Fic: Darkness I Live In (Buffy/Dean) Chapter Nine

[blue_icy_rose]

Title: Darkness I Live In
Rating: R
Pairing: Buffy/Dean
Summary: After a demon attack, Buffy wakes up with no memories except her name and begins to travel with Dean and Sam. While on the road, Buffy and Dean grow closer. Post Chosen. (I so suck at summaries, lol.)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them. Buffy belongs to Joss Whedon and the Winchesters belong to Eric Kripke. (Lucky bastards.) All the dialogue in Buffy's memory flashes are from various episodes. The title of the story was inspired by Mary Lou Von Meter's poem, Heart of Darkness. Banner made by the awesome Mel. ^_^
Author's Note: This is my response to chosenfire's Memories Forgotten challenge at Route 66. If you'd like to see the requirements for the challenge, go here. You can also find this at Twisting the Hellmouth. This new chapter was written for tamingthemuse (prompt: keckle). Enjoy and feedback's always welcome!




Banner by avamclean


Previous Chapters


Sam fought the urge to roll his eyes as he walked away from the officer he’d been talking to. He really hated the ‘We’re so much better than you because this is our town so get the hell out of here’ attitude. And he’d seen it often enough when he and Dean had to act as if they were federal agents.

It got old.

“Having fun?” Dean asked with a small smirk. Sam frowned at him.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, voice low. “You were at the last scene and then you show up here? You know, a lot of killers return to the scene of the crime just so they can get the satisfaction of seeing what they’ve done?”

“The fact that you know that is just a bit creepy, you encyclopedia.” Dean shook his head. “Buffy and I conveniently decided to remember something. The cops at the station were helpful, and stupid, and sent us here to talk to the investigating officers.”

Sam stared at him for a minute and then closed his eyes, swallowing a groan. These cops had no idea what they were doing.

“Okay, that guy just told me that if I had to keckle, I should move to the side to do it,” Buffy said as she walked up. “I have no idea what that means but it sounds kind of dirty. So what the hell did he just tell me to do?”

“It means to vomit.” Off of their looks, Sam shrugged. “Well, it does.”

“Then why didn’t he just tell me to go throw up somewhere else? Instead he gets all snotty and uses words that sound like some kind of sex thing.” She paused and her eyes widened as she saw the way Dean was smirking. “Oh God, it really does mean something dirty, doesn’t it?”

“Sam wasn’t lying,” Dean assured her. “But yeah, there’s a dirty meaning to it too.”

“And of course you know it,” Sam muttered.

Dean narrowed his eyes. “If we weren’t in front of a bunch of bumbling idiots disguised as cops who think you’re part of the FBI, I’d hit you.” When Buffy opened her mouth, he shook his head. “You don’t want to know what else it means, Buffy. Really.”

Buffy sighed. “Fine,” she agreed.

“What about the reason you guys came here?”

“Oh, that.” Buffy grinned. “They told me to talk to the federal agent about what I remembered.”

Sam snorted. “Okay then.”

“For the record, I remember pizza is good.”

“I’m sure that’ll help our case,” Sam told her, playing along. “It’s extremely helpful.”

“Yeah, it is,” Dean agreed. “Now I know what I want for dinner.”

Sam sighed and shook his head. It just figured.

~*~*~

“Okay, so we’ve got four bodies and no idea where this thing is staying,” Dean said. “Any idea how long the cops were sticking around?”

Sam nodded. “Yeah. Give it about twenty minutes and they should be cleared out.” He allowed himself a small grin. “I made it clear that I was going to be leaving so that I could go over the reports and I expected them to be doing the same.”

Dean smirked. “Intimidating the locals, Sam? I’m shocked.”

“No, you’re not.”

He pretended to think about it. “Yeah, I’m really not.”

Buffy continued to stare out the window of their room. “Do we have any idea on what this thing looks like?” She glanced over her shoulder. “Or are we just hoping to get lucky?”

“Don’t say it,” Sam said, looking at Dean. Dean raised an eyebrow.

“Say what?” he asked.

Sam shook his head. He was not getting pulled into that game again. Dean loved doing it – acting like he had no idea what Sam was talking about and then getting Sam to say whatever it was Dean had been going to say.

“You know exactly what I mean.”

“That he was about to say he doesn’t have to hope to get lucky, it just happens naturally?” Buffy interrupted, amused. Sam groaned as Dean grinned.

“Buffy!”

“What?” She turned to face them fully. “I was just asking,” she added, giving Sam the most innocent look she could. He snorted.

“Right, I totally believe that.” He leaned back against the wall. “I think you should do the research next time for that one.”

Buffy’s jaw dropped and she shook her head. “You’d do that to me just for asking a question? Evil.”

Dean glanced between the two of them and shook his head. “As fun as this is, let’s make sure we actually have everything we might need.” He tossed a duffle bag onto one of the beds. “Gas?”

“In the trunk,” Sam said.

“Salt?”

“Should be in the bag,” Buffy told him, picking up a jean jacket and shrugging it on.

“Guns?”

Sam glanced at Buffy and waited until she had nodded. “Yeah.”

“Crossbow?”

“Got it.” Buffy picked it up and put it in the bag.

“And a couple of knives as well,” Sam added. Dean nodded.

“Good. Then we should be set.”

“Dean?” Buffy glanced at the bag. “Matches?”

He nodded, lips twitching. “Pocket.”

“Oh, good. Because it would really suck to go after this thing and then realize that we’d forgotten the matches.”

Laughing, Dean picked up the bag and slung it over his shoulder. “Yeah, just a little bit.” He paused and glanced at Buffy. “By the way, it looks like a giant snake.”

“Giant snake,” she repeated with a sigh. “Great.”

~*~*~

“Is it just me or is this really gross?” Buffy muttered, wrinkling her nose at the slimy water that now covered her shoes.

Sam glanced over. “It’s pretty gross,” he agreed. He’d seen a lot of nasty things over the years but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be grossed out at the thought of being nearly ankle deep in slime and water.

“Always knew you were a girl, Sammy,” Dean said. “Now do you think you can hold off the fashion talk until after we torch this son of a bitch?”

Buffy grinned, having gotten used to Dean within the first week she spent with them, as Sam scowled at his brother.

“Jackass.”

“I heard that.”

“Good.”

The sound of something moving had all of them going silent, each tensing. Buffy adjusted her grip on the crossbow so that it’d be easier to reload as Dean adjusted the bag on his shoulder while he and Sam pulled out their guns.

As quietly as they could, they began to move forward, going a bit further into the cave that they’d found yards away from the lake. The slime, water, and the distance between it and the lake had pretty much assured them that this was the right place.

Dean walked in first, lowering his gun before shoving it in the back of his jeans. He pulled out the salt and began to spread it over anything that looked even remotely flammable.

“Do me a favor and make sure this thing doesn’t give me a hole in the head,” he said, moving further in as he eyed the area around him for some sign of the waterspirit.

Sam opened his mouth to say something and was cut off as the water rippled. It was the only warning they had before the waterspirit reared up, swinging its head towards Dean before dismissing him and focusing on Sam and Buffy.

“What the hell?” Dean asked, dropping the salt and pulling out his gun. He stopped as he realized that it saw Sam and Buffy as the bigger threat because of the weapons in their hands. “Great. We couldn’t have gotten a stupid Waka-what-the-fuck-ever. No, we had to get the one with a brain,” he muttered. He lifted his gun.

“Dean, no!” Sam shook his head. “Finish the salt and start pouring the gas.” He shifted and watched as the Waktcéxi shifted with him. “Buffy and I will keep it busy while you do that.”

Dean looked like he wanted to seriously argue with that plan but there was no time for it when the Waktcéxi lunged forward causing Sam to dive to the side as Buffy pulled the trigger of the crossbow. It stopped and turned towards her. Dean used that moment to toss the last of the salt out of the bag and onto the waterspirit. Shoving his gun back in its original spot, he pulled out the gas and began to douse the areas he’d covered in salt.

Buffy yanked another bolt out and began reloading the crossbow as Sam shot at the waterspirit, aiming for its head. The back end of the Waktcéxi swung to the side, knocking into Sam and he swore as he fell backwards, losing his grip on his gun. Even as Buffy jumped out of the way as the waterspirit snapped at her, he pulled out his knife and threw it. He swore again when the Waktcéxi pulled back and the knife hit the wall. He turned in the direction his gun had gone and felt a flash of relief when he spotted it almost right away.

Buffy heard Sam swearing and just knew that she was in trouble. She spared a glance for the knife and then turned back to the waterspirit and the way it seemed to focus on her. She saw Dean tilting the gas can further and knew that in a few moments, they were going to have get the hell out of there.

It only took a moment for her to make her decision and she dropped the crossbow, not paying any attention to Sam’s shout or the sound of him reloading his gun. She dove in the direction of the knife, tucking into a roll as she hit the ground. In one smooth move, she snatched up the knife, came up on her knees, turned, and threw it. Buffy watched with satisfaction as it embedded itself in the Waktcéxi’s eye.

Sam stared for a moment in shock and then gave himself a mental slap, lifting the gun and firing a few more shots.

“Let’s move,” Dean called out, grabbing the bag and running towards them. Sam turned and began to head for the opening of the cave. Buffy did the same, only pausing to grab the crossbow. She glanced over as Dean stopped and turned, pulling the matches out of his pocket. He backed up a bit and vaguely noted Sam’s knife in the waterspirit’s eye as it turned towards them. He didn’t hesitate before lighting the match and tossing it at the Waktcéxi. He quickly lit another and tossed it to the side, where he had first poured the salt and the gas.

A moment later, he was running alongside Buffy and Sam. None of them looked back as they burst out into the open, only slowing down when they were in the clear.

“It didn’t come after us, did it?” Buffy asked.

Dean shook his head. “No. Seemed more concerned with the whole fire thing.” He grinned. “You know, for being so smart, you’d think the thing would realize it had nasty ass water that could probably put out the fire on its back.”

“I think it realized that its lair was being destroyed and was more concerned with that, Dean,” Sam said.

“Maybe.” He looked over at Sam. “Nice move, getting it with your knife.”

Sam shook his head and looked at Buffy. “That wasn’t me. I missed.” He nodded when Dean looked at Buffy and then back at him. Buffy let out a breath as she thought back on what she’d done. “How did you do that?” he asked.

She shook her head as she stared at the cave, a look of complete confusion on her face. “I have no idea.”