Part 3: Cam

Dean was still recovering from his shock of this supposed random encounter with one of Sasha's childhood friends when both he and Cam responded to each other with the same exclamation of, "How do you know me?" to which Cam chuckled maybe a little uncertainly, shoved his hands into his pockets, and shrugged.

"Charis gave a fairly accurate description of you," he said, all unassuming suddenly and with a charming smile, "That and…well. Sasha's pretty distinctive." Cam took one of his hands out of his pocket long enough to give a quick gesture up and down Dean's body.

Distinctive. Dean's lover was certainly that. "Yeah," Dean managed to laugh lightly in reply. That fall into the pit had hurt like hell, but he was far from being as bad off as he had been the night he met Lindsey. "Gotta love that whole 'this meal is already taken' sign, right?" Dean leaned back against the pit wall to catch his breath.

"And what about you?" Cam pressed, both hands in his pockets again. It was hard to believe this young guy who couldn't have been more than 5'8", and looked so remarkably normal compared to most sex demons Dean had met, had two seconds ago looked like a large as life gargoyle. Cam's horns had curled up from his temples instead of going back and then coiling forwards the way Sasha's did. Ordinary as the brunette appeared to look now though did not make Dean lose sight of how defensive Cam's body posture really was.

"I'll be honest," Dean said, trying not to eye his gun that had been knocked to the floor when they fell into the pit, "The stories I've heard about you didn't come with a detailed physical description. But I've, uhh…sorta seen you before."

Cam was understandably confused to hear that.

"Long story," Dean tried to explain, "Memory thing. More like an echo. During a hunt. The incubus boys at fifteen in full-on 3D," he grinned, "You're grown up now, sure, but," Dean gave a shrug, "I could still recognize you."

"Huh," Cam huffed in acknowledgement, "Fifteen, you said? So were we talking Buffy or sex?"

Dean's grin stretched a little more real. "Both?"

"Sounds about right," Cam nodded. He visibly relaxed as he and Dean spoke but he still looked alert enough that if something went bad he would be ready to make a move. Dean figured that was smarter than most people were around him.

Closer than it had sounded before, Dean picked up on the sounds of Sasha and Sam calling for him, "Dean!" he heard clearly, "Dean, where are you! Dean!"

"We should probably get out of the hole," Dean suggested. His eyes had started to adjust to the dark and he could see the entire pit around them now. "You, uhh…mind if I get my gun?" Dean asked, not wanting to make any moves that would give Cam the wrong idea, "I kinda like that one."

Golden brown eyes followed Dean's directed attention to the gun on the floor. Cam gave a little nod towards it like it was no big deal even though the gun obviously made him nervous and said, "Sure. Just so long as you don't mind me keeping a close eye on you while ya do it. Coz, man, you will so owe me a beer if you try to get a shot off."

That had Dean genuinely laughing and pleasantly surprised by this guy when he finally did reach for the gun. And of course he immediately tucked the weapon back into his jeans where it wouldn't be as daunting. He never aimed a gun at someone who didn't give him a reason first.

He could hardly believe the slight fear he could still pick up on from Cam though, friendly as the guy was feigning. As far as Dean was concerned he—the simple human—was the one at the disadvantage.

"Dude," Dean said with a grin as they headed for the steps out of the pit. Cam fell into step beside him. "Way I see it, you owe me a beer after that fall. Hurt like a sonuvabitch."

"How was I supposed to know it was you?" Cam instantly defended. Dean found it amusing how easily they fell into a teasing argument. "All I heard was hunters talking about killing something. I was too freaked to even feel Sasha at first. I feel him now. But hey, most hunters wouldn't be too picky about what they killed after finding an incubus instead of…well, whatever's really killing people around here. Besides," he said as they came to the top of the steps, elbowing Dean in the side like they were old friends, "At least there weren't any chairs or instruments set up in the pit yet. Now that would have hurt."

"Dean!" came Sasha's slightly angry and irritated voice upon almost running into Dean at the top of the steps, "We were calling for you! Didn't you hear us? What happened? Are you…oh…kay…" Sasha trailed as his fervent eyes traveled passed Dean just enough to make out the figure of Cam standing beside him. Sam was behind Sasha, tall and equally shocked looking standing in the dark. Sam didn't know what Cam looked like, but it seemed that he could sense when another incubus was around now so he knew what Cam was.

"Hey," Cam said to Sasha with a little halfhearted wave and crooked smile, "I swear I only banged your boy up a little."

That caught Sasha's attention and he started looking Dean over like he expected to find some sort of gaping wound. "I'm fine," Dean assured him, even though he knew how ineffective him saying those words was on his worrying companions; they never seemed to believe him, "We fell into the pit here and I realized my mistake." Dean pointed his finger Cam's direction like firing a gun. "Not the bad guy."

"So far as you know," Cam said with a wink, but his joke fell flat. Sasha was staring at him a little too intensely for this not to be awkward.

"Cam…" Sasha said in a very soft and somber whisper, "What…what are you doing here?"

Another shrug. "Apparently meeting your boyfriend," Cam joked, but again it was met with no more than a supportive smile from Dean not Sasha. Cam cleared his throat loudly and kicked at the carpeting of the auditorium floor. "Come on, man…where'd you think Charis got all that info from. Her and Lin haven't been anywhere near this place."

"You told Charis about this hunt?" Sasha gaped, "But you hate this kind of stuff. Even before I said I wanted to be a hunter you used to…"

"Say what a waste of time it was?" Cam finished humbly, "Yeah. Go me for the supportive friend award, right? At least I can't say I'm any worse than the others." Again Cam smiled crookedly, all wisecracks and shuffling feet. Dean could relate. "Look," he tried with a slightly more serious ring to his tone as he walked just enough around Dean to stand face to face with Sasha. Dean could see Cam even more clearly now with the emergency lights shining down. All of Cam's spark of life was there in his eyes, just like Sasha, so bright and willful and amazingly gold the way Sasha's were so perfectly blue. "I was kinda hoping we could do this the way we used to," Cam finished.

Dean had no idea what that might mean but Sasha sure seemed to, because the redhead finally cracked a smile, no longer able to hold it back at seeing his old friend. "You mean it?" Sasha said, much more fittingly the Sasha Dean knew and loved; the one that lit up everything when he smiled for real.

Cam nodded with an equally blinding smile and finally pulled his hands from his pockets. "You know I hate grudges. Holding them or having them held over me. Ready?"

"Same rules as always?" Sasha asked.

"Where'd the fun be in it otherwise?"

Now Dean was curious. He got the distinctive feeling that he was looking in on something very personal between the two old friends, though neither of them seemed too worried about having an audience. In fact Dean was pretty sure Sasha had forgotten all about Sam behind him and maybe about Dean right next to him too.

The words Sasha spoke next surprised Dean though if only for how he was smiling as he said them.

"I'm an idiot," the redheaded incubus said firmly.

"I'm an idiot," Cam repeated, and then went right on with, "I was afraid."

"I was afraid," Sasha nodded, his smile still present but more somber as they continued. Dean thought he understood the 'game' now, if it could even be called that. "I thought you hated me," Sasha added next.

"I thought you hated me," Cam clipped right along. Even though what they said was only half the time something they spoke on their own and the other half a repeat of what the other had said first, everything spoken was whole-heartedly meant by both of them. "I missed you so much," Cam continued.

Sasha's eyes were starting to swim. "I missed you so much…but…" Sasha faltered, breaking the pattern. He tried to smile through it but the expression was broken now, "I have no regrets," he said, back in the rhythm they had set, much as part of him seemed pained by those choice of words.

Cam's smile was somber then too but he stretched it false and wide as he said, "Ya got me. That I can't say." He paused, and when he spoke again his voice quaked. "I shouldn't have let you go." He shook his head. "No, I mean, I know you had to go. But not like that. Not with all of us acting like we thought you were gonna stab us in the back the first chance you got just because you wanted to be something we didn't understand. I mean, Jesus…that's what we expect outta them," he said with a gesture at Dean. Then he seemed to realize what he had just implied and made a face. "Sorry. Not you. Just…you know what I mean."

Dean did and he wasn't offended. "Dude," Dean said, "We've had our fair share of run-ins with crazed psychos hunters, some looking to kill my brother Sammy back there and Sasha, including ambushes, torture, and a shit ton of near-death experiences. You can say it. Most hunters are assholes."

This time Dean's words managed to wrangle a laugh out of Cam, real too, or at least realer than his smile. "So you win, Sash," Cam turned back to Sasha, "I do have regrets, and they're all about you. Figured turning you onto this hunt might be a good start to show I'm not so much an idiot anymore. But back to the point," he said, kind of like Dean in that he seemed very anxious to be done with the sentimentality. He wagged a finger at Sasha. "You said same rules as always. I assume you remember what that means."

Sasha grinned deviously.

"Alrighty then," Cam said with a tilt of his head at Dean, "Think he'll kill me for this?"

Dean had all of two seconds to process what that might mean before Cam suddenly swooped forward into Sasha's body and captured the redhead's lips with a deep, passionate kiss.

The temperature felt like it fell ten whole degrees and Dean's heart dropped down to the pit of his stomach with a lead-weight thud. That was one thing he couldn't have been prepared for. Sasha was smiling happily within the kiss and giving just as much back.

Those hands that were supposed to only embrace Dean took hold of Cam's waist and pulled their bodies tight together. Cam was smaller than Dean which made him look even more enveloped by Sasha's larger frame. As the kiss ended—having lasted far too long to be anything but more than friendly—Sasha leaned back and lifted Cam right off the floor, kissing just a little deeper before actually pulling away.

"Mmm…" Sasha hummed contentedly as they parted lips. His arms remained locked around Cam's waist, keeping him lifted off the ground as if he weighed nothing. "I missed you the most, Scarecrow," he grinned as he held Cam up.

"Ah, shut it," Cam shot back, trying not to grin too wide in reply, but it was just the way his smile was, dimples galore, "At least it's better than you calling me Toto, Dorothy."

Sasha laughed. "Oh, I can do better," he promised, finally setting Cam fully down again, "You've always been the one without a brain, Cammy-baby."

"Urg," Cam made a face like Sasha had just said the most distasteful thing possible. Dean agreed. "I missed ya, man," Cam went on, "But I so didn't miss that nickname. Catch and release, alright? Geez." Cam pushed at Sasha's chest to separate them that last little bit and Dean finally felt his senses start to return to him.

The first thing Dean noticed as he came out of his daze was the feeling of Sam's eyes watching him, gauging him for an overreaction probably. But Dean had every right to overreact. He'd just had to stand there and watch his boyfriend make out with another guy! That so wasn't kosher.

The second thing Dean noticed was how tense his body felt, especially after Cam smacked him on the back. Dean was having trouble focusing; he didn't even want to look at Sasha. "Dude," Cam was saying, "Snap out of it. It's just an incubus thing. I'm not trying to steal him."

Hearing Cam speak knocked a little more sense into Dean and he slowly felt the room rematerialize around him as if he had been somewhere else entirely. He could see Cam's wide grin and Sasha's suddenly stricken expression. "Incubus thing?" Dean repeated blandly, fighting to keep the anger out of his voice so Cam wouldn't know how close he was to going through with the brunette's fears and killing him, "I know it can be an incubus thing to suck face and all, but usually he's sucking me." Dean grimaced realizing what that sounded like. "Mine. My lips. God damn it." Dean shrugged off Cam's hand that had moved up to his shoulder. He was just so damn angry his chest ached.

"Dean," Sasha interjected quickly, "It's not what you think. It wasn't a…kiss. I mean, I know it was, but…it's just a spell. A small one. To pass on a whole load of another's emotions in a single go. It's kind of a…rush…but it's not what you're thinking. Really."

Yeah, because the look on Sasha's face when he said 'rush' wasn't something close to rapture. "Then what was it?" Dean spat, the cold he had been feeling before was dropping away and leaving behind scorching heat that flushed his face, "A spell to pass on emotions? What the hell does that mean? And you don't even warn me, you just start going at it?"

"Jealous type, huh?" Cam whispered as an aside to Sasha, who then tried very hard not to smile at the comment. He wasn't very successful.

Dean felt his nails digging into his palms as he maintained too tight fists. He couldn't deny the deep desire swelling up within him to reach back for the gun in his jeans. He just wasn't sure which incubus he wanted to use it on more.

"It's a game," Sasha tried to explain, at least looking like he understood how much trouble he was actually in here, "I wasn't thinking. We used to do it all the time. The spell builds from the affirmations, but they have to be true for both of us. When it gets to something that wouldn't be true for one of us, it ends, and the loser…well, we don't have to do anything really, but Cam and I sort of found out on accident that if we…kiss right after we can overload one of us on all of the emotions built up instead of…sharing it like you're supposed to." Sasha made a face; he knew that didn't exactly sound good. "It's a little…complicated."

No, actually, it wasn't. Dean understood perfectly. It was supposed to be a friendship thing but they had turned it into something else. Cam was the loser so he had passed on to Sasha all of their combined emotions over their reunion like a drug, which seemed more than enough to give Sasha a 'happy'. That wasn't complicated.

"Dean…"

"Whatever," Dean dismissed, turning his eyes away from Sasha. He probably was overacting, feeling as furious as he did, but he still thought he was justified. Incubus ritual thing or not, you don't just go around kissing other guys when you're supposed to be in a relationship. Dean thought the damn mark on him was supposed to mean something.

"Uh…hi. I'm Sam," came the suddenly strange interruption of Sam's voice after too much quiet. Sam extended a hand towards Cam and they shook amiably. "I'm Dean's brother. The one that gets to put up with both of them. All the time. On a regular basis."

Cam snorted at Sam's halting way of saying that. "My sympathies. Charis had only good things to say about you though. Both of you," he included Dean, "Of course I also got the Lindsey version, which basically paints you guys as those same crazed psycho hunters you were talking about who at any moment might kill Sasha in his sleep. But…whacha gonna do? You left me alone with him for almost ten years, man," Cam complained to Sasha, "Brutal punishment. Which I deserved. But still. Oh, and, uhh…" Cam turned back to Sam, "You don't have any plans to follow in your brother's footsteps, do ya? Coz I don't do guys. If it helps," he said with a wink at Dean.

Wait now, Dean thought, what was that?

"Don't think the whole gang didn't try convincing me of the benefits, but, uhh…not all of us are quite so fluid and easygoing about chicks versus dicks like Mr. Kelly here," Cam said with a pat on Sasha's shoulder, "Growing up and trying the real thing didn't change my mind either. To each his own though, right?"

"Cam was always our token straight man," Sasha supplied, since Sam and Dean were both gaping a little, "And I mean that literally. Too picky if ya ask me. Well," he shrugged, "Is it still being picky if you'll sleep with anything with tits?"

"Ha frickin' ha," Cam replied, "I have standards. And those standards are why I'm slumming with you guys tonight instead of getting some. But we'll get to that. An explanation, I mean, not the getting some," he grinned, patting Dean on the back again, "You two can save the getting some for when you're alone. Meanwhile, we should probably split. The security guy is bound to waddle this way soon, and I can tell ya you won't find anything just looking over the place at night. Been trying the same for a week. I was here half an hour before you guys showed up tonight even and nothing. Course I don't have one a those things," he said, pointing at Sasha's EMF that he had pulled back out of his pocket.

"Nothing's blipping anyway," Sasha shrugged, "So no ghosts."

"I thought for sure it would be something like that," Sam said, sounding almost disappointed, "Old theatre and all. Something classic like that, you know, something…Phantom-esque can be sort of…" Sam shrugged.

"Romantic?" Dean finished with a taunting eyebrow.

Sam shot his brother a look. "Anyway…I like Cam's suggestion. We should probably go."

"Yeah," Dean agreed, but his arm shot out to grab Cam before anyone could really start moving, "But, uhh…just so we're clear," he said, "You never sleep with guys? Like…ever?"

This reaction from Dean seemed to be expected. Cam smiled, not a grin or smirk this time, but a genuine quirk of his lips that reached up to his eyes and made Dean trust him completely. "No. I like the ladies. I love ol' Sasha here, of course, but…not the way you do. Man. They weren't lying when they wrote 'for stern as death is love'. You've got it bad." Cam turned so he was more side by side with Dean and elbowed him again. "Guess I should take that as a good thing. Means I won't have to kill you. And Lindsey had asked so nicely too." Cam grinned more teasingly again and Dean couldn't help liking the guy.

Overall, Dean was starting to feel a lot better about things as they left the main auditorium to sneak their way out of the building, but he was still a little sore after seeing Sasha kiss someone else like that, especially with how much the redhead had looked to be enjoying himself. A rush of pure emotions had to be a pretty crazy high, kind of like generic feeding from affection only really intense.

Sometimes it unnerved Dean that he understood all of the incubus stuff so well.

Once they were a safe enough distance from the campus and the Impala was almost in sight, Sasha sidled up to Dean and bucked him with his shoulder. "You're not mad anymore, right?" he asked, all puppy eyes and with a pout on those full, enticing lips, "It's just been so long, I didn't even think that it would bother you. I don't want you ever thinking I want someone else, Dean," Sasha assured him, "I don't. I've always wanted this. One person just for me and no one else. Like…like my parents had."

Dean felt a vice of that old tension grip his spine and climb painfully up the back of his neck. "Geez. Can you maybe…back off a little with the declarations of love and forever?" Dean said without thinking. He hated himself for it the second he saw Sasha's hurt expression. Dean was glad that Sam and Cam—that was going to get annoying to say—were a little ahead of them chatting about something. "Knock that off," Dean growled below his breath, "I'm not saying go away. I want you close and with me. Period. Why else would seeing you kiss Cam drive me so crazy? But even if I'm all for you leaving this mark on me, and I know Charis made some good points earlier…it still kinda freaks me out. I know what's going through your head. It's not like you try to hide it. You want forever. An incubus forever. So…what if I can't give that to you?"

It was something Dean had been steeling himself for some time to say out loud. He had been thinking it for a long time and he always knew it would put at least a small wall between him and Sasha. Dean could see that wall pushing them apart already, clear and present in Sasha's shimmering blue eyes. "You don't…want forever?" Sasha asked quietly.

"I don't know what I want," Dean spoke up quickly, "I know I want you. But my mind doesn't go much beyond that. You've never even asked if I want to be an incubus. You just assume that's where things will eventually lead. What if I don't want that? What if I like the way I am just like this—Dean Winchester, human hunter?"

The expression on Sasha's face proved that things were turning out just as Dean had feared. He had wanted to explain this when the whole thing got brought up in the car, but he didn't want to have to crush Sasha any further in front of Sam and Charis. This was something they needed to talk out alone.

"Sasha," Dean sighed, and then grabbed Sasha's wrist and brought them both to a stop. Sam and Cam could walk on a little ways without them. Dean pulled Sasha to face him directly and looked straight and steady into those pained, adoring eyes. "I love you," Dean said without hesitation, "You feel that, right?"

A small smile crept into Sasha's otherwise anguished face and he nodded. "I feel that."

"So believe it," Dean said firmly, "You just…you can't expect so much outta me. I'm not as good of a person as you like to think. I'm selfish. I lie. I'd let a little kid fall to his death if it was a choice between him and saving you or Sammy. I'm no hero. See me off that pedestal for a minute and then tell me if you want forever."

"Dean," Sasha laughed and shook his head, "I don't have you on a pedestal. I told you I didn't want perfect. You're much better than perfect. I don't need a hero. I can take care of myself. I'm not looking for anything more than you. But I gotta tell you, Dean, even off that pedestal you're one helluva good guy. You need to stop seeing yourself so low. You're not. Maybe you are selfish and you lie once in a while. But wanting to protect me and Sam over everybody else doesn't make you a bad person. So I can tell you truly, yes, I want forever. You can't convince me otherwise. If you don't know whether you can give me that then…well…then I can wait for you." Sasha smoothed a hand over Dean's cheek and back into his short hair. "You're worth that."

Dean's breath hitched as Sasha brushed back his hair with his fingertips. He couldn't help leaning into the touch. Dean didn't know how Sasha always managed to say the exact, perfect right thing, but he did. Every time.

I can wait for you.

It was the one thing no one else had ever been able to say to him.

"Yo! You guys having a moment back there or what!" shouted Cam from all the way up where the Impala was parked. Dean could see Sam cringing beside the brunette incubus since they were in a residential area and it was well after midnight.

"Right," Dean said to no one; there always had to be interruptions, "So…we good here? I feel like I keep saying that lately but I…I just need to know that we're on the same page. I can't even…think about life passed the deal right now. I can hope. I'll let myself hope, okay, but that's it. Even afterwards, if we manage to fix things…I don't know…I just don't know what I…"

"Dean," Sasha said in a low but commanding tone, "You don't have to know. The one thing you got right before was that I do expect too much. Loving you…and you loving me…that's enough. For now that's enough."

Dean heard clearly that added for now, but he did agree that it was enough. Knowing that Sasha would wait for him was more than enough.

They caught up with Cam and Sam before Cam could start anymore yelling down the street and realized that they weren't exactly sure where they were going or what they planned to do. For a minute they all just stood around the outside of the Impala waiting for someone to make a suggestion.

"Well," Cam finally shrugged, "There's this liquor store open late not far from here. We can head back to your hotel for a bit. Gotta catch each other up on things anyway, right?" Cam was all toothy grins with those dimples, more localized than Sam's like tiny little dips in his cheeks. He was also talking beer and going back to their place for discussing things.

Dean could admit it; Cam was definitely growing on him.

"You have a steady?" Sasha gaped, opening his third beer since the first two had come and gone during talks of what each other had been up to. Sam and Dean had interjected several times about their recent trials as well. It was sort of like going through the day with Charis again, only much simpler and frankly more comfortable. Dean would always take bullshitting with a few beers over nice conversation over coffee.

"Don't say it like that," Cam grimaced, sprawled out on one of the beds with his third beer as well, "Are we from the fifties? So I've been having regular sex with this chick. So what? I like her. She's cool. But we're just having a good time. I'm not looking for anything permanent here."

"Does she know that?" Sam had to ask. Of course he was the one person sitting at the table, onto at least beer two but also doing research while they chatted. Dean figured he didn't have to give Sam a hard time as long as the kid was at least halfway relaxing and enjoying himself.

Cam had long since kicked off his shoes and pulled his feet up onto the bed to sit cross-legged. Dean was sitting on the other bed next to Sasha. "Dude," Cam said to Sam, "She's the one who insisted. She's all anti-relationship. Never wants to get married. Hates it when guys say 'I love you'. Total turn off for her. She's twenty-four. A year out of college. She doesn't want to get settled." Cam sighed in appreciation. "They just don't make enough chicks like that."

A snort left Dean almost on reflex. "You mean ones who can lie that well?" he snarked. Cam cast him a questioning look and Dean sat up a little straighter on the bed. "I'm just saying. Push comes to shove, she's gonna want you to stay. Never fails."

Rather than get all uppity about that, Cam just chuckled and shook his head. "Let's forget for a second, Dean-O, that I can read her better than the average schmuck, thank you heritage," he said to the ceiling, "And let's just say…you'll have to meet her. And you will. Meet her. She's been really helpful. With the research. Not exactly my thing. She's all into this 'occult' stuff, so she says."

Sam groaned none too subtly from his laptop.

"The not so annoying kind of goth chick, okay," Cam clarified, "Like I said, her brother's a senior at the school. She turned me onto the hunt. I'm not the type to go looking for this stuff. But I'm not about to turn the other cheek if I run into it. The kid's been helpful too. You'll wanna talk to both of them."

"Did he have an encounter?" Sasha asked, "Lose a friend or something?"

Cam made a slightly amused face and bit his lip. "Not exactly," he said, "Just freaked. He's in the musical. Lead guy even. Figures if things don't get solved soon he might be next."

"I think the school website has things wrong," Sam commented. He had been browsing through about five different windows at a time from what Dean could see and was now looking at the school's webpage on the musical. "It says the role of Daniel, the leading male character, is being played by Evelyn Taylor."

"That's him," Cam nodded with a smirk, "Poor kid. Made me think of you, Sash."

Dean expected a good barb to be thrown back at Cam in reply, but Sasha took an easier route and just raised his middle finger in Cam's direction.

Cam laughed. "Everyone calls him Leven. Teachers too. Only one who doesn't is his sister."

"Your girl," Dean surmised.

"Wade," Cam clarified, "Their parents liked the whole gender neutral idea apparently."

Dean couldn't help noticing the past tense Cam used there. "Parents gone?" he had to ask. It could always be relevant somewhere down the line.

"House fire," Cam said, "A few years ago. Wade was at school. Their dad got Leven out but when he went back in for their mom…" Cam trailed and it was obvious he didn't need to actually finish that sentence.

Mention of a house fire that killed off the parents and left the kids—especially if it was a mother who died—always got Dean's gears going. His eyes met Sam's across the room, both thinking the same thing. Dean knew Sam would ask before he had to. "Was it just the two of them? Or…did they have another sister or brother?"

Cam looked at Sam like maybe he had grown another head. "Just them. Woulda mentioned otherwise. Why?"

"No reason," Sam said right away.

They had explained to Cam to some extent Sam's powers, just not all the gory—and they were gory—details. Knowing the whole truth themselves, however, had made both Sam and Dean wonder whether or not that house had a six month old baby inside it when the fire started. They had managed to save one family from falling to their same fate, long ago when they rescued that little baby girl from being the YED's next victim. But that also told them that Yellow Eyes had been over-prepared with other generations of special children waiting in the wings, maybe from long before too.

It often made Dean wonder if they would ever come across someone else with Sam's abilities. They had discussed that once and were fairly certain that the only generation to ever be truly triggered was Sam's. Dean just hoped they weren't wrong.

"So are you going to help out now that we're here?" Sasha asked Cam, scooting to the edge of the bed closer to where Cam was sitting on the other one, "We could always use the help. And you know the area. And the people. And I thought maybe—"

"Sash," Cam cut in with a raised hand to silence his friend, "You know I hate this stuff," he said, to which Sasha's expression immediately fell, "And…you should also know that there is no way I can stay out of it now. I'm too involved. It would kinda put a damper on things if the girl I'm boinking's brother croaked. Besides, I like the kid. I figure I can help you out a little. Just this once." Cam's deliberate humility was obvious but also much appreciated.

At least it had to be appreciated judging by Sasha's blinding answering grin. Dean almost expected the redhead to tackle Cam back onto the other bed with a crazed hug. "It's addictive," Sasha said like a threat, "You won't want to stop. It feels good to help people."

"Yeah, well, it feels good to help yourself too," Cam shot back, "Don't get your hopes up. Hey, Dean," he called, grabbing another bottle from the floor to toss in Dean's direction, "You're looking a little low." He chucked the bottle the couple feet to the other bed and Dean caught it easily.

"Thanks," Dean said with an appreciative nod. He had already thought he would like Cam back during his mini-encounter in the Animus House. The bronze incubus—more golden tan than Sasha's pale skin—hadn't really changed that much it seemed, other than being older and a little taller. Not much taller though. 5'8" wasn't all that short of course but Cam just seemed overall smaller being compared to the three larger hunters in the room.

Dean couldn't deny enjoying that a little.

"Alright, so level with me," Dean said as he popped open his new beer, "Lindsey really ask you to kill us? Or just to kill me?" Dean smirked around the mouth of his bottle and took a pull.

A brown eyebrow quirked Dean's direction and Cam grinned sideways. "He didn't mean it. All talk that one, believe me."

"You mean Lindsey actually said that?" Sasha was thoroughly affronted.

"Uh, come on. It's not like he said, 'Hey, Cam, wanna knock these two guys off for me?' It was more like 'We'd all be better off if those hunters with Sasha were dead.' Typical Lindsey bullshit. He wouldn't actually go after them, you know that," Cam said to Sasha.

Once again Sasha's face looked suddenly stricken and Dean completely understood why. "But I don't know that," Sasha dissented, "I don't know anything. It's been almost ten years since we were friends, Cam. People change."

That brought on a moment of silence, but eventually Cam assured Sasha with, "Yeah, people change. But not as much as you think." He had an average sounding voice for a guy, but when he spoke gently like that it just sounded lower. "We haven't changed that much, Sash. Lindsey would have reacted just like this back in the day. And you do know that. He misses you, man," Cam grinned, "He's just more violent about it than I am."

Dean chuckled darkly. "And yet both of you gave me bruises," he said, rolling his sore shoulders from having fallen into the orchestra pit.

"Hey, I paid for the beer," Cam defended, "And geez. You have any idea how crazy this is for me? Sharing a few beers with hunters?" Cam gave a long whistle. "Where we come from," he included Sasha, "That's close enough to suicide." The comment was meant as a joke of course, but it fell a little flat when the only response was silence.

Sam was the one who finally asked the question, looking up over the top of his laptop. "Are you still afraid of us?"

Almost instantly, the comedian in Cam melted from his face, leaving behind a very young looking and unsure expression. Golden brown eyes stared at Sam, at Dean, and finally at Sasha. Dean hoped they all looked as unthreatening as he was trying to present himself. And then suddenly Cam's smile returned and he shrugged before taking another drink. "Maybe. But not tonight."

It was late—magic hour late—when Cam finally left. He had a place in town. Small. Cheap. It was the way he liked to live his life, sticking around one place long enough to try out several different part-time jobs for fun, get an apartment, and work his way through as many conquests as possible without having to move every single week. Being in the same place for months though, and feeding from the same girl for that long too, was still rare.

Sam wanted a real look at the police reports the next day in case anything big or important had been covered up. Tomorrow he would hit the police station alone while Sasha and Dean went to the school. The three of them would meet up with Cam when school got out to talk more directly with Cam's girl Wade and her brother Evelyn.

Once they figured out what they were dealing with Cam agreed to help kill or banish whatever it was. Dean could tell the guy was nervous about that like maybe he thought Sam and Dean were going to try and set up some kind of 'accident' for him. As far as Dean knew they didn't have any reason to do that. Dean liked Cam. He hoped the feeling was starting to be mutual.

That kiss before still bothered him though. All that emotion. Dean couldn't help feeling a little unnerved by the whole thing.

Sam was already asleep after staring at his laptop for so long, and Sasha and Dean were finally getting into bed. Dean tried to be nonchalant as they pulled the covers back and he asked, "So that, uhh…spell thing you and Cam did before?"

The knowing look Sasha regarded Dean with proved that he wasn't being quite as nonchalant as he had hoped. "Yes?"

"It's nothing, I just…wondered…" Dean sat on the edge of the bed, glad that he had to whisper so they wouldn't wake up Sam, because it was easier to say this in hushed tones, "Why haven't you ever tried doing that with me?" Fuck that sounded needy, but Dean had to ask. It seemed as intimate a thing as sharing the circuit.

The way Sasha's smile faded and he sank slowly down onto the mattress in likeness of Dean made a tiny ball of iron harden in Dean's gut. "I…can't," Sasha said like he was horribly ashamed of that fact, "It's just that…errr…well…you see it's only a…a…"

"An incubus thing?"

"Yeah," Sasha admitted softly, "If I could…"

Dean waved a hand dismissively, peering over his shoulder at Sasha sitting on the other edge. "It doesn't matter. I'm…I'm happy things are working out. I know Lindsey's being a pain but I'm sure they'll get him eventually too. I'm glad you can…be with your real friends again."

Sasha blinked at Dean like he didn't understand. "My real friends?" he repeated with something close to a sneer. He lifted his legs up onto the bed and scooted across the mattress closer to Dean. Arms wrapping around Dean's waist, all it took was a good tug and Sasha had Dean fully up on the bed too, pulled back tight against his chest. "You and Sam are my real friends, Dean. No less real than any old ones," he whispered against Dean's ear, his breath dusting it gently enough to make Dean shiver, "You told me you and Sam could never replace them and that's true. But they can't replace you either. There's a special little Dean-shaped part of my heart and your name's written all over it."

That just sounded so unbelievably ridiculous that Dean started giggling, regardless of Sam being asleep in the other bed. "You are such a fucking sap," he teased, "Do you think before you speak that bullshit?"

Sasha chuckled against the side of Dean's face, holding him close, and planted a kiss just beneath Dean's right ear. The lights were all off but Dean could still see when a little of that bright red hair slipped into his vision. "Not with you, Dean," Sasha said, "I don't think at all with you. I just feel." And true to that sentiment, Sasha turned Dean in his arms, letting his fingers graze the skin at Dean's waist, and kissed Dean firmly on the lips when they were facing each other.

Dean shuddered from somewhere deep inside himself. Damn sharing a room. "Still love me, baby?" he asked when they parted, only half serious. His eyes were closed and he hovered close enough to feel Sasha's warm breath on his lips.

"Even if you leave me, Dean."

That answer pulled Dean's eyes open. Sasha was looking at him with those too blue eyes, with all that love they always shone with, but there was sorrow too. That old sorrow that Sasha used to wear when he thought Dean could never share his feelings. Part of Dean hated to hear an answer like that, but another part understood that for Sasha that answer was the most permanent one he could possibly offer Dean, one Dean wouldn't be able to dismiss. Dean would have scoffed in disbelief if Sasha had said 'forever'.

Dean also understood that Sasha meant those words for more than just the possibility of Dean going to Hell in a few months. That stung a little. But then Dean Winchester wasn't usually known for sticking around.

Despite all that, he responded the only way he could. He kissed the incubus again, slow and sweet, and said, "Good. Me too." Now all Dean had to do was make sure 'leaving' never happened.

Getting access to the school was so easy Dean felt sorry for the kids that were at the mercy of such stupid school officials. Sure it had a metal detector—which Cam had warned them about so Dean knew to leave even his ankle blade behind, much to his chagrin—but they were only at the main doors. Not very helpful when the average hunter could easily breech schools grounds at twelve A.M. without hassle.

Dean didn't like being unarmed. Sure, he was wicked with hand-to-hand but he liked his guns and his knife and his ankle blade. They couldn't even bring in the EMF meter, not that it had been all that useful the night before, but still. Dean felt completely naked as they walked the halls leaving the principal's office. They had stopped to pick up their guest passes, wholly believed as Private Investigators hired anonymously by parents. Put a little fear into a school board, especially a private one that they might lose students—and more importantly money—and they acquiesce to anything.

The plan was to head to the auditorium, this time legitimately, and speak with whoever was available, while also getting a better look around by the light of day. There would be drama club students and faculty in and out all morning and afternoon, and even more so later in the evening when there was practice. Hanging out in a school wasn't Dean's usual idea of fun, but they had complete autonomy for a change. Free reign was nice.

"At least they don't wear uniforms," Dean grumbled. The kids they passed all looked average enough, not like little rich kid brats or anything. Dean and Sasha were also dressed in their normal attire—jeans, T-shirts, and their leather. One of the perks of conning as a P.I. was that you were expected to blend in not look like a cop.

"Wow," Sasha commented as they side-stepped yet another kid with an overstuffed backpack running for class, "This place sure is hectic for having so few students."

"Fifteen hundred is few to you? Your 'graduating class' was six."

Sasha laughed and rolled his eyes at Dean. Somehow even that came off as loving. "Let's talk to people as they come and go through the auditorium. When it's slow we can look around. The kids are going to be our best bet, since teachers might help with covering things up. Of course that will also increase our tall tales quotient." They had reached those same double doors from last night. Sasha pushed one of them as they went forward and held it open for Dean behind him.

"Jesus." Talk about different world. Whereas the auditorium had been dead and colorless in the dark last night, now it was bustling and filled with energy. The seats were a dark teal and fairly new—the entire building was—and the stage's curtain was a deep red. There was still no set of course, but the stage was full anyway, covered every inch in various shaped, aged, and sized dancers. "They actually set aside time for this stuff during school hours?" Dean said, "It would have been a cold day in Hell before that happened at any of the places I went to school."

They stood just inside the doors and watched for awhile. Dean was impressed—or maybe disturbed—by the large turnout of boys among the dancers. There were a few students milling about in the auditorium chairs, some doing homework, and a few discussing things over clipboards, probably about the up and coming set.

"Well, we might as well grab someone and start in," Dean suggested. The dean of the school had asked if they wanted some sort of formal announcement made so that students would know they had the potential for being questioned. That had been a definite no. Besides knowing it was better to catch people when they hadn't been over-thinking their answers, low profile was always better. Surely, the dean would let the teachers know but they could still catch the students raw. There was no way to know whether or not who or what they were looking for was one of the students themselves.

"Okay," Sasha nodded, "I suppose we could start off with—ouff!" Sasha cut off abruptly as if he had suddenly been jumped. When Dean turned swiftly at the sound of Sasha struggling he realized that his first assumption wasn't entirely wrong. An older dancer that had been practicing in the back had just twirled his way right into Sasha, knocking them both to the ground.

Mr. Dancer was sprawled on top of Sasha once they hit the floor, wearing a T-shirt and sweats. He was also barefoot, but that's not what Dean noticed most. The kid had a shock of turquoise hair.

Dean smirked. He was lucky he hadn't tumbled down with them, having been so close.

"Oh my god!" the teenage boy cried, "I'm so sorry. I didn't even see you." He had a very distinctive sound to his voice, Dean noticed. He wasn't quite sure what it was though. Then the kid said, "Oh…hey," smiling down suggestively at Sasha when he finally managed to lift himself up. He was nose to nose with the redhead and mostly on top of him still. "Never mind. You can break my fall any day."

A few things clicked in Dean's head then, mainly that there was something very disturbing about what the kid had just said. Of course Sasha was laughing jovially like nothing was creepy about a teenage dancer boy hitting on him. "I think I caused your fall more than broke it," Sasha said.

"Either way," the kid said dreamily. Actually dreamily. Like with a dreamy quality to it.

"Okay, jailbait," Dean said maybe a little firmer than necessary, "I think it's about time you let the redhead up off the floor." Dean reached a hand down to help the kid up, more to get him off of Sasha than anything. Of course the kid just had to go and give him this shit-eating grin like he had no idea he had been doing anything wrong. At least he took Dean's hand and got up as asked. Sasha crawled to his feet sooner after.

"If either one of you is a new drama teacher or something, I'm even more excited to be in this show," the kid grinned, this time giving Dean the once over. It made Dean more than a little uncomfortable. Dean wasn't one to judge or anything but the kid was pretty well flaming and it made the elder Winchester squeamish. Sasha was all open and forward about his sexuality, yeah, but it was a whole different ballpark. Being blatantly flirted with by a teenager was also unsettling.

"I think we're a little old for you," Sasha stated the obvious, still completely unruffled and smiling.

"I'll be eighteen in a month," the kid said hopefully.

Okay, this was making Dean nauseous. "Hands off the merchandise," he said, pulling Sasha into his side and away from the overeager kid, "We're hear to ask questions about all the accidents happening at the school, not get picked up for statutory rape, okay? Does being this forward usually work for ya?"

Whatever adhesive had been keeping the kid's smile in place it started to fail. He renewed it valiantly, but Dean had still seen the slip. "Like it would make a difference," he tried to say dismissively, "So you're Cam's friends, huh? That explains it," he said with another perusal up and down both their bodies.

Dean was reminded of the Lutin, who hadn't actually been a teenager, nor had he actually ever hit on Dean intentionally, but it still made him feel squicky. "Cam mentioned us, huh?" Dean said. He decided that ignoring those disturbing glances was the best way to go.

The kid shrugged. "Said he was calling in the big guns. Guess that's you." His eyes flicked over Dean again appreciatively. "I see what he meant."

Something closed off in Dean's throat and he felt his whole face flush. He was fully bent on turning that heat into fuel for anger rather than embarrassment when Sasha laughed loudly for distraction and squeezed Dean's arm tight.

The kid wasn't bad looking. He was a dancer, after all, and Dean actually kind of liked the turquoise hair. But he was a kid. Seventeen even.

"So I'm guessing that makes you Evelyn," Sasha said, still clutching Dean's arm to hold him back from smacking the kid upside the head, "Or, uhh…Leven, right? That's what you prefer."

"Please," Leven said with an over-exaggerated hand gesture, "Only S.W. can get away with calling me otherwise."

"S.W.?" Sasha questioned.

Leven smirked. "Sister Wade. Behold the irony, coz she may be my sister but she's no nun. And thank god or poor Cam would go to waste. Nice to know that not all the hot ones are straight though," he winked at both of them.

Dean's instincts were to refute that but considering his jealous routine it was probably fair game that he had given himself away. At least in relation to Sasha.

"I'll have to answer your questions later though," Leven said, walking down a row to pick up his bag off one of the chairs, "Sadly, I have regular class. Psych though, so bearable. I'll catch you two later?" He walked up to them again to get to the doors and stopped just beside Dean—a little too close—and whispered, "Leave the stagehands til last. They practically live here. Me you can have any time. Bye!" he finished brightly, and then was out the doors in a flash of blue/green, still barefoot.

After Leven left it took Dean a full minute to come back to himself. Sasha's laughter helped. "Okay, he's pretty awesome," Sasha was saying, "Cute and a class act. There's hope for the human race yet."

Dean's first thought process in response to that was 'huh?' "Did we just meet the same kid? Jailbait practically threw himself at us."

"Not us," Sasha grinned, nudging Dean in the side, "He pretty much forgot all about me after getting a look at you. Ruffled your manly feathers a bit, did he?" Sasha accompanied that with a swift rustle of Dean's short hair.

Dean hated when people messed with his hair, but he had the strongest urge not to fuss over it right now. "Shut up. It's creepy," he shuddered, "I'd be just as freaked if he had been a seventeen-year-old chick."

"Liar," Sasha laughed, "You'd have been flattered. You're just uncomfortable around the more…outgoing. Is it so wrong to be comfortable in your own skin? It's nice to meet someone who isn't trying to hide anything."

Finally, it was Dean's turn to laugh at Sasha. "Dude, we didn't just meet the same kid if you think that. Were you paying attention? This is high school." Dean added a patronizing pat on Sasha's shoulder and gestured with his free arm to the stage of faltering young dancers. "Everyone's hiding something."

tbc...

A/N: Falling asleep... Any good? Glad to know you're still all out there. :-)

Crim