Chapter Eighteen

Oh, man, I finally figured out how to get from Chapter 17 to the next big point in my story!

Buffy stepped through the front door of her house, letting it slam closed behind her. She sighed long and hard, flipping her stray hair back behind her ear.

"Hard day?" asked Sam from the living room couch.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Buffy told him.

Sam chuckled. "Let me guess: Psych class?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "I wish." She stepped over to the couch and sat next to him. "College was all…brainy. Those people are, like, geniuses. Did they push school studies up a few years while I was dead?"

Sam laughed quietly.

"And that wasn't even the worst part," Buffy told him. "I was attacked by evil lint."

Sam stared at her. "You sure school didn't get to you?"

"I'm serious," said Buffy. "Everyone was zooming around like the roadrunner guy. And I found this thing on my sweater that exploded, and everything went back to normal."

Sam frowned. "Okay, that's weird."

"So then, I tried to work at the construction site with Xander, but these three apey demons attacked me. But then they just melted when I killed them and no one would believe me and I got fired. So, I went to work at The Magic Box, but my first customer made time repeat itself over and over."

"A witch?" asked Sam.

"Well, she didn't do it, but time kept repeating until I could finally sell her a mummy hand," Buffy elaborated. "But then I quit. I hated retail."

"I would, too, after that," said Sam. "So, Slayer's luck, or what?"

"I think something was setting me up; maybe testing me," said Buffy. "There was this black van that was in the college parking lot and outside the construction site and magic shop. I'm gonna look into it."

"I'll help," Sam offered. He held up a thick book. "It's not like we're getting anywhere on the Ruby hunt." He clenched his fist to stop it from shaking.

Buffy frowned, looking him over. The guy did not look good at all.

"Speaking of, how are you doing?" asked Buffy. "I mean, it's been a week, and you seem pretty messed up about her leaving."

Sam shook his head quickly. "That's not it, trust me. I mean, yeah, I am upset, but it's not like that." He clenched his shaking hands together. "It's, uh…withdrawal."

Buffy took in the pale skin, the red-rimmed eyes, the shaky limbs and the sheen of sweat across his face. She frowned. "From what?"

Sam sighed, hesitating. "Demon blood."

Buffy's frown deepened. "Demon blood?"

"The night Yellow-Eyes killed my mom, he was in the nursery to feed me demon blood. That's how I get my psychic abilities; there's demon blood in me. So to make me stronger…Ruby had me drinking demon blood."

"You drank demon blood?" asked Buffy in shock.

"I thought it was the way to make me stronger so I could kill Lillith." Sam shook his head. "But Ruby was just using me to free Lucifer. I've quit drinking, but…we were so close to getting Lillith that I…I got hooked on it. It's, uh…probably gonna get rough soon."

"Well, you need anything?" asked Buffy.

"Restraints?" said Sam.

Buffy laughed until Sam gave her a sober look. "You're serious?"

"I'm a hunter," Sam told her. "When my mind gets affected and I get delirious or whatever, I'll fight to get what I think I need. And when I fight, I usually win. Anyway, this isn't a usual detox. Who knows what's gonna happen."

"Well…we have chains…somewhere," Buffy told him. "You start going crazy, and Dean and I can handle you."

Sam nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"Speaking of, where is he?" asked Buffy.

"Dean?" asked Sam.

Buffy nodded.

"Downstairs, training," Sam told her. "I think he's trying to see how hard he can push himself before he has a heart attack."

Buffy chuckled as she stood and headed down to the basement. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, leaning on the railing and watching Dean. He was practicing his fighting techniques, by the looks of it. He had abandoned the punching bag and was aiming some punches and backhands at the air. After a couple, he then jumped into the air, spinning around and swinging his leg out in front of him in an excellent spin kick. He landed in a crouch, his hands held ready in front of him.

"You're catching on quick," said Buffy.

Dean turned towards her with a smirk on his face. "That was some good air, wasn't it? I think I was brushing the ceiling."

Buffy shrugged. "Not quite, but close." She stepped towards him as he picked up a water bottle and drank from it. "So…Sam's detoxing, huh?"

