Part 7: Christo

Just after three AM Dean woke up and could not get back to sleep. He stared at the ceiling for half an hour trying to clear his mind, to think of nothing so he could just sleep because he knew how tired he would be in the morning if he didn't. By three-thirty Dean just thought, fuck it, and he was out of bed, slipping on his shoes over sockless feet and putting on his jacket over his T-shirt and sleep pants before a single other restless minute could pass. He had almost stepped outside the hotel room before a much better idea struck him.

"Sasha…" Dean whispered, having pretty much climbed right on top of the incubus to rouse him, "Hey. Wake up, baby, come on." Dean still had his jacket and shoes on but he was straddling Sasha's hips anyway. This gave the drowsy incubus a very different idea of what Dean was after.

Sasha groaned as he came to and suddenly pulled Dean tight on top of him, his eyes barely slits to show that he was only somewhat awake. "Mmm…'kay," Sasha mumbled, "But Sammy'll…kill us if he catches us again." Then Sasha was kissing Dean sloppily and deep with his hands sliding down Dean's buttocks to pull the smaller man down against his own hips firmly.

A tremble traveled from within Dean's belly immediately south and remained there quivering. That was tempting. But not what Dean had in mind. He gasped for air, nearly laughing as he pulled from Sasha's kiss. "Not that, you horn-ball sex freak," Dean chuckled, "Something else." Dean peeled himself away from Sasha's hold. "Come on, get up."

"M'not a…sex freak," Sasha grumbled with a sleepy pout, eyes still barely half open, "I need it. Jerk." Sasha made to roll over then and dug his head into the pillow beneath him.

"I was just teasing," Dean mended, though he was still laughing because the childlike whine to Sasha's tone was just too cute, "Now come on already, you have to get up. Got a surprise for ya," Dean added playfully.

That seemed to do the trick. Sasha turned his head and blinked at Dean several times to wake himself more fully. He took in the sight of Dean's jacket and then the shoes as Dean swung his legs over the side of the bed so he could sit on the edge. "Where are you going?" Sasha asked, more awake now but still groggy. He was frowning.

Dean couldn't have that. "We," Dean clarified, "And we are going out. Grab your jacket and shoes if ya want 'em." Sasha was only wearing sweatpants otherwise but he was more resilient to the cold than the average human. Dean grabbed both of Sasha's hands and pulled the redhead up into a sitting position. "So come on, Sleeping Beauty. No arguing allowed."

Not two minutes later they were halfway up the stairs to the roof. It was kept locked but that wasn't any trouble for Dean. Sasha had indeed grabbed both his jacket and shoes, but remained shirtless. Dean thought it was crazy sexy the way Sasha's pale chest looked only half-covered by the dark, open leather jacket.

The incubus was still rubbing at his eyes when Dean got the roof door open and stepped out into the night air, leading Sasha right to the edge to look out over the cityscape of Pittsburgh. It was a clear night, which made it colder, but the chill in the air helped Dean feel wide awake. He looked over at Sasha and saw that the redhead was staring at him with a perplexed but amused expression.

"You know, I half expected there to be one of those cheesy romance movie rooftop dinner things set up," Sasha teased, "What are we doing up here, Dean? You didn't just wake me in the middle of the night to stargaze in our pajamas." All of a sudden Sasha looked worried he might have offended Dean. "You didn't, did you?"

Dean cracked a wider smile and shook his head. "No," he assured his friend. Dean looked down over the edge of the building and for a second the long drop made his throat clench. There were taller buildings than this one; their hotel was only six stories. Right now they were standing on the edge to the back of the building that fell away to an alley. It looked the right width to Dean. "This high enough and enough room for your wingspan?" Dean asked with a gesture to the alley below.

Now Sasha looked utterly confused. He gazed down where Dean was indicating. "Uhh…I guess so. Sure."

Dean took a deep breath. He could totally do this. "Good," Dean managed to grin, stepping up onto the ledge and turning around so that his back was facing the long drop down, "Then come and get me."

Without an ounce of fear showing on his face, Dean leaned back as easily as if he was falling into bed and dropped right off the edge of the building. That horrible free-falling feeling that Dean hated and should have remembered he hated had hold of him before he could think what an utterly idiotic idea this was.

Of course Dean hadn't dropped more than a couple stories before Sasha caught him.

"Dean!" Sasha cried out, wholly awake now with his voice sounding that familiar though angry growl, "Are you crazy! What were you thinking!" The incubus' unveiled wings caught a current in the wind and lifted them back up to the height of their building, flying high above much of the city as he circled, waiting to land.

The beat of Dean's pulse was erratic and painful beneath his breast but he was grinning. He clung to the now white chest of his lover, feeling warm and completely encased in Sasha's strong arms that held him with gentle talons. Dean didn't really know what he had been thinking; it just seemed like something he needed to do at some point so he figured why not get it over with. "No big deal," Dean dismissed, even though his voice shook a little, "You caught me."

Sasha growled low and warning in reply. "And what if I hadn't? What if I had been too tired to act quick enough or…or I thought I had enough room but I didn't, or…or I don't know what else, Dean, but there could have been a million things that might have gone wrong. Why did you do that?"

"I guess…I just wanted to remind myself you could."

"Could what?" Sasha snapped.

"Save me."

Large gargoyle-like feet touched down on the rooftop and Dean met solid footing soon after. Sasha just held Dean out in front of him for a minute, all perfect stark colors—red, black, and white—with those glinting fangs, curled horns, and dangerous claws that somehow didn't look dangerous at all. "Dean…" Sasha said softly, the growl only in his voice because he really couldn't help it being there a little, "I'll always save you. Of course I will. But that doesn't mean you have to give me extra opportunities to prove it."

"Sorry," Dean said genuinely, "I was really just trying to give us some flying time again. It's been a while, and I know how much you love it."

Sasha raised both red eyebrows in questioning. "Yeah, and you hate it. I mean Jesus, Dean, you just dove off a building. You're supposed to be afraid of flying. And heights a lot of the time. What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing, I…" Dean shook his head; he didn't want to start a fight but he could feel anger rising to the surface, "Can't I want to spend time with you alone that isn't just us falling into bed those rare occasions we get our own room? We're either in the car with Sam, in our room with Sam, on a case with Sam. I love my brother but I deserve a little quality incubus alone time that isn't just about sex. Not that I don't always want quality time to end in sex, I'm just saying." Dean shrugged, feeling a little silly for all this but he figured if he had to be awake at three in morning then he might as well get some use out of the time. He and Sasha never got to just be together. Not just them. Not like that night so long ago now when they shared beer and conversation over Slither.

Snippy as Dean's words had been, Sasha did not look at all angered anymore. His fangs glistened into a grin. "You want a…date?" he almost laughed, "I guess you're right that we haven't really had much time alone, and…I know you're thinking we need to use all the time we have since…well, since the deal's end is getting closer, but that shouldn't mean anything because you just proved I can save you and god damn it I am going to save you from that too, Dean." Sasha took a breath. "Sam and I aren't going to let you go. We'll storm our way into Hell ourselves if we have to."

Oh no you won't, Dean wanted to say, because that was the very least thing he wanted from either brother or friend, but he really didn't want to get back into fight mode. "Alright, alright," he appeased, "But that doesn't mean this isn't a good idea. You said so yourself once, remember? What if today is all we get—for whatever reason. If it is…then I don't wanna waste it."

It seemed like the right moment to grab the incubus behind his pointy ears and pull him down into a kiss, especially if it ensured Sasha would shut up about all that. Dean only wanted to think about now. Tonight. Anything beyond that made his chest ache and that was just inexcusable.

Dean felt the prick of fangs on his lips as they kissed. Sasha didn't shift back to human, still in all his incubus glory even when they pulled apart. As always Dean was glad that the wings and all that went with them were still out and visible.

"Come on," Dean grinned, pulling from Sasha's hold and darting to the edge of the building again, "Let's find a better roof. Unless you just want me to dive off again."

A brief look of panic passed over the white face and glowing red eyes. "Once was more than enough. So does this mean you're facing your fears with me, Winchester?" Sasha asked evenly.

There was no point in denying it. "Everyday, Kelly. And a lot of ones I never should have been afraid of to begin with. You ready?" Truthfully, Dean did not want to just let himself fall off the edge of the building again. He could do without that awful feeling of imminent doom, however brief. But when Sasha had him in his arms it wasn't so bad.

"What if people see us?" Sasha said sensibly, "You're the one who complained about that in New York. Late as it is, this is still a city."

"True," Dean nodded, "But remember what you said that night? Who'd believe the guy who said he saw a gargoyle carrying someone off to its lair?" Dean stretched his smile into a wider grin and waited for Sasha to cave. He needed this tonight. No fears. No doubts. Just him and his incubus.

Much as Dean knew he would win in the end anyway, he was startled when Sasha suddenly swooped at him, gathering him up in powerful white to black arms that lifted him bride-over-the-threshold style with no effort at all.

Sasha stood poised just on the edge of the roof, his clawed feet crunching into the brick.

"I think I see a good spot," Sasha whispered to Dean like a rumbling purr. He grinned toothily. His fangs always looked so sharp but Dean was never afraid of them. "Hang on," Sasha breathed. And then he kicked off and for a moment Dean was weightless. It almost choked him, just as it had when he simply let himself fall before, but then the wind caught Sasha's wings and they were lifted by the current.

Dean willed himself to look. This wasn't like flying in an airplane. Even if Dean somehow fell, Sasha would just catch him again. The city was bright with all its lights and at least the streets below seemed still. Dean clung to Sasha's neck as he looked and tried to guess their intended destination. It wasn't hard to pick out.

And Sasha had the gall to say Dean was the cheesy romantic for wanting a midnight rendezvous. Sasha was the one flying them towards one of those apartment building rooftop gardens that characters in movies always had but wouldn't be able to afford in real life. The whole thing was encased in a greenhouse given the time of year. Sasha landed them on that roof, a good choice really since it offered them a lot of cover and pretty surroundings.

Sasha set Dean down and immediately transformed back to human, clad once again in sneakers, sweatpants, and his leather jacket. "Bet it's warmer in there," he said about the greenhouse. There was plenty of space for them in there too, but the door to the greenhouse was locked with a deadbolt. Of course it gave easily against the incubus' crazy strength. "Oops," Sasha grinned playfully as he tossed it aside.

Not long after they were lying back on the floor of the greenhouse, surrounded by plant life. The glass ceiling above them revealed the night stars, dimmed by the city but still beautiful. Dean scooted as close to Sasha as he could get so that the whole length of their arms and sides were touching.

Dean could remember doing things like this with Sam when they were younger. He would often try convincing his little brother to sneak out with him back then, something that only ever happened when Dad was gone anyway but it still counted as rebellious in Dean's mind. Sometimes when he and Sam would sneak out Dean would pretend that their mom and dad were waiting up at home like normal parents, worried and ready to punish them. Dean knew what a silly thing that was to daydream about, but he smiled as he remembered it.

It was warm in the greenhouse all right. Stuffy. Dean breathed in the rich smells around him that mingled with that wonderful, constant scent of Sasha.

"I think I would have been a mechanic…like Dad," Dean admitted, thinking of the djinn's dreamworld even though he hadn't told Sasha everything about that. "Would have been nice to take over the garage. It's something I'm good at. And I wouldn't shank people with crazy fees either. I'd be honest. Least I could do for getting to tinker under people's hoods all day."

"You don't think the Impala would get jealous?" Sasha smirked at him.

Dean turned his head to smile back, gazing adoringly into those brilliant blues. "My baby understands. She always comes first." There was a double meaning in there that Dean did not try to hide. "What about you?" he asked, "If you weren't a hunter. You know, besides the life of wanton sex, you had to have thought of being something else at some point."

A touch of sadness clouded Sasha's eyes and he turned back to staring up at the stars. "Not me," he said, a little hollow, Dean thought, but not because it was a lie. It wasn't. "I always knew I was gonna do this. I like to sing, sure. And I love kids. But as conducive to the incubus lifestyle as being a rockstar would be, it's too public. I'd hate it. And I don't think an incubus kindergarten teacher would go over too well." He chuckled, all false and forced the way Dean remembered from months past.

Dean hated that fake sound but he didn't press the issue. He stared up at the stars again too.

"I think…I'd really like to be a dad someday though," Sasha added softly.

Shit. That was usually Dean's cue to panic—words like that with that kind of heartfelt feeling behind them said so much more than they seemed to. It wouldn't even be an issue if Dean didn't know that two incubi could have kids.

"So…you know you never answered that question of mine," Sasha went on, his more jovial tone telling Dean that he was leaving more serious talk behind—for now, "Though I guess it was a long time ago so maybe you forgot."

Question? Dean was thankful Sasha understood his limits on certain subjects, but he had no idea what the incubus was talking about. "Err...you're gonna have to be a little more specific."

A more genuine laugh spilled from Sasha's throat. "I'm sure you'll remember when you hear it," he said. He was staring straight up and continued to even after Dean turned to look at him again. "It was late at night. In the Impala. Just me and you trading questions. And I asked, better in the sack," at last Sasha turned to Dean making their noses almost touch, "Flash…or Green Lantern?"

Ha! Dean laughed so hard his sides hurt. He remembered that night and his reaction to Sasha's final question. That was the night they discovered Sasha was an incubus. "You remember that? Man. So I guess you're gonna make me answer now, huh? Since I have, uhh…what was it?" Dean snapped his fingers when it came to him. "Oh yeah. Practical experience, right?" Dean laughed again.

Sasha was laughing right along with him too. "Yep. Perfect time as any, I figure. So who would it be?"

"Do I get a choice of which Green Lantern?" Dean asked without losing a beat.

"Sure," Sasha chuckled, "You got a preference?"

"Well I know Hal Jordan wasn't the first, but he is the one most people think of. Still," Dean thought, "Kinda always was more partial to John Stewart."

Seeing as how Dean was actually playing along for a change, Sasha was absolutely loving this. His smile was wide as they stared across the short space between them. "The Marine," Sasha clarified, "Go figure. Okay. So between John and good ol' Wally West, who do you think would be better in the sack?"

Crap. Now Dean actually had to answer. "Am I pitching or catching?" Dean asked seriously, "Coz obviously I'm deciding based on theoretical performance with me."

"Does it matter?" Sasha frowned a little, taking that a little more personal than Dean intended.

"The only person I want being dominant with me is you," Dean explained, effectively banishing Sasha's little pout, "So I'm gonna have to say…Wally. The Flash not the fluffball at the Roadhouse. Kinda guy who needs a good time and never takes it. Good sense a humor. He'd be totally into it. And definitely more willing than GL John to let me bend him over the hood of the Impala." Definitely.

Sasha nearly bust a gut, probably because Dean had sounded so matter-of fact when he said all that. "I love you," he laughed warmly, "You know that?"

The need for sleep was starting to call to Dean but he didn't want to go back to the hotel just yet. He had better ideas in mind. Rolling over on top of Sasha, Dean pressed their chests flush together—Sasha's feeling so unfairly warm despite being bare. "Sure I know. What's not to love?" Dean smirked.

Sasha laughed again and it vibrated up through Dean like a tremor. He shivered in response. Warm as the greenhouse was there was still a chill in the air, or maybe that was just because Sasha was so hot beneath him. "Cold?" the incubus asked, and in a moment's time he was transformed into that familiar creature with red eyes, fangs, claws, horns, and large bat-like wings that shot out wide and then folded gently over Dean's back.

Creature. Monster. Even Incubus. All those words seemed wrong. Sasha was just Sasha. Beautiful and perfect.

Dean laid his head on Sasha's chest and let one hand trail along the redhead's side. Then he let the other follow, allowing both hands to pass over Sasha's hips and down the first few inches of white thighs. Dean knew well where and how the black tattoos curved along Sasha's skin, and one thing he was sure of was that since they were natural markings and not actually tattoos none of them were raised. And yet on both of Sasha's outer thighs Dean felt marks.

"What is that?" Dean pulled up, forcing the wings to unfold and fall away from him. He sat up on Sasha's hips and scooted back so that he could see Sasha's thighs more clearly. There were five almost perfectly parallel scratch marks going up both of Sasha's thighs, raised though no longer angry looking. They were healing but if Dean remembered right he was the one who had scratched Sasha there—two days ago when they had sex the morning before meeting up with Charis. Dean gently traced his fingers along the scratches again. Any marks Sasha got always healed so quickly, save his one scar on his chest.

"Yeah, I know, you really left an impression," Sasha was smiling, looking all wanton beneath Dean and hardly concerned, "No one's ever done that before."

Something trembled inside Dean to hear that. He had a hard time believing it was a good thing but he didn't know why it bothered him so much.

"Mmm…Dean…" Sasha hummed, looking all sleepy and content as he stretched back, his wild, longer hair spread out beautifully around his head, "Can we stay a little longer? It's nice…like this."

Even Sasha's smile was sleepy and Dean feared they would both fall asleep in the greenhouse only to be very unfortunately found the next morning. Still, he couldn't pry himself away. He laid back down on top of Sasha, forgetting the scratches for now. "Gotta stay awake then, baby," Dean said, lulled by the rhythm of Sasha's strong heartbeat as his head lay upon the incubus's chest, "Besides, ya gotta answer the question too."

"Hmm?" Sasha seemed already half-asleep, despite Dean's warning.

"Flash or Green Lantern?" Dean shot right back, grinning and hugging Sasha's chest. He felt the wings fold back over him again.

Sasha chuckled. "GL of course," the redhead said, "Always had a soft spot for the Marine type myself. Ya know…kinda gruff and gritty and takes no shit from anyone. So sexy…" Sasha hummed again, his claws just up underneath where the wings were laying over them so he could gently run circles over Dean's back. The slight sharpness made Dean shiver though he didn't fear Sasha breaking the skin.

Sometimes he wished it could always be like this. "Good answer…"

As it turned out Sasha and Dean did fall asleep, for about half an hour. They woke, made a quick getaway back to the hotel, and fell into bed again without Sam ever having caught wise. They were both a little tired the next morning but neither of them complained.

Cam and Leven met the gang just outside the choir room door bright and early, where Leven then snuck them inside so they wouldn't have to worry about the metal detector. This allowed for them to bring in the EMF to better check for Night Hag residue and for all of the hunters to have their usual weapons. Leven had to run off to class after that, but they doubted they would need him for quite awhile.

The first thing the group wanted to do was talk to all of the people on their list, starting with Mrs. Larson, since she would be in soon but thankfully hadn't come quite yet and therefore missed catching them sneaking in through her door. Dean suggested they split up and try to get through the list more quickly, but Sam dissented.

"I'd rather we stuck together, or at least had the people who split off do something else, like scan with the EMF meter somewhere. I want to make sure I'm present for all the people we talk to."

"Don't trust the rest of us to do a good enough job?" Dean half joked.

Sam shot him a look. "Of course not. It's just…well…I've been working on it, and…if I concentrate hard enough I should be able to read all the people who talk to. It might speed things along."

Wait. Read? "I thought last time we checked you couldn't read minds. Holding out on us?"

"No!" Sam said quickly, looking sheepishly at all of them, "It's just…that was last time. I was still unsure before but…now I can."

Well shit. That learning curve really was something else, just like Sam had said. Dean couldn't deny it creeped him out a little. He didn't want his little brother poking around in placed he shouldn't be, even though mind reading was definitely a power that made sense given a lot of the others. "Sammy…" Dean started in warningly.

"I know, Dean, okay? The first time I realized I could was…well it was an accident. With you," Sam admitted, lowering his head and biting his lip a little, "It was nothing…big, or…anything. You were thinking over hunt stuff. I thought at first you were talking to me until I saw that your lips weren't moving. As soon as that happened you can bet I got out of your head right away and I've been making a much bigger effort to only look if I have to. At others! Not…not you. It's a good thing I can shut it on and off or I think I'd go crazy."

That may be, but Dean still didn't like the idea of Sam being able to just go snooping around whenever he wanted. They were all still alone in the choir room, Leven having gone off to his first class, and Dean walked up very close to Sam as he spoke. "You know I trust you, Sammy, but if you ever go into my head again without permission, I swear…"

"I won't!" Sam assured him, and then looked also at Sasha and Cam, "With you either. Or anyone. But if it helps us now then I'm glad I can do it. I don't exactly know what I'll be looking for from a Night Hag. They can blend in with normal humans pretty well. But I'm guessing I'll be able to tell the difference. Somehow."

"Now…just out of curiosity," Cam began, standing away from Sam and Dean close to Sasha, "You haven't said much about these powers, but…you are human, right?" he asked.

Sam didn't look offended, just a little unsure how to explain. "It's…complicated. I was born human. I'm just a little different now. I'm still one of the good guys." At least so far, Dean heard as an unfair and unfounded addition. Crazy as everything was most of the time, Dean would rather believe in a not completely human brother than have to live without a normal one.

"Cam and I can help with the EMF then." Sasha volunteered.

Of course Cam liked this suggestion, getting some quality time alone with Sasha and not having to be alone with Sam or Dean, but Sam shook his head. "We should scan with the EMF now that we have it in the building, but it might be more helpful to have one of you here as far as being able to read when people are lying. Someone to read thoughts and someone to read emotions is better than just one of the two. Dean, why don't you and Cam just go and Sasha and I can talk with everyone?" Sam turned to Dean and gave him a look, a 'this is for everyone's own good' kind of look.

Dean didn't mind. He wanted to prove to Cam that they were worth trusting. "Sure," Dean said, catching sight of Cam's slightly stiffer stature before the brunette incubus could hide it, "Easy leg work. Might have to do a little in the dark with all the theatre backways. You'll come in handy." Dean motioned Cam to come with him and headed for the door. He winked at Sasha before he turned and saw his friend smile back at him. Sasha understood this tactic as well and didn't seem to disapprove one bit.

Sam and Sasha would only have to talk with five people. They would probably already know who the bad guy was by the time Dean and Cam returned, and hopefully the EMF would prove for them that they were hunting the right thing.

They didn't have new visitor passes for today but after another death the day before the security guards didn't even glance at them, apparently remembering that they were supposed to be there to figure things out. Dean scoffed at how that really didn't make for good security in a school, but he wasn't going to complain about things being easier on them.

He and Cam made a point to go to the Band Room first since it was just across the hall, still taped off by the police and not entirely cleaned up. At most places that alone would be cause for the school to shut down a day, but not this one. It had too much of a reputation to keep to afford doing that.

Dean wasn't surprised that he didn't get a good reading from there though. The needle almost jumped when he passed the EMF meter over the fallen light but it was too faint to be sure. The police had probably wiped the place pretty well clean when collecting evidence, not that Dean thought the police were going to be very helpful on this one.

"Most of the deaths have been happening closer to the auditorium," Dean said as they walked the hallways, "Let's go there. Might be more of a concentration of residue."

"Sure."

Dean glanced over at Cam and saw how the incubus' twitched when they entered the auditorium and found it empty. Meaning they were alone in a very large space, the same space they had met and where Dean had almost shot Cam on accident. This obviously made Cam even more uncomfortable.

Dean grinned evilly before suddenly jumping at Cam with a loud "Ah!"

Cam immediately leapt back with a look of sheer terror.

Too easy. Laughter spilled from Dean's throat before he could help it. "Dude, really? I mean, the not quite trusting us I get. I do. But I'm pretty sure you could take me. Why so jumpy?"

Cam frowned. He shifted his shoulders as if to shrug off that Dean had just managed to scare him so easily. "You say that but I know of too many cases where one hunter, just one got the better of a good sized group of my kind. Sometimes with weapons, sometimes with nothing but themselves. Just because I know I'm stronger than you doesn't mean you don't have some tricks up your sleeve I don't know about. Sorry," Cam added, and he really did seem sorry that years of being told 'don't trust hunters' was keeping him from relaxing more around Dean.

"I was hoping our good time last night would be enough," Dean sighed, "Guess I'm gonna have to try harder." Dean winked before pulling ahead, looking over the large stage covered now with what would eventually be the set but was still only large pieces of raw wood. Dean took the ramp up the stage like he had the night he was mistakenly hunting Cam and looked up. The catwalk was above them. He had a feeling it would be their best bet for getting any readings since it had the most places police might not have been able to wipe down. Dean wanted to get up there.

"I could…fly up and take a look?" Cam suggested softly from behind Dean, "Save us some trouble. If you keep watch."

Dean liked and disliked that idea. He wanted to be able to see the readings for himself since he understood the EMF meter and its different settings better than Cam. "Now…don't take this as a come-on or anything, but…would you mind flying me up there with ya? Two eyes are better than one." Dean knew that if they took the long way and broke the lock on the door that led to the catwalk, they'd be fine, but the more they touched things up there the more chance they had of messing samples up. If they flew, Dean could check for readings without touching anything.

Cam looked understandable shocked by Dean's suggestion, however.

"Sasha takes me up all the time," Dean dismissed, which wasn't exactly a lie, especially after last night. Besides, putting trust in others was always a good way to get them to trust you in return. Even if Dean really hated the idea of being up in those rafters. "Quick trip. Up. I check for readings. Then back down. Simple. Sound okay?"

There was a pensive look on Cam's face, probably as he weighed in his mind any possible ways this could be a trap on Dean's part. Cam also looked around the auditorium but it was definitely deserted. No one wanted to hang around outside normal practice or work times if they didn't have to. Not anymore. "Well…" Cam was obviously worried, "I…guess that works. But if you try copping a feel or something I am totally dropping your ass," he tried to grin.

Dean returned the look wholly genuine. "If you can lift me at the waist I'll still be able to read the meter. No contaminating the evidence—at least any more than it has been—and it'll be a lot quicker. Just, uh…try not to drop me if you can help it. I got a little thing with heights."

Cam had already stepped forward and grabbed Dean's waist from behind, despite still being human. "You say that now? Maybe this isn't—"

"Just make it quick," Dean assured him.

A snort left Cam. "I hope that isn't your response to Sasha when you're this close."

"Hilarious," Dean grumbled back.

"Alright then, you better not look down." And before Dean could really prepare himself, suddenly he felt that Cam was taller behind him, the incubus' body larger and more encompassing, and Dean's feet were off the stage floor, lifting higher and higher at great speed up towards the catwalk.

Dean braced himself. He could do this. Cam wasn't about to drop him any more than Sasha would, and it would be over as soon as Dean scanned. Dean listened as best he could about not looking down, staring up instead at their destination. They were level with the catwalk before Dean had time to panic or think about being so many feet above the ground. He had the EMF meter in hand and started scanning.

"Anything?" Cam asked after a minute, sounding only slightly strained, probably more from their position than actual fatigue. Cam was the same height as Dean in his incubus form, and Dean could feel warm breath against the back of his hair.

There was definitely something worth scanning when Dean moved the meter more to the right. "Over there," Dean said, gesturing that direction.

Cam moved them closer to the right then, hovering while holding onto Dean tightly. Dean liked the tight part even if it felt a little weird to have Cam so flush against his back. He'd take that though over feeling like he was going to fall. "I think we want to hurry," Cam said all of a sudden.

"Why?" Dean was sure he was picking up something now.

"Because I think I hear someone coming."

That would be bad. Dean immediately looked down to see if this was true, but that was probably the worst idea he could possibly have had. For a second everything went vertigo and Dean jerked unintentionally from Cam's hold. He started to slip.

"Dean!"

"Shit!" Dean tried to maneuver himself better for Cam to regain a good hold, but his turning only slipped him further out of the dark brown claws that were supporting him. Dean had just enough time to catch sight of a lone girl wandering onto the stage before part of his shirt tore and dropped him straight out of Cam's hands.

There it was again, that horrible free-falling feeling, that awful impending doom and the knowledge that he would probably live to only break his legs and maybe land on that poor, unsuspecting girl. Yeah, coz that was such a nice option.

Dean was face-down as he plummeted. He thought of calling out to warn the girl, was actually pretty surprised he hadn't already, but was then glad he never did when there was suddenly a rush of air as Cam swooped down after him and carried him off low to stage left.

They got tangled in one of the curtains thanks to Cam's somewhat clumsy catch and ended up tumbling to the floor about five feet off the ground. Dean's heart was beating so fast he didn't even notice that Cam was human again and lying on top of him until the brunette lifted up and stared down into his face. Cam definitely looked concerned so at least Dean knew the guy didn't hate him.

"That was way too close. Are you okay?" Cam asked.

Dean took a few slow, even breaths. He still had the EMF gripped tightly in his hand but it wouldn't be working for awhile after smacking into the ground like that. "Yeah. Sure. I think…I think so. That was…a very stupid idea on my part."

"No, it was my fault. I should have been able to hang onto you, I was just—"

"Hello? Someone back here?" came the voice of a teenage girl suddenly, and before Cam could finish what he was about to say or maybe roll off of Dean so their position didn't look quite so incriminating, the girl from the stage parted the curtain and found them tangled their on the floor. "Oh…uhhh…sorry?" she said, quickly dropping the part of the curtain she had pulled back. She was younger, probably a sophomore, and had long brunette hair tied back from her face. They could hear her walking quickly away from them.

Great. Just what Dean needed. At least Cam was laughing. You can't be tense when you're laughing. "Shut up," Dean said through a grin, tossing Cam off of him, "But I know I got a reading up there. Has to be residue from the Night Hag. At least there's that."

"Yeah," Cam agreed, both of them just lying there on the floor within the curtain like some strange parody to how Dean and Sasha had laid in the greenhouse the night before, "And I didn't drop you," Cam said firmly, "Falling doesn't count. Long as I catch you."

Dean had to grin at that. He looked over at Cam and sat up. "Looks like I owe you one," he said, extending Cam an offered hand, "And Dean Winchester always pays his debts."

Confident that they had gotten what they went off to find, Dean and Cam helped each other to their feet and headed back for the choir room. The girl on the stage cast them strange looks as they left but Dean just smiled wide at her and went on by without a faltering step. He rarely cared what people thought of him and teenage girls were definitely low on the totem pole.

Sam and Sasha were just finishing talking with a girl in the corner of the choir room when they got back. She had natural red hair, pale skin, and looked about as freaked as anyone they had seen, especially for just chatting with the two best pairs of puppy dog eyes in all the world. They waited until she dashed off before approaching their companions.

"Why are you two all dusty?" Sasha asked, staring at Dean's slightly dirty leather jacket and Cam's now very grey winter coat.

"Uhh…catwalk trouble," Dean decided on saying, and cast Cam a small look of 'please go along with that'.

Cam nodded. "It's crazy dirty up there. But we think we got a reading."

"You did?" Sam asked, "Finally. Night Hag residue?"

"Couldn't be totally sure," Dean admitted, "But I'm guessing. What about you two?"

"We got through everyone but one of the girls," Sasha said, "That last one was Jennifer, the one Leven mentioned last night. Sam?" Sasha turned to Sam for confirmation but he didn't look too accusing.

Sam shook his head. "Not her. Or any of the others so far. Jennifer is definitely scared though, which makes me think she could be a new target, but it's not her. She's hiding something I couldn't quite read but she's no Night Hag. There's just one more kid to see. When we talked with Mrs. Larson," he said, pointing to the now closed office door of the choir room, "She said Tina, the last girl on our list, would be in the auditorium now practicing. She's one of the other leads."

"Sure," Dean said, "There was a girl in there when we left. Let's go."

The four of them headed immediately back the way Cam and Dean had come from. The girl was stretching on the stage when they got back. Surprisingly, Jennifer was there too, hanging back by the door. Dean made to approach her since she still looked so freaked about something but as soon she saw that she was no longer alone she made a quick exit.

"Better keep an eye on that girl," Dean said to the others, "She's got victim written all over her."

The others nodded their agreement but continued for the stage. The brunette turned out to be Tina just as they suspected and talked openly when they asked her questions. Dean didn't get any feeling that she was anything but a normal high school girl, and glances at Cam and Sasha said they weren't picking up anything strange from her either. Sam, on the other hand, was a whole other story.

No one else would have been able to notice, but Dean knew how to read his brother. Sam was tense and very alert as he talked to Tina, gauging her much more scrutinizingly than he had with Jennifer. There was definitely something going on beneath the surface that neither Dean nor the incubi could sense.

Sam very quickly ushered them all out of the auditorium after they were finished speaking with her and said without any hesitation, "It's her. I'm positive."

"What?" Cam looked completely taken aback, "What are you talking about? She wasn't lying about anything. Totally genuine. Sash?"

Sasha was frowning and his eyebrows were tightly furrowed, but it was obvious he trusted Sam's intuition. "I didn't sense anything off either but you seem pretty sure, Sam. How do you know it's her?"

Dean didn't have any doubts if his brother was certain, much as he was the one person in their party who couldn't sense anything supernatural. He was still a little surprised though when Sam answered. "Because," Sam said, "I couldn't read anything from her."

"You couldn't access her thoughts?" Sasha asked.

"No," Sam shook his head, "There weren't any thoughts there for me to read. She was just…blank."

Leven was not pleased when they told him that they were sure the person they were after was Tina. She was another younger friend of his that he did not feel like losing. She also played the part of Erzulie, the goddess of love in the story, which was one of the major rolls. Jennifer seemed afraid of her too, something they had surmised from their encounters with the redhead, which led them to believe that the next victims had some sort of link with the Night Hag and on some level knew what they really were. This meant the hunters' time was very limited. They had to set up some kind of test and trap for that very night or risk someone else—probably Jennifer—ending up dead.

There was practice that night and both Jennifer and Tina would be there. Jennifer was the other goddess in the story, Asaka, mother of the earth. Their scenes were often together, which meant they would be offstage together too. Dean and the others needed Leven to keep the people on stage occupied so that they could test to be certain Tina was a Night Hag and keep a watchful eye on Jennifer. This seemed doable enough with so many of them. Leven was on board as long as they made certain they were sure before doing anything to Tina.

