Chapter Twenty-four

Tara placed the last of the crystals and herbs into the cabinet in the basement, closing it and locking it. Shoving the key into her pocket, she glanced back at Willow, who sat one of the hunters' cots.

"There," said Tara. "Safe and sound."

"Thanks," said Willow.

Tara walked over and sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her. "I'm gonna help you through this."

Willow glanced down at her hands. "I don't know if I can do this." She held up a hand. "I'm already shaking."

"You're just anxious," Tara told her. "It's all in your mind."

"For now," Willow muttered.

"And when it isn't, we'll deal," said Tara, holding her closer. "You're not alone."

Willow grasped Tara's hand, leaning her head on her shoulder. "Thank you."

Footsteps sounded down the basement stairs.

"Ah, there you two are," said Buffy. She stopped halfway down the stairs, looking at them. "Something wrong?"

"Later," Tara told her. "You guys are back already?"

"Yep," said Buffy. "It was…surprisingly easy. Come on, Scooby meeting." She turned and headed back up the stairs.

Tara looked at Willow. "Come on. Let's go see what's what." She stood and pulled Willow to her feet, leading the way upstairs.

When they arrived, the Winchesters, Castiel, Bobby and the Scooby gang were assembled in the living room, Dean holding an ancient, late 1800s Colt revolver in his hands.

"Man, it feels good to hold this thing again," said Dean, staring appreciatively down at the gun.

"So, that's it?" asked Dawn. "That's the Colt?"

"Yep," said Dean.

"How'd you get Crowley to hand it over again?" asked Xander.

"I'm telling ya, the dude just gave it to us," said Dean.

"A demon handed over the one weapon that can kill anything and sicced you on Lucifer?" said Xander. "Does anyone else find that the least bit suspicious?"

"He said he's just looking out for himself," said Sam. "That the devil's just gonna kill 'em all when he wins anyway. Not sure if I believe him, though."

"He's probably just getting Lucifer out of the way so he can have hell all to himself," Anya told them.

Everyone looked at her.

"It's every demon's dream: the lust for power," Anya shrugged. "Except, Crowley's being smart about it. He's having you guys do his dirty work."

"She does have a point," said Giles. "That could be Crowley's ulterior motive."

"Okay, okay, one evil master plan at a time," said Dean. "We'll stop Crowley from taking over hell after we kill the devil." He paused as he did a double take. "I can't believe I just said that."

Sam smiled a little. "Remember when we used to just…hunt wendigos?"

Dean shook his head. "Not really."

"Okay, so, how do we find the devil?" asked Willow.

"Well, Sam is his vessel, right?" said Anya.

"Yeah?" frowned Dean.

"Maybe we could lure him here with Sam," suggested Anya.

Dean stared at her. "Bait?" He glared hard at her. "You wanna use Sam…as bait?" He stepped towards her. "Hell, no!"

"Dean…" said Sam.

"We are not serving Sam up on a platter to that monster!" yelled Dean, still stepping towards her as she backed fearfully away from him.

Buffy stepped up in front of Dean, stopping his advance. "Dean, it was just a suggestion."

"A suggestion?" Dean yelled. "You call that a suggestion?"

"She's only been human for a few years," said Buffy. "She's still learning how everything works."

"It's true," nodded Anya. "I'm very impudent."

"Dean, she's right," said Sam.

Dean frowned and turned back around to face him. "What?"

"Think about it," said Sam. "It's not like Lucifer will come when we call…not unless he thinks he can get something out of it."

Dean stared at him. "Are you insane? The second he knows where you are, he's gonna grab you!"

"Not if we set up a trap," said Sam.

Dean looked over at Castiel. "Can we even do that?"

Castiel nodded. "An angel can be trapped in a circle of holy oil. Once the oil burns, no angel can touch or pass through the flames or he dies."

Sam raised his hand at Castiel. "See? Problem solved."

"You're still not doing it," said Dean.

"Oh, I'm not, am I?" said Sam.

"No, you're not!" said Dean. "Lucifer's not stupid, Sam. He knows we're hunters. He'll be ready for anything."

"Well, then, we need to be prepared to do anything," Sam countered.

Dean narrowed his eyes at him. "I don't know if I like where this is heading."

"Let's face it," said Sam. "You're right. Lucifer's not stupid, which is why we have Plan C: the Horsemen rings."

"Okay…" said Dean.

"But what exactly is the plan for tricking him into the cage?" said Sam. "He won't go easily…not without a little help."

Dean stared at him, not able to believe his ears. "Sam, you can't be serious."

"Just one action, one leap," said Sam.

"Sam, no," Dean told him.

"Um, I'm lost," said Buffy.

"Sam wants to say yes to Lucifer so he can fight back control and jump in the cage," Dean told her.

"What?" exclaimed Bobby, turning towards Sam.

"Look, I'm not gonna do it, not unless we all agree," began Sam.

"Good, that's settled," Dean interrupted.

"But we need to talk about our options," said Sam.

"This isn't an option!" said Dean. "You're talking about possibly giving Lucifer free reign on the world!"

"I didn't say I was gonna say yes," said Sam. "We still have the Colt. We don't know that won't work. We may not have to go to Plan C."

"Well, alright, then," said Dean. "Glad that's solved."

"But if we need the Horsemen rings, promise me we'll at least discuss it," said Sam.

"Sam…" began Dean.

"Dean, please, for once…just trust me," begged Sam.

Dean stared at him, thinking through his answer.

"I'm your brother," said Sam. "Let me help carry the load."

"If we're gonna see this through, we're gonna do it together…"

"I'm doing the right thing for once…"

"You're my brother, and I'd die for you…"

"For once…just trust me…"

Dean sighed, remembering the past they had made back when the shit first started hitting the fan: a clean slate to start trusting each other with. "Fine. We'll talk about it when we get there."

Sam's face lifted in hope and relief. "Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," said Dean. He looked at Castiel. "Think you can keep an eye on Lucifer? Maybe track him down for us? I mean, without putting yourself in danger."

Castiel nodded, turning and disappearing.

"Alright, everybody, get some rest," said Dean. "Be ready to head out any minute." He headed out towards the backyard.

"When exactly did Dean take over the group?" Dawn asked.

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

Bobby headed out onto the back porch, stretching his back before leaning on the railing to watch the sun set.

"Any word from Cas?"

Bobby glanced over to see Buffy sitting on one of the patio recliners. He shook his head. "Nope." He looked back at the sunset.

Buffy stood and joined him at the railing, also staring at the sun. "Willow asked Tara for help."

Bobby frowned over at her. "What?"

Buffy looked at him. "Willow asked for help quitting the magicks."

Bobby brightened and nodded. "Really? What made her change her mind?"

"Actually, I think it was Sam," said Buffy.

Bobby frowned again.

"You know, the whole power-you-can't-really-control-and-ends-up-hurting -people thing," Buffy clarified. "It kinda made her come to, almost."

"Well, good for her," said Bobby, looking back at the sunset, the sky now getting pink and purple.

"She's not looking forward to the detox, though," said Buffy. "Sam's sure didn't look fun."

"Well, Sam's was physical," Bobby said. "His body was full of demon blood. Willow's will be more on the psychological level. She just needs to break that need to use magic."

"Well, let's hope demons don't come for Willow, too," grumbled Buffy.

There was a moment of silence before Bobby stared over at her.

"What?" asked Bobby.

Buffy looked at him. "You know, the demon that tried to feed Sam demon blood and then possessed me."

Bobby frowned at her. "You were possessed?"

Buffy frowned back at him. "Dean didn't tell you?"

"No," said Bobby.

"Well, understandable," shrugged Buffy. "Things have been crazy lately. In the middle of Sam's detox, a demon tried to feed him its blood. Then it tried to go in Trojan horse style and possess me."

"Well, thank God Dean was there to exorcize you," said Bobby.

"Oh, don't worry," Buffy waved off. "It didn't get that far. I kicked her out."

There was silence once again for a moment.

"You what?" asked Bobby.

Buffy looked over at him. "I kicked her out."

"Let me get this straight," said Bobby, turning towards her. "A demon jumped you, and you coughed it back out?"

"Well, it felt more like vomiting, but yeah," nodded Buffy.

Bobby just stared at her with wide eyes.

"What?" said Buffy. "Is that not normal?"

"Exorcizing a demon out of yourself?" said Bobby. "No, that's not normal."

"I thought that was how it went," shrugged Buffy. "Demon gets in, person fights, demon either wins or doesn't."

Bobby shook his head. "That's never how it goes. Demon jumps ya, that's it. Game over."

"Dean mentioned something like that," said Buffy. "He reckoned I could fight it off 'cause I'm the Slayer."

"That makes sense," nodded Bobby. "The Slayer is given the strength to fight the forces of darkness. Makes sense it would be for fighting not just physical battles."

"Well, that settles it," said Buffy. "I can't ever get possessed." She turned and headed back into the house.

Bobby stared at the now mostly dark sky, the conversation rolling around in his head. "Yeah…That settles it."

********************************************SPN/BT VS************************************************ *************

Dean glanced into the living room at Tara holding a shaking Willow on the couch.

"It'll be okay, baby," Tara told her. "It'll pass."

Dean kept going on his way towards the backyard, intent on getting some training in out back in that spacious backyard under cover of darkness.

Sam had turned in for an early night on his cot downstairs, while Bobby had headed back to the motel room they had rented way back when they arrived in Sunnydale. Xander and Anya had gone back to their place while Giles had headed to his own hotel room. Buffy had gone out patrolling while Dawn rested up for school tomorrow.

Dean stepped down the patio and onto the grass, heading over to the middle of the lawn. He spent a good ten or fifteen minutes stretching his arms, legs and back before starting on some practice kicks. He began interspersing punches and backhands into the kicks. He wasn't sure how long he was out there, but he loved the burn spreading through his muscles. It made him feel like he was finally getting something done, not just sitting around and waiting for Castiel or Gabriel's updates.

Dean launched himself into a jump spin kick, turning so far that he landed facing the house. He fell back into a ready stance, preparing himself to do a side kick. Before he could lift his leg, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around him from behind, one at his throat and one at his chest. Dean immediately latched his hands onto the arm digging into his Adam's apple, but he was unable to twist away or lift his arms any further to attack since the second arm was pinned around his upper arms.

"You come out of the house, at night, with no back-up, and no weapons," snarled a voice in his ear. "What a rookie."

Dean raised his leg and brought the heel of his heavy boot back into the guy's knee, knowing instinctively to not hold back, that this guy was not human. He heard a loud crack as the knee caved in a little and the guy yelled, releasing Dean. Dean instantly spun around as the guy clutched his broken knee, the joint bent at an awkward angle, and backhanded him across the face. He then reached into his jacket and pulled out his flask, spinning the cap off and throwing it into the guy's face. The guy yelled, released his shattered knee and clutching at his burning face as smoke flew.

"What was that about no weapons?" said Dean.

The guy snarled up at him, face disfigured in the guise of the vampire.

"Right," said Dean. "Vampire it is, then."

"Oh, you're gonna pay for that one, Slayer," growled the vampire. His gaze fell to the holy water flask in Dean's hand, and he froze. "You're a hunter?"

"Yep," said Dean. "A Slayer and a hunter. It must be your lucky day."

"They made a hunter the Slayer?" said the vampire. "That is so not fair!"

"What can I say?" smirked Dean. "I was made for this job."

Dean launched himself into attack mode, hitting the vampire for all he was worth. The vampire tried fighting back, but the incapacitated knee was too much when faced with a hunter-turned-Slayer. Dean landed a kick right in the vampire's chest, sending him flying ten feet to the ground. He reached out for a branch on the tree next to him, snapping it off with a loud crack.

As the vampire scrambled back to his feet, Dean charged and plunged the stake into his chest. The vampire looked in surprise down at the stake before he exploded into dust. Dean brushed his hands free of the dust, looking down at the lawn.

"That just gets easier and easier," said Dean, looking around in the dark for more threats. "Maybe under cover of darkness wasn't such a good idea."

Dean turned and headed back towards the house. He stepped up onto the patio and made his way towards the open kitchen doorway.

"Are you sure about this?" came Giles' voice from the kitchen.

Dean paused, looking up through the doorway to see Giles and Bobby conversing over the island.

Huh, he thought. I thought they left. Where have they been hiding?

"I mean, how do we know it's going to work?" asked Giles.

Dean hesitated from announcing his presence, intrigued by the conversation.

"We don't," said Bobby. "But I have seen that kid take on demons, werewolves, vampires and all manner of evil. I'll be damned if he can't handle this."

"A lot of this does depend on Dean," said Giles urgently.

Dean frowned, breaking out of his reverie. "What depends on me?"

Both men looked over at him and then shared a look with each other. They both then looked back over at him with slight smiles of hope on their faces.

Dean cocked his head to the side a little in confusion. "Alright, what's going on? It's a little too Apocalypse Now-ish to look this cheerful."

"Well, actually, on that note, we have some news," said Bobby.

"Yeah?" said Dean.

"We think we may have just come up with Plan D," Bobby told him.