Dean's eyes shot over to her as he quickly brought the bottle down. "I thought we were keeping that on the down-low."

Buffy shrugged once again. "No reason to really hide it. Not that he could hide it. He's gonna look dreadful in a few days."

Dean took another drink before putting the water down. "I wasn't keen on the whole demon blood drinking when he first told me about it, so I'm kinda glad he's detoxing. But I wish he didn't have to go through it. I'd do it for him if I could."

"And that's why you made the deal," said Buffy. "To take his place."

Dean shrugged. "He's my brother."

Buffy nodded. "I know what you mean."

"That's why you jumped," said Dean. "So Dawn wouldn't have to."

"Of course," said Buffy. She gave him a knowing smile. "She's my sister."

Dean was suddenly struck by how much he and Buffy had in common. It wasn't just the calling of the Slayer and the battle between good and evil; they were both older siblings. Both of them would and had given their lives to save their younger brother or sister.

"Um, so…I've been thinking over the whole Slayer calling thing," Dean changed the subject. "So…one Slayer dies and another's called?"

Buffy nodded. "Them's the breaks."

"So, does that mean when I die, someone will become a Slayer?" asked Dean.

Buffy shrugged. "Hard to say. Maybe nothing'll happen because the Slayer line is carried on only through girls? Or maybe 'cause Slayer are girls, your successor will be a girl. Or, who knows, you might start your very own male Slayer line."

"Huh," mused Dean. "First of my own kind." He smirked. "I like the sound of that."

Buffy leaned her back against the punching bag.

"So, how was your day?" Dean asked her. "'Cause our Ruby leads kinda went nowhere."

Buffy groaned. "Oh, you don't wanna know."

Dean tapped the punching bag. "Tell me over a workout?"

***************************************SPN/BTVS*** ************************************************** **********

"You okay, Sammy?" asked Dean, standing in front of the living room couch.

Sam raised his head from his hand, looking up at his brother. "Yeah. Just a headache."

Dean raised his eyebrows at him. "You sure?" He didn't like the green tinge on his face.

Sam shrugged. "Maybe a little nauseous, too."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," said Dean, passing him a glass of water.

"No, thanks," said Sam, waving it away.

"You don't drink, you'll dehydrate yourself," Dean told him, holding the glass up. "Drink."

Sam reluctantly took the glass, trying to still his trembling as he took a drink. He grimaced and handed the glass back to Dean, shaking his head. Dean sighed and took the glass, turning back to head to the kitchen, and he just about ran into Castiel. Dean slammed to a stop, spilling water down his front.

"Dammit, Cas!" said Dean, shaking the water off his hands. "Announce yourself next time!"

"I apologize," Castiel told him. "I did not mean to frighten you."

"Whoa, hang on, I wasn't scared," Dean told him.

"Who wasn't scared?" asked Willow as she walked into the living room with Buffy and Xander.

"No one," Dean shot at her. He frowned over at Castiel. "How did I not know you were coming?"

"I have been in this house all day," Castiel told him.

"You have?" asked Dean. "Where?"

"Angels have the ability to shield themselves from man's sight," Castiel explained. "I sometimes do so to find a quiet place to pray to my Father."

"You mean, you can turn invisible?" asked Dean in surprise.

Castiel hesitated. "Not in so many words."

"Still hiding from the angels?" Buffy asked Castiel.

Castiel nodded.

"Good," said Buffy. "We can't afford to lose our guardian angel. By the way, I have a favor to ask. There's this van that's been following me lately. Is it possible for you to—" She froze, looking around for the missing angel. "Okay…"

"I have found the van."

Buffy turned to see Castiel standing in the room again. "You did? You were gone for, like, two seconds."

"Yeah, he does that a lot," said Dean. "So, where we headed?"

"I can take you immediately," said Castiel.

Sam stood as Buffy, Willow and Dean approached the angel.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Dean, putting a hand on Sam's chest. "Where do you think you're going?"

Sam frowned. "I'm gonna help."