Since Night Hags had been often mistaken for regular vampires in legends, there were two surefire old vampire tricks they could use to make sure they were right about Tina. The first was an allergy to garlic. The second was that a Night Hag could not cross running water. Actual vampires had always thought that one was ridiculous in relationship to them, but for Night Hags it had some sense. The first Night Hag had been a wronged soul that was drowned and brought back by demonic forces to feed off others' fears. She could never escape her own fear of water, however, and passed that onto her progeny.

The hard part wasn't getting things set up. The hard part was passing Tina several times throughout the rest of the day, knowing what they knew, and being unable to do anything. At least Night Hags weren't at all psychic; hopefully she wouldn't even know what hit her until they struck.

Before practice started the group made sure the main curtain was drawn. There was plenty of room to practice in front of the curtain since the cast was only doing simple blocking at this point and would assume the set was being worked on backstage.

Sam had set up a sort of mini trough of water made from rubber matting they found that had been used for the school's previous musical "Singing in the Rain". Sasha smirked knowingly at Dean when they discovered that. It was one of his favorite musicals, not that he'd ever admit it. Cam and Sasha set up the garlic trap, a bucket they would let dust down from the catwalk. Dean's job was to lure Tina into all the right places.

"You promise you'll be sure she's this fear vampire thing before you kill her?" Leven asked for probably the hundredth time before practice started.

Dean placed a firm hand on the kid's shoulder and squeezed. "We're professionals. We're not gonna let some sweet high school kid get killed on accident, okay? We'll be sure."

"I just…I can't believe it's her. She's been acting weird like a lot of people but…but she's nice. Really nice. You better be really sure." Leven was clutching his script like it held all the answers to the universe.

Cam came over and patted Leven's other shoulder before giving the kid a good push towards the front of the stage. "Don't worry, Lev. Now go do your part or the whole thing's screwed. Keep the cast out front where they belong and just get Tina to come back here. That's all ya gotta do. If we're wrong and she's home free…well, just hope she is the villain coz otherwise we're pretty much shooting blanks back here and we're gonna have to start from square one." He tried to grin and make Leven feel better but it wasn't working.

The kid was acting so normal and fidgety and quiet that Dean knew Leven had to be even more freaked out than he was letting on. Still, Leven nodded and headed out front. As soon as the scenes started blocking he was going to work a little magic and get Tina to head backstage. Since Sam had already prepared the water, his job now was to keep an eye on Jennifer.

Once they proved Tina was the Night Hag all they needed in order to kill her was a shot to the heart. Any type of bullet or metal for a knife would work. These things weren't picky in that department so it made it easier. Getting the body out of the school without attracting attention, that would require a little stealth, but it's not like they were lacking in that department.

Dean waited near the edge of the curtain for Leven to get Tina backstage. He could hear when practice started, eyeing the others in their various positions—Cam and Sasha up above in the catwalk and Sam around the other side hiding behind unpainted flats to keep an eye on Jennifer. With everything in place, Dean was surprised when his phone vibrated with a text message from Sam before things really got rolling.

'Jennifer's with Tina. Heading your way', said the message.

That was a little different than they had planned, but all the better if Dean was right there.

"Just a few minutes," Dean heard from Tina as the girls neared him, "We really should talk about—"

"Hey there, girls, aren't you s'pposed to be out there?" Dean said as soon as they came into view, looking like he was just casually hanging out backstage to check on things.

Jennifer turned terrified eyes on Dean, more beseeching than Dean had ever seen.

"You remember me," Dean said, taking Tina's arm and pulling her towards him to free Jennifer from the other girl's hold, "One of the detectives working out these strange deaths. Mind if I ask you a few more quick questions while you're not busy? You should probably run back around," Dean said with a wink at Jennifer.

The redhead nodded eagerly and was instantly gone. Tina was good though; she turned to Dean and didn't appear at all put out. "Of course, officer. Or is it just Mr…whatever it was. Sorry, I forget. But you're not really an officer, are you?"

Not in the least, Dean thought. "I suppose not. But I'm not really into titles. Just call me Dean. Now…" Dean had a whole crapload of, well, crap that he could spew at her while he got the girl in position. If Cam and Sasha dusted the garlic correctly then Tina shouldn't even notice it until she started reacting. Whether she reacted or not, Dean's next objective was to get her into the water trap, which would hold her as good as any devil's trap if she was a Night Hag.

Dean chatted away as he led Tina to the center of backstage just beneath the catwalk and waited. And waited. And glared up for a brief moment after he had waited for far longer than he felt he should have. It was a good thing he looked up then too because he saw not a sprinkling heading their way but the whole mass of garlic that must have been tipped over in their haste when they realized Dean was in position. Dean had one chance to move Tina out of the way and risk her realizing what they were up to. He sidestepped just in time, pulling Tina along with him towards the tough of water. Dean heard the phoosh sound as all that garlic salt hit the floor at once and quickly raised his voice in hopes that Tina wouldn't. She didn't turn back, so he led her onward.

The water trap was near impossible to see until you were inside it and then it was Sam's job to come out and close the end of it so it was a complete circle. Getting inside was easy, keeping Tina distracted while Sam snuck around and put in place the last bit of tarp was even easier since she was being so attentive. Getting out without alerting her might be a little tougher, but just when Dean was going to start backing away as casually as he could, Tina stepped closer to the wall…and right over that side of the trough without batting an eyelash.

"That's bad," she said, touching a water spot left from when Sam filled the tarp, "Hope it doesn't stain or anything." Tina turned back to Dean then and stepped over the trap again completely unaware.

He was pretty sure he was gapping at her. They were wrong. "Right. Hopefully not," Dean tried to grin, "Well I guess that's all I needed. You should probably get back." Dean had all intentions of turning around and walking right to where Sam was hiding to smack him one, since somehow this had to be his fault as far as Dean was concerned, but he had sort of forgotten about the tarp being closed off now and stepped right into the water.

A second later Dean slipped from the unexpected footing and fell back, which knocked him right into Tina and brought both of them down hard to the floor of the stage.

It would have been awkward, a grown man landing on a young teenage chick who was probably only sixteen, especially since their groins were lined up when Dean turned over to make sure she was okay. It would have been awkward…if that wasn't suddenly their saving grace.

Tina howled, a sound thankfully drowned out by the singing coming from up front, and when Dean looked down between them he saw why. The charm he had been keeping on his belt to ward off demon possession since Bobby gave it to him after their second Meg encounter was burning into the visible skin between Tina's shirt and jeans.

Dean jerked his attention back to the girl's eyes and was not surprised to find them glaring at him in all over black. They were wrong all right. This wasn't a Night Hag. It was a fucking demon!

"Shit!" Dean rolled off of the girl as quick as he could but she was just as fast. Tina rolled right back on top of him and pressed his hands into the floor, pinning him.

"Water trap," she said with a grin, and then sniffed the air, "And garlic. Thought I was a Night Hag, pretty boy? Sorry to disappoint." She lunged down at Dean and Dean braced himself for anything, but thankfully Sam had not gone far after closing off the trap and he was right there to pull the girl back. Sam looked equally shocked when he ripped her off of Dean only to find black eyes and that this was not the creature they were anticipating.

"Demon!" Dean managed to call out as Sam held her, "Banish the bitch!"

But as much as Sam seemed to be concentrating, the girl merely writhed in his hold and eventually broke free with a kick at his shins. She sprinted for the other side of the stage.

Dean was on his feet and reaching down quickly to pull Sam back up onto his too in a heartbeat. "What's wrong with you!" Dean shouted as they ran to catch up, "I said banish her!"

"I tried!" Sam shouted back, and then hushed his voice because they could hear that the singing had come to end for now and this would not be a good time for the cast to come wandering backstage, "It wouldn't work. She's not a normal demon, Dean. I can't sense her. And if I can't sense her…" Sam didn't finish but Dean understood.

Can't sense. Can't control. Can't banish.

Great.

"Dean looked up and whispered as loudly as he thought he could get away with, "A little help down here!" Tina was almost to the curtain where she could run back around and hide amongst the other students. And Sam and Dean were too far away to catch her.

Just then a great swoop of dark brown wings came down from just beyond stage left. Cam landed in front of where Tina intended to go, blocking her. Before she could think to turn around and run the other direction, Sasha landed just behind her. She was trapped between two sturdy incubi who could hit just as hard as any demon.

But then they had already noted that she couldn't be any normal demon.

Without any seeming effort Tina shot her hands out at Sasha's chest and caused the redhead to fly backwards and land hard and painful on his wings several yards away. Cam looked understandably frightened now but Tina didn't care about him. She headed for the middle of the stage, uncaring that she would be going out right through the middle where more people would be able to see her.

This brought her closer to Sam and Dean again and Dean pushed Sam towards her while he headed back to the storage closet by the water trap. "Keep her back here!" Dean yelled through a whisper again, "Give me thirty seconds!" Dean didn't have time to check if Sam planned to heed him. He ran for the closet and found what he was looking for immediately. A brand new bucket of black paint just waiting for something to color with it. Dean pulled the can out, opened it, and set to work with the first brush he spotted.

This was still a demon. Sam might not be able to do anything for whatever reason, but that charm hurt her and her eyes were still black. Dean was willing to bet a devil's trap would still be enough to hold her.

Making sure he was far enough from the water to avoid it bleeding into the lines of paint, Dean began as meticulous as he could. He didn't have to be perfect, but if he was too sloppy it might not work. As he painted he risked only passing glances up at the fight. Cam was actually proving to be a lot more helpful than Dean expected. He watched as the bronze incubus grabbed Tina's shoulder and raised her into the air, flying high as he could up into the rafters. But Tina—or at least the demon inside her—was vicious. It turned its head to get at one of his legs and bit hard into his shin, causing Cam to immediately drop her with a growl.

Even if the demon would survive hitting the floor below, they couldn't risk the actual Tina breaking any limbs from that fall. Sam's arm shot out and he studied the girl with his TK. He didn't need to use his arm of course, but he had said it made it easier to have a point to focus his energy. Slowly, he lowered her to the ground but as soon as she touched down it was as if she tossed his powers aside, because he was not strong enough to hold her. She dove for him, seeing him as the largest threat and wrapped her hands around his throat.

Sasha was right there to try and pull the possessed girl off of him but her grip was steadfast. Cam had landed back down behind them but he was limping and Dean could see that the bite he had sustained had taken out a good chunk of flesh. Dean felt his own legs twitch to run over there and help, but he was almost done with the trap, and even as he watched he saw Sam bring his hands to Tina's wrists and burn her with the melting power.

The demon threw back her head to scream as her grip loosened, but Sasha brought a claw to her mouth to silence her and pulled her the rest of the way off of Sam's body. Again, Sam pointed an arm at her and this time his TK seemed more capable of holding her still. Sasha still kept a firm hold on her, though, and as he took a moment to calm, he looked across the stage at Dean.

Dean had just finished painting the trap and was satisfied enough to gesture them over. And then Dean saw Sasha's eyes widen. He wasn't looking at Dean, however, he was looking past him. Dean didn't even want to look because he could already imagine what he would find. Leven was standing there with Jennifer, obviously having been trying to keep the girl from wandering backstage again since his hand was tight on her arm. Both of the teenagers' eyes were wide with fear and Dean knew it wasn't just because Tina looked wild with full black eyes. There were two incubi in all their glory back there.

"Dean!" Dean heard Sasha yell and he immediately turned back because that was no whisper or try for being hushed. Somehow the demon had broken free of Sasha's hold and the steadying power of Sam's TK. She was sprinting back across the stage towards him. No, Dean thought, not towards him. He looked again at his new companions. She was going for Jennifer and Leven.

"Hurry!" Dean said, rushing to them and pushing them back towards the front of the stage.

"But…but is that really…" Leven was looking past Dean at Sasha and Cam.

Dean didn't have time to explain. "We'll tell you later. Just trust us. Trust me. And take this." Dean ripped the anti-possessing charm from his belt and pushed into Leven's hand. "Don't let go of it. Now get back out there." Dean pushed at them again, both of them looking so scared and yet still they listened.

There was barely enough time for Dean to turn around before Tina was upon him. Dean could see Sam, Cam, and Sasha all rushing to reach him and offer their aid, but she was faster even than the two of them who had wings. Dean moved to just in front of the devil's trap and braced himself.

Without hesitation the demon plowed right into him, knocking both of them back inside the trap. That would have been great if Dean didn't know he would be inadvertently disconnecting the lines with his body if he crawled across them to get out, and he also had the chance of completely brushing the paint off when he did that too. Being trapped inside the trap with her was not a pleasant third option.

Dean did not have anywhere near the strength of Sasha, Cam, or his brother, but he struggled as best he could to just hold Tina in place. He reached for the holy water he always kept in his flask—well holy water mixed with whiskey since once in a while he wanted a swig for himself—and just managed to get the cap off and flick it towards Tina's neck.

The usual hiss and sizzle came, Tina howling once more in pain and lifting up just enough for Dean to start scrambling away. But as Dean moved out of the trap he watched and was horrified that it was not just the demon sizzling. The girl's skin was burning too, blistering and smoking from the holy water. That wasn't supposed to happen with normal possession.

Only one of his feet was still inside the trap when Tina rounded on him again and caught it. She could still get out. With Dean's foot across the trap it made the marking invalid until he moved it, and she wasn't letting go.

"Such…fighters, you hunters are," the thing inside Tina hissed, her neck an angry, blistered red, "You want this girl so badly? Have her. I can still finish this." Then Tina's mouth was open and the usual sight of black smoke poured out of her and sped faster than any feet could catch around the other side of the curtain towards the practicing children and their director.

"No!" Dean easily pulled his foot free from the now limp body of Tina and ran for the curtain. He knew he couldn't just run out there but if he could see who the demon went into it would be enough. By the time Dean had a clear view of the stage, however, he couldn't see anything. It looked as if they were just practicing, as if nothing had been disturbed. The other side of the curtain was dimmed to most of the backstage sound, so no one even seemed alerted.

Damn it. That demon could have gone anywhere. Into anyone. This was much worse than they had first thought.

They had no choice but to disrupt practice after that, bringing the burnt and very weak body of Tina around to the front for someone to call an ambulance. She was alive, ridden pretty hard as hosts usually were, but alive was better than nothing. Leven seemed overjoyed to find her that way but Tina, only partially conscious, flinched away from everyone who came near her. She was hysterical. That didn't surprise Dean at all.

Worst was that there was no real way to check to see who the demon had gone into without letting all of the students and Mrs. Larson know what was really going on. They simply said that they had found the person responsible but that the culprit managed to sneak away before they could get a good look at them. Still, they assured Mrs. Larson that these were not accidents befalling her students.

"What kind of demon possession lets the host get burned by holy water?" Cam was saying as they waited off on the sidelines while the paramedics hauled Tina way, "And Sam…you're supposed to be able to sense demons, right? And…and make them do things. It was like you didn't have any effect on it at all."

"I know," Sam admitted forlornly, "And I think I know why. Dean, do you remember the last time we fought a demon that let the host get burned when we used holy water?"

At first Dean thought Sam was out of his mind, because he couldn't think of any recent demon that had manifested that way. But then the memories started inching up from the back of his mind and he could picture it clearly—the burned chest of a possessed copilot. "That damn plane. The Chaos Demon thing that liked to bring down flights," Dean said in realization. That had been a different kind of demon all right. It needed to be made manifest before it could even be exorcised, like it wasn't really anchored enough on earth but could still possess and do damage.

"Chaos Demon?" Sasha questioned, looking very disturbed by that wording, "Like a phantom? A shadow demon that isn't completely here?"

"You don't think…?" Cam broke in, looking equally troubled.

Sasha nodded solemnly. "Dark fae. Demons before there were demons. They don't come from Hell. They've always been here, but they were banished by the true fae from the other realm and call no place home now. They have no true substance. They need to feed on possessing others to gain strength. No wonder this thing was so wicked strong that even your powers wouldn't work, Sam. It's been feeding off the kids here for weeks."

"So it can just move on to a different kid every so often and get stronger," Dean repeated, "Seems a little easy."

"Oh there's a catch," Sasha explained, "It would have taken a long time to possess the first person for one. And then it would have left that person for another, leaving the first host weak and afraid. Normally, they kill that first host with their second one and continue repeating the process until they're strong enough to claim a final host. One they can keep."

That didn't sound promising.

"It's rare. Almost never happens. Because someone from this realm has to summon one before the process can even begin." Sasha shook his head. "We could be dealing with two villains here. The shadow demon and a master pulling its strings. This is bad."

Fan-fucking-tastic, Dean thought. He was still wishing this had just been a Night Hag. Quick and clean. He was about to say something more after that, but the paramedics had left with Tina and the students were starting to disperse. They needed a plan of action. "That demon, and maybe its master are among these kids. We can't just let them all go," Dean said in an angry whisper.

"And we can't exactly attack," Sam whispered back, "We have to wait until tomorrow. Come up with something new. It's not strong enough yet to claim its final host, right?" he turned to Sasha.

"I don't think so," Sasha shrugged, "Seems it was probably in Jennifer before, leaving her freaked, and that's why it was gonna kill her next. It might come after Jennifer then, or Tina, or maybe someone else. Even if it went straight for the person it wants to keep for a body, it's going to need to kill at least one of them, probably both in order to become completely whole. We'd be able to kill it then, but I'd rather not wait until it's gotten what it wants. If we can find the current host, manifest it solid outside of that person, and then do an exorcism, that will kill it. They can't survive being sent to Hell."

Which is why it seemed pretty obvious to Dean that they needed to find the current host now. "Which is exactly why we should—"

"Hey…guys?" interrupted a soft, somewhat frightened sounding voice from outside their tight circle. It sounded so wrong to hear that particular voice so timid.

Dean turned back to see Leven standing behind them. The rest of the room was almost completely cleared out. They had convinced Mrs. Larson not to call the police. That would just make things more complicated. She agreed because she felt they had done such a bang up job so far that she trusted PIs much more to get things done right.

Leven attempted a smile but it was obvious he was scared. Of them. "I…uhh…I got Jenn to say…she won't tell anyone about…what she saw. She's so scared, she…just wants to forget it all anyway. And…and I won't tell anyone either. I won't tell Wade, I promise," he said softly to Cam, "I mean…I know you're…not…you're not the bad guys, right?" He sounded hopeful but still so very frightened.

"Lev," Cam said as calm and steady as Dean had ever heard from the guy, "I'll be straight with you. Sasha and I, yeah we're the good guys with Sam and Dean here, but…we're not human. I'm guessing that was pretty obvious. But there is good in some of the scary things out there. I'd never hurt your sister. Or you. Please know that."

The smile tried so hard to be real. "I-I know. She…she's here to pick me up. I think I'm gonna go home. You guys…you saved Jenn and Tina's lives. I know there's this thing still out there but…I believe you're the good guys, I do. Monsters or not." He managed to grin finally and shrugged a little sheepishly. "Let me know what's going on tomorrow okay?" And with that Leven turned around fairly swiftly and headed for the double doors.

Dean really hated to see the kid so scared, hard as he was trying. It kind of reminded him of Cam a little. "You guys work on our plans for hunting this thing down tomorrow. I'm gonna make sure jailbait's really okay." Dean didn't wait for a go-ahead before he ran after Leven either.

He was about halfway to catching up with the kid when he suddenly stepped on something that made him pause long enough to look down. There was something glittering beneath the overhead lights. Dean bent down to pick it up and saw that it was his charm, the one he had given to Leven. That was something he definitely didn't want the kid losing at this point.

Leven was only just opening the doors to leave when Dean caught up to him, charm in hand. But something had started eating away at Dean as he rushed to catch the kid, something heavy and hot that burned in his gut and brought his mind back to the night before and those tarot cards.

He had so many things he had planned to say to Leven to ease the kid's mind after tonight, but when Dean finally reached out and grabbed for Leven's shoulder, only one word formed on his lips.

"Christo."

The thin, agile body of the young teenager went instantly rigid, and when Leven turned around to face Dean, his eyes pitch black from his whites to his irises, he was grinning wickedly.'

tbc...

A/N: Sorry for the delay this week. I've been a little under the weather. But look at this crazy long chapter in apology. :-) And hey, is that a cliffhanger? Go figure. ;-) Thanks so much as always for your continued support and the wonderful new additions. Head over to the website again for yet ANOTHER new fanart. This one is called 'Your Incubus is Showing...' and is very cute. Need to rest up and get better. All my love, my dears!

Crim