The hotel was about two hours from the nest. The eleven vampires who had agreed to help were already there. Sam chuckled when he saw Barrows and Spring sitting outside in their truck.

He slammed a fist onto the driver's side window and grinned at Barrows who jumped and cursed as he opened the door.

"God-dammit Cristo!" Barrows yelled.

Sam laughed. "What, you afraid my friends are going to eat you or something? How long have you been sitting out here?"

Spring got out of the passenger's side of the blue truck and scratched at his blond beard. "Six hours and he," Spring glared at the black man across from him, "refused to get a room."

Shaking his head Sam jerked his head toward the fancy hotel as he hoisted his bag. "C'mon. Dennis Spring, Alex Barrows, this is Dean Winchester. And you know Bobby."

Sam guided them inside and got two adjoining suites beside the nest that waited for them and made Barrows use his own credit card to pay for it. Once they were away from the desk Barrows began bitching about using his credit card.

"Hey, they know Dean and me. