out and share it!

Alright, with that out of the way, on to the chapter! Hope it meets expectations!

Chapter Nine – Call On Me

"Dean?"

"Well hello to you too, Buffy," Dean said, a smug grin plastered on his face.

"Hello. Hi. What?" She stammered, a dumbfounded expression stuck on her face.

"I had hoped to catch you at home, but I couldn't help but come in when I saw you were working," Dean started laughing, clapping his hands together, "I had to see that hat!"

"My hat…has a cow. You're here. And my hat has a cow…" Buffy took a deep breath.

"It's not that bad, really," Dean stifled another laugh, earning a glare from Buffy, "okay it's pretty bad."

"You. Here. What? Why"

This was another one of those moments where Buffy was pretty sure her brain wasn't connected to her mouth at all. Could she be any more of a spaz? She had managed to spit some words out, but it would have been nice if she could've strung them together coherently.

Dean tried to be serious, doing his best not to laugh at how cute flustered Buffy was. "Look, something's come up, something big."

Buffy gawked at him, not showing any sign of comprehension.

"We don't have much time. You understand?" Dean asked.

Buffy started to nod, causing the cow on her hat to bounce, earning another laugh from Dean. "Not a word you've said so far."

"I'll explain everything later, but this isn't the place. Sam and I have been following a demon for a couple of weeks now. We've finally managed to catch up to it here," Dean cast a glance around to make sure no one had heard what he had said.

A blank expression was all he received from Buffy.

Dean laughed slightly, "Alright. Let's try this. We need your help."

A voice came from behind her, "Helloooo, Buffy? People are waiting."

"Will you help us?" Dean asked.

Buffy shot a glance over to her manager who was tapping her foot expectantly at her and then glanced back to Dean. It wouldn't have mattered who was asking for her help, her duty as the Slayer always came first. The look in Dean's eyes, however, pleading for her help made her choice even easier. Buffy took off her hat and left it on the counter so that she could follow Dean. She ignored every plea from her manager as she walked. Buffy knew that she would regret this decision later, when the next bill came in and she had no way of paying it, but right now that didn't matter. What mattered was that there was something that needed to be put down, and Dean needed her help.

Dean was here, and he needed her. Nothing else could matter right now.

Self-conscious of the Double Meat smell coming off her skin, Buffy tried to keep a distance between herself and Dean as she followed him. He was finally here, and all she wanted to do was be close to him, but even she could smell the work smell wafting off of her. Why couldn't he have come before she got to work? Where Buffy was following Dean, she wasn't sure, but follow she did. Dean led her around back to where the Impala was parked. There was a man there waiting for them, leaned against the car. His arms were crossed and he tried to remain casual looking, but his eyes were scanning the alley carefully. It had to be a hunter. Buffy figured this must be Sam.

"Sam!" Dean gave him a wave, "this is Buffy. The Slayer."

"Hey, good to meet you," Sam held his hand out for her.

Buffy shook his hand, "Hi Sam. I've heard a lot about you, but somehow not that you're a giant."

Dean laughed, realizing that Sam was more than a full foot taller than the blonde. Knowing that she was easily twice as strong as Sam made the image ever funnier. Neither Sam nor Buffy found the situation quite as funny as Dean, but that didn't put a damper on his amusement in the least.

"He's not that giant, you're just mini," Dean teased.

That earned him a subtle scowl from Buffy, which did nothing but make Dean smirk.

Sam gave a chuckle, "so my brother says that we could use your help."

"That's what he told me. So what are we takin' down?" She said with a grin.

"A Suvolte demon. Rare, lethal, and nearly extinct," Sam said, getting down to business.

"Yeah, not nearly enough. We've been following it through towns for a couple of weeks, but it's been two steps ahead of us," Dean added on, with a hint of frustration in his voice.

Sam nodded in agreement, "it's here now, for sure. It's got a high body count, it moves fast, never stays anywhere very long, and it's already taken a good chunk outta me, so we gotta move on it fast."

Dean sighed, "preferably before it starts laying eggs. Things are like bunnies the way they breed." He shuddered, "we don't need more of these things."

Buffy nodded her head, "gotcha. Evil tribbles. Must be put down. I won't let you lose it again. Any ideas on where to start?"

"Tribbles? A Star Trek reference, really?" Dean raised an eyebrow, his eyes glinting as he smirked.

"Got a bit of a nerd-herd problem still," Buffy looked embarrassed. "Guess they're startin' to rub off on me."

Dean liked the look of the blush that tinted her cheeks, but he knew better than to mention it. Instead, he'd just enjoy the moment. She was cute when she was blushing.

Sam tried to stay on topic, "we don't know too much about this creature. There hasn't been a lot of evidence left to go on."

"Well, hit me with whatcha got," Buffy didn't need much information to go on, but something to give her a heads up as to what she was walking into would be nice.

"The closest we got to it was when we found a victim that had gotten free. That never happens, we couldn't figure that one out. We found the demon shortly after with another victim," Sam explained.

"So maybe it attacked while they were together and took the one it wanted the most?" Buffy offered.

Sam thought about that, "that actually makes sense. It went for the female. Maybe it likes something about females over males?"

Buffy nodded, "seems plausible. Anything else?"

"It likes forests, wooded areas. Stays away from people best it can. Though, a couple of the towns we tracked it to didn't really have that. There it tended to stick to alleyways and sewer tunnels to move around," Sam supplied.

"Well, we've got both of those here." Buffy thought a moment, "there's a few tunnel entrances that are backed against some woods though."

"Sounds like that could be a good place to start then," Sam's head bobbed as he thought it through. "Dean?"

Dean snapped to attention, "yeah, what?"

"You with us there?" Buffy smirked, waving her hand in front of his eyes.

A light blush spread across Dean's face as he realized he had been caught. He hadn't listened to a thing that Buffy and Sam had been saying. He knew it was important stuff, and he knew that he probably could have contributed at some point, but his attention was elsewhere. Buffy was standing less than two feet from him, and he couldn't believe it. He was ready to pinch himself to make sure this was really happening.

The last time he was here was when she had first come back, and he hadn't seen her since. The phone calls had been amazing, but it wasn't the same as being here with her. Dean found himself as struck by her beauty now as he was in Purgatory. Even if she didn't really know who he was, being here like this made the dull ache he had become accustomed to become much less noticeable. He just wanted to revel in her laughter while he could. He just wanted to enjoy being here with her.

Shame it was because of a hunt that he was finally able to be here. Fucking Suvolte.

"Sorry, yeah. Guess I'm a little more tired than I thought. What's the plan?" Dean tried to cover, but based on the look that Sam shot him, he failed miserably.

"Got a few locations to check out. Unless you have some insight to narrow it down," Sam stifled a chuckle.

"Uh, I dunno. I'd say far from people, but the last few stops the thing was hunting in the downtown area. Probably wants an intricate system to work in, to hide in," Dean tried to add to the conversation, but again found his focus elsewhere.

Was that helpful at all? Did he put words into real sentences? He wasn't even sure. It was entirely possible that he just spat out a bunch of words that made no sense together. Dean might have been embarrassed if he had been paying close enough attention.

Buffy shrugged, "doesn't really narrow it down, but I got a pretty good idea of where to start."

"Alright, then let's get a move on," Dean asserted.

The boys moved to get into the car until Buffy shook her head.

"We're close to the first spot, and there isn't any parking anywhere we're going. Not safe parking anyways."

The brothers exchanged a glance, obviously having some silent battle between the two of them. Buffy had a feeling that it was a battle between listening to her and not wanting to abandon the car. She wasn't entirely sure who was on which side, or even who was winning. Eventually they both agreed to go with what Buffy had said, regardless of how they really felt about it.

"Alright, we'll arm up first and then head off."

The two brothers pulled a couple of shot guns out of the trunk, along with a hand gun and a machete. They regarded the axes as well as a couple of swords, but decided against the extra weight that was sure to slow them down. As they had their faces buried in the trunk, the two heard a giggle come up from behind them.

"What?" Dean looked at her.

"Nothing!" She laughed again, "I just forget that hunters use all those guns and stuff."

She remembered the weapons that Cain had showed up with, and the shotgun she had subsequently bent in half. She used to give Riley a hard time for all the hardware The Initiative used to do what she did barehanded. Even once he was done with The Initiative, Riley still used equipment for every patrol or battle they encountered. She never meant to be condescending, but it definitely struck her as humorous, and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, not all of us have superpowers ya know?" Dean chuckled.

"Superpowers are pretty sweet, I won't lie," she smiled.

Dean smiled, though it stung a bit to hear her say that. She had said that exact statement before when she caught him staring at her. He hated that he remembered that and she had no idea. He hated that those words meant something to him, and nothing to her. The dull ache returned with a vengeance now.

"Uh, quick question before we get moving," Sam said, shooting Buffy a quick glance.

"Yeah?"

"Okay two. One, what is that smell? Two, what's with the orange suit?"

Buffy pouted as Dean howled with laughter.

ӁӁӁ

The streets were bustling with people as the hunters and Slayer moved through the crowd. As they made their way through the groups of people they could hear girls giggling and guys hollering after their friends. Every so often someone would shove past them, and keep running, but that was all the attention that was paid to the three hunters. Grateful for that, they were careful to keep their weapons concealed beneath jackets and sweaters as they walked, not wanting to draw any extra attention to themselves. Buffy was pretty sure that her pants did enough of that all on their own anyways.

"So what makes this a likely spot to find this thing?" Dean asked, his eyes scanning the area for any hint of the demon.

"I know you said it doesn't like crowds, but I can't even count the number of times the baddies used this as their hunting ground. Lotta access to victims, and not only does the back alley have sewer access, but the basement does too," she pointed to the brick building.

"The Bronze?" Sam questioned.

"Mhm. Best night club in town," she beamed before her face fell, "okay, it's the only one."

"And it's a target?" Dean asked, now watching the kids that were running around a little more carefully.

Buffy nodded, "I've seen this place destroyed a countless number of times. Hell that door was replaced a few weeks ago after I kicked it in."

The brothers both looked at the thick steel door before returning their gaze to the Slayer, obviously stunned by that information. Even Dean, who had seen her fight firsthand, found himself impressed.

"Well, let's do this before any of these kids become Suvolte food," Dean was ready to get this over with.

"Agreed. C'mon, we'll start in the alley. We can follow the tunnel to the basement, cross 'em both off the list."

"Or find the bastard," Sam followed closely behind Buffy and Dean, also ready to end this hunt.

"Hopefully," Buffy agreed.

Part way down the alley the three of them came to a grate similar to the ones that Sam and Dean had been investigating the last while. Buffy cast a glance to them to confirm that she had been on the right track, when they gave a nod of approval she grinned.

"The bars aren't bent," Sam pointed out.

"Is that usually what you guys find?" Buffy asked.

"So far, yeah. Maybe it hasn't used this entrance yet though," Dean suggested.

"Worth a look anyways," Sam agreed. "Oh, but it's locked," Sam indicated the industrial sized padlock that closed the grating tight.

A final glance was shot around to make sure there were no witnesses before Buffy grabbed onto the lock and pulled down on it. The metal fell away in pieces almost like it was plastic and not solid steel. Sam was amazed that the legend of the Slayer's strength seemed to be completely true. He remembered doubting it as he read about it, but now he wondered if it had been understated in the records. She had destroyed a large steel door, and now he had just witnessed her practically disintegrating a metal padlock. This girl was seriously impressive. Before he could comment, the small girl had slipped through the grating and he could hear the sound of her landing down below. The brothers exchanged a quick look before also dropping down below.

"These tunnels connect all through Sunnydale. Anywhere you need to go, you can get to through here. The system is huge," Buffy explained as the boys gained their footing.

"Making it a perfect playground for monsters," Sam added, to which Buffy nodded in agreement.

"So, a lot of sewer travelling then?" Dean looked a little dismayed.

Buffy shook her head, "I wouldn't suggest it. Even a seasoned hunter like you would be surprised by what these sewers house. We don't wanna travel through them, we could be here all night at that rate. I was thinkin' we'd just hit the entrances that the demon is likely to use."

"Sounds good to me. I'm rather fond of wide open spaces," Sam stated, knowing full well that Dean felt the same.

Buffy gave him a knowing glance. She had seen him favouring his shoulder and she remembered Dean saying that Sam had taken a hit. She figured that they had learned to dislike close spaces the hard way. She had learned that herself time and time again.

"Alright, so we'll lead. Which direction are we headin'?" Dean asked, pulling his shotgun out to the ready position.

Buffy shook her head, "I don't think so. I know the sewers fairly well, but me giving directions is never a good idea. I'll lead. What kinda attack should I be expecting?"

"Teeth," Sam said simply.

"Great. Fantastic," Buffy exhaled a deep breath before heading off towards the tunnel that would eventually loop them to the basement of The Bronze.

"Listen for a whining growl sound. It's generally what you'll hear when it's close," Sam kept his voice hushed.

"Or a slurping sound. Then it's eating," Dean added, also hushed but with a twinkle in his eyes.

Buffy pulled a face, "gross."

The three hunters moved through the sewers silently, not wanting to give away their position to anything that might be near them. It wasn't just the Suvolte Demon that used the sewers to move around. As Buffy had said, there were plenty of things down here. They could have spent all night in the tunnels and never run out of beasties to kill. They could make a decent dent in the monster population, sure, but more would only come to take their place anyways. Plus, that wasn't what they were here for. That Suvolte needed to go down.

Sam whispered up to Buffy, "I'm not hearing anything. What about you?"

Buffy shook her head, "I can sense some vamps nearby, but nothing big. Looks like this one might be a bust."

Dean caught the expression on her face. She was beating herself up about it, and he knew it. He had seen that look in Purgatory enough times to know exactly what she was thinking.

"Hey, don't worry. We'll find it. What's the next stop?"

Buffy tried to lighten her expression but failed. She thought a moment or two before speaking again, "well…I guess we could try one of the cemetery entrances? I dunno how much that matches the demon's MO, but it's close and worth a try."

"Okay, let's get a move on," Sam said encouragingly.

The three of them started to move until Buffy came to a dead stop, her hand raised up to signal her stop.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"Some vamps are close," Buffy turned with a grin on her face, "wanna have some fun?"

Dean returned her grin, putting his shotgun back in his sling. He produced a wooden stake from the inside of his jacket before turning to look at Sam.

"Oh this is gonna be fun, Sammy."

Buffy tossed Sam the machete, "here."

Sam nodded his thanks and the three stalked forwards awaiting the attack that was sure to come. They had made it all of fifteen feet before a group of five vampires came into their path.

"Well what do we have here, boys?" The one in the front of the group hissed.

"Uh, Devon, that's the Slayer," one of the other vampires answered, fear apparent in his voice.

"I know who the hell it is!"

"Oh good, then we can skip the introductions and go straight to the part where I turn you to dust!" Buffy quipped as she drove her stake into the first vampire's chest.

Dean took that as his cue and dashed around Buffy, delivering a strong blow to one of the vampires jaw. Sam, who had been pulling up the rear and had more ground to cover was in the fray just as quick as Dean. Dean, who had seen the Slayer fight a countless number of times wasted no time in taking down the vampire he had taken on. Sam, however, was struggling to keep his focus on the task at hand. Instead he found himself completely enamoured by the way a Slayer fought. Any fight Sam or Dean had ever been in had been brutal, undignified, and messy. Buffy, on the other hand, looked like she was floating. She was graceful and devastating in her attacks. He couldn't help but be impressed; he had never seen anything like it.

Buffy staked her final two vampires as Sam swung his machete, taking off the last one's head. The three of them stood there, piles of dust surrounding them.

"Well, that was fun," Buffy smiled as she watched the two boys catch their breath.

"Man, turning them to dust is way more fun than dealing with the vamps we usually find," Dean grinned, "we ready to go?"

Buffy nodded and headed on towards the door that would lead them to The Bronze.

"They don't even lock it?" Sam asked, incredulously.

"I know, very careless. No wonder stuff's always going down here," Buffy agreed, a hint of amusement in her voice.

The boys followed Buffy through the dark and cramped basement of the nightclub, eyes still scanning for any sort of threat that may make a move from the shadows. Their footsteps echoed through the space as they climbed the steel steps.

"Okay, just follow me. We're gonna just head straight for the exit, no need to linger here," Buffy instructed, her hand paused on the door handle.

Sam and Dean both nodded, eager to continue their hunt. As soon as the blonde opened the door the club music filled their ears. The bass rattled the steps they were standing on, and as soon as they stepped into the club an overwhelming strange feeling took them over. A quick glance to Buffy told them that she felt it too. She tried to say something to them but they couldn't hear her over the music and the people throughout the packed club.

Buffy grabbed onto Dean's shoulder and whispered into his ear, "vamps use this as a hunting ground. There's tons of them here, but we gotta get a move on if we wanna find your demon before it leaves again."

Her breath hitting his neck sent shivers down his spine, and it took all of his self-control to stop himself from grabbing her and kissing her. It was all he wanted in the moment, but right now was not the time, and he certainly didn't want their first kiss to be in some teeny-bopper night club with his brother watching them.

Instead Dean chose to nod in agreement and signal to his brother to keep moving. The three of them made their way through the crowded dance floor, trying their best to avoid drawing attention from the undead patrons. As much as they would have all liked to take down the vultures, Buffy had been right, now wasn't the time. Dean, who normally would have been in sensory overload because of all the writhing bodies of the girls on the floor, kept his attention trained on the blonde Slayer. He couldn't help but notice a slight sway in her hips as she moved between the mobs of dancers. Was that on purpose?

Buffy glanced over her shoulder and locked eyes with Dean, a mischievous grin playing at the corners of her lips. She signalled for him to lean down so she could say something, which he happily obliged. Dean would take any chance to be that close to her again.

"Don't worry, I promise there'll be time for a dance later," she said with a wink.

Dean was speechless at her words, and stammered to find something to say in return. How was it possible that he, Dean Winchester, was speechless because of a girl? Buffy slid her hand into Dean's and pulled him off towards the exit. If Sam noticed the gesture, he wisely decided to keep his looks and thoughts to himself. Dean, who had at first been caught off guard by the sudden feeling of contact with her, continued to allow her to lead. Any excuse to touch her was alright in his books. He gave a light squeeze to her hand as they passed through the club's exit, and he was glad he had since that was when she let go. He already missed the feeling of her hand in his. He couldn't believe how sappy she had him feeling.

"I know I said I wanted to check out the cemetery sewer entrance, but I think there's a more likely entrance near the university," Buffy turned to face the boys.

"Whatever you think, Buffy. You know this town better than we do," Sam encouraged.

"We still gonna check out the cemetery?" Dean asked.

"It's on the way, so we may as well," Buffy shrugged.

The three of them were off again, this time in search of the cemetery. There wasn't much conversation, the mood didn't feel as light as it had before. Buffy was feeling kind of bummed that she hadn't got the results she wanted by starting at The Bronze. Sam kept his eyes scanning the area around them, peering down any dark streets or alleys that they passed, hoping to see something. Dean, while he did his best to also survey the area, had his eyes on Buffy most of the way. He was thrilled when he realized that she had been sneaking glances his way as well.

The history the two of them had may not mean a damn thing anymore, but maybe a new chemistry could be sparked. In one of her stolen glances their eyes met, and instead of blushing and turning away like most girls would do, Buffy held the gaze, a suggestive look in her eyes. Dean was only able to smile back, completely awestruck by this seemingly small and innocent moment. Was it possible that he had finally met a girl just as brazen as he? Was it possible that she was feeling the same way he was?

"Geez, how many cemeteries does this town have?" Sam interrupted the moment, apparently unaware it was even happening, "we've passed seven already, just in this area."

Dean didn't break his eye contact with Buffy as he spoke, "it's a hellmouth, does that really surprise you?"

Buffy broke the gaze finally to look at Sam, "there's a lot here. Most of them full of empty caskets now," the disappointment in her voice was obvious. "The one we want is at the end of the block. There on the hill," she pointed upward towards the next wrought iron gate.

When they reached the fencing, both of the guys headed towards the open gate until Buffy shook her head.

"Better to go in the back over here," she continued walking around, "the entrance to the tunnels are behind the mausoleums on the east side here."

A quick hop of the fence brought the three of them in front of a large brushy area behind the mausoleums. Buffy reached out for the machete that she had left with Sam for the trip, which he handed over as he brought his handgun out of his holster. Buffy made quick work of the brush to locate the opening to the sewer tunnels.

"Looks like no one's used this one in a while," Buffy commented. "My guess is it's unlikely that the Suvolte was using it."

"Probably not worth checking out?" Dean asked.

Buffy shook her head glumly, "probably not. There's plenty of tunnel entrances around here, but if it was using them we would have found it along the way here. The spot I wanna check next tends to draw all kinds of baddies. It wasn't at The Bronze, so my bet is it's gonna be there."

ӁӁӁ

"Alright, dense woods? Check. No people? Check. Sewer access? Check. Looks like the right kinda place," Dean noted as he passed his flashlight beam around the sewer entrance.

Buffy had led the boys to the sewer tunnel entrance located near the university. It wasn't because it was near the university that it was off interest, though. She hadn't told them the whole truth, because it was a long story to try to explain and they were under a time crunch. It was the entrance that used to be connected to The Initiative before the government had deemed it an utter failure and pulled the plug. It may not be active anymore, but the same feeling resonated from this place, as though it still held a charge from all the monsters that had been held captive here. It wasn't just the beasties that sensed it either; Buffy had seen plenty of people get the wiggins around this place. If that Suvolte was hiding anywhere in this town, Buffy would bet it would be drawn here.

The bent open grating that they found seemed to agree with that sentiment. Behind them, where the woods butted up against the clearing they were currently standing in, was more evidence of a large beast being in the vicinity. There were trees bent, several snapped and splintered along the way, and some with splashes of blood staining through the bark and on the leaves. Now there was no doubt in her mind that they were in the right place, she only hoped that it hadn't moved on already.

"So what, split up? You guys in the sewers and I take the woods?"

"Why split up?" Dean asked, double checking his shotgun.

"Well we haven't exactly had much luck with the sewers, figure we should check out both. We're running out of time before daybreak, and we'll have to put the hunt on hold then."

Sam shook his head, "not a good idea. Suvolte demons are vicious. We should stick together."

Buffy couldn't tell if he was more concerned about her, or himself and his brother. "I'm not as fragile as I look, I can handle myself. Don't worry about me."

Dean shook his head, "no, Sam's right. My guess is we'll find it in the sewers anyways. Seems to take all it's victims into the sewers to feed anyways. Even if it's not down there now, it will be by the time day hits."

"Okay, I'm with ya," She nodded, brandishing the machete once again.

"You take point again, we'll be right behind ya," Sam said, ready to go.

Buffy sighed, "ya know, some girls spend their Friday nights at the bar or the movies, or even on a date. Buffy spends it delving into the sewers carrying a machete. Perfect."

Sam chuckled, "I feel ya. I used to spend my Friday nights buried in my text books, and yet here I am."

"Gotta love the life," Dean agreed cynically.

"Let's do this," Buffy said as she slid down into the tunnels once more.

This portion of the tunnels was much more sprawling than the section near The Bronze, and it left them a lot of different directions to choose from. The brothers had already figured that sticking together was the right idea, but now they were doubly grateful that they had Buffy with them. She knew these tunnels well, and the last thing they would have wanted to do was to get lost in the sewer tunnels with the Suvolte demon lurking about. The tunnel system had them so turned around that they long stopped trying to keep track and instead just followed Buffy.

They had wound through the sewers for an hour or so before they started to hear what sounded like the whining growl the brothers had become accustomed to hearing.

"It's close," Sam said, casting a glance to the left side of the fork in the sewer.

Buffy nodded, "it has someone."

"How can you tell?" Sam asked, looking back at her.

"I can hear someone crying," Buffy said solemnly.