"Not like this, you're not," Dean told him, trying to usher him back to the couch. "You're taking a sick day. Hell, a sick week."

Sam stopped Dean's pushing of him. "Dean, I'm going with."

"Sam, you are shaky and probably delirious," said Dean. "You can't hunt right now. Just take care of yourself for a little bit until the demon blood's outta your system, and then we'll talk."

Sam held Dean's gaze. "Dean, if I don't do something, I'm gonna go out of my mind and try to find the nearest demon. I have to go."

Dean stared into Sam's eyes, mulling it over. Maybe if Sam was focusing on the hunt, he wouldn't focus so much on the withdrawal.

"Fine," Dean relented, heading back over to Castiel. "But you start to hurl, and you're riding the bench."

"Got it," said Sam.

Castiel reached out to the four of them, and they found themselves in front of a one-story suburban house.

"This?" asked Buffy. "This is his lair?"

Dean elbowed her and pointed towards the driveway, where a big black van sat.

"Well, at least we know we're in the right place," said Buffy, heading to the door of the house.

Dean glanced over to see Sam shaking his head a little. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just a dizzy spell from the jump," Sam told him. "It's gone now."

"You sure?" asked Dean, watching him closely.

Sam gave him one of his bitch faces.

"Alright, let's go," said Dean quickly, following Buffy and Willow towards the house.

They managed to sneak in, finding all the lights on the main level off, but they heard voices coming from the basement. Buffy and Dean took the lead down the stairs as Sam and Willow followed. They emerged into what looked like a super geek lair: big screen TV, video games, action figures, comic books, Dungeons and Dragons game on the table, and bean bag chairs.

"And then we'll use the blowtorch—or I'll use the blowtorch—to cut through the case and get the diamond," came a guy's voice from the corner of the basement.

The four of them looked over and saw three young guys standing there.

"Then we'll have the power source for our invisibility ray," said the taller one with black hair.

Dean frowned. "An invisibility ray? Seriously?"

The three guys jumped and spun around.

"Jonathan?" said Buffy, looking at the shortest one. She looked over at the taller, black-haired one. "Warren?" She then glanced at the blonde one. "Who are you?"

"Um…Andrew," he answered.

Buffy frowned. "Who?"

"He's Tucker's brother," said Willow.

"Oh," said Buffy.

"You know these guys?" asked Dean.

"Unfortunately," said Buffy. "You guys did those things to me today?"

"That's right," said Warren. "And now we know your weaknesses, Slayer. We will defeat you. We're your arch-nemesis-is…es."

Dean raised his eyebrows in skepticism. "Seriously? Someone who can't even say 'arch-nemeses' is gonna kill the Slayer?"

"That's right," said Jonathan. "And there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Oh, yeah?" said Dean. "Bet you didn't know there were two Slayers in the room."

The three geeks' eyes immediately flew to Willow.

Andrew leaned towards the other two. "I thought Willow was a witch."

"I wasn't talking about her, dumbass," Dean growled.

They all looked at him with frowns. "You?"

Dean shrugged with a smirk. "Watchers Council got in trouble for the whole gender inequality thing."

"Guys."

Dean glanced over at Sam, who was looking around the basement in fear.

"Look alive," Sam told them. "Something's com—" He suddenly turned toward the area with the TV in it, his eyes wide in shock.

Dean frowned as Sam stared at the wall. "Sam?"

"No…" Sam gasped. "Alistair…"

Dean frowned and looked over at Buffy, who shared his confused look.

"You're dead…" Sam muttered, backing away from thin air. He suddenly flung himself into the wall, crashing to the floor.

Dean ran over to his brother. "Sammy! Sammy!" He grabbed Sam by the shoulders.

Sam's eyes stared in fear up above Dean's head at something only he could see.

"Sam, snap out of it!" Dean shouted, shaking him a little to get him to stop staring at the hallucination.

"Is he okay?" asked Jonathan.

Dean looked back at Buffy with wide, concerned eyes, terrified for his brother. What am I gonna do?

"NO!" Sam yelled.