That was all Dean needed to hear. He quickly stalked off in the direction they could hear the bastard. It had been eluding him for weeks, and it had killed more than enough people by now. To say he was ready to put it down was an understatement. It was time to end this. Buffy darted after him with Sam pulling up the rear. They barreled into the next fork in the sewers just in time to see a dark figure rush around a corner. Dean, not prepared to let this thing get away again, dashed after it.

"Dean!" Sam called out.

Dean didn't stop running, and he didn't look back. He could hear Buffy hot on his heels, and he knew that she would stick close. They may have never gone on a true hunt while in Purgatory, but they certainly had gone through these paces before. He knew what to expect of the Slayer, and in this moment he was grateful beyond words that he could count on her. He just hoped she felt the same towards him, there was no time to doubt one another now.

The corner that they saw the demon round led them to a small crossroads within the tunnels, but the demon was nowhere in sight. The only thing that they were able to see immediately was a small crumpled form on the ground.

"Damnit!" Dean yelled out, the frustration coming off of him in waves. Buffy placed a hand on his shoulder in an effort to calm him down.

Sam headed straight towards the crumpled form on the ground. Once he was closer it was clear to see that this was the demon's latest meal. A quick touch from Sam confirmed that she was dead, and recently so as she was still warm.

"I think this is who you could hear crying, Buffy," Sam said, regrettably.

Buffy nodded, obviously unhappy to have a confirmed casualty in her town. It was easy to see it on her face that she took it personally. That she felt like she had failed to protect this girl. Hell, a small town like this, it was possible that she even knew this girl. Sam felt bad that they hadn't made it in time to save her.

"C'mon, we gotta keep moving," Dean was determined now.

"We can't lose it now," Buffy agreed.

A whining growl drew their attention straight forwards. They wasted no time in racing off towards the sound. This time they managed to catch up to the Suvolte in a bend in the tunnel. They hadn't expected to find it so soon, and it was able to swing it's claws out towards them long before they had their own attack ready to go.

Buffy rolled below the claw and came up behind it, using the brief opportunity to slash into the back of the thing's leg with her machete, severing several tendons and ligaments. The beast howled in pain, spinning around to face the Slayer. The Winchester's took the chance to fire off two shots into the beasts back. It howled again, and leapt over the Slayer. The claw on it's leg caught her knee, delivering a deep gash to it as it retreated into the darkness. Dean blew past Buffy trying to stay hot on the demon's trail while Buffy was slower to get to her feet. She caught a look from Sam, obviously worried about the hit she took, and after she gave a reassuring nod the two of them ran to catch up to Dean.

As soon as they caught a glimpse of Dean, Buffy realized that he had fallen behind the Suvolte, and they were in danger of losing it again.

"Dean, bend down!" Buffy called out to the hunter, dropping the machete on the ground with a clatter.

Dean, knowing exactly what she was ready to do, stopped and bent over. He hated letting the demon get too far ahead of him, but the Slayer was about to close that gap real fast. Buffy placed her hands on Dean's back and flipped over him. Landing on her feet she took off running after the demon, not stopping to look back to see where the hunters were. Anyone watching her would have been completely unable to guess that she had recently taken a blow to her knee.

"Let's go!" Dean called back to Sam, grabbing the machete from his brother.

The brothers took off to catch up to the Slayer, but struggled to do so. She was fast, and she had a good lead on them. They could hear her shoe steps echoing through the tunnels, as well as the growl that denoted the demon. Soon the sounds of shoes were accompanied by the sounds of blows landing and outcries of pain, both human and demon. Dean shot a glance to Sam before pushing himself faster. Neither brother knew they could run as fast as they were right now to catch up. Finally they were able to catch up to the small blonde just in time to see her snap the demon's neck with a sickening crack.

With wide eyes Sam stuttered on his words, "wow, okay. Guess she didn't need back up after all…"

Dean had a grin plastered on his face and his eyes had lit up. It had been a long time since he had seen her in action, and it was amazing to see her move without being held back by devastating injuries. Even after seeing her fight in Purgatory for so long, it was still a sight to behold. God she was amazing.

"I think I got demon blood on my uniform," Buffy pouted as she turned to face the Winchesters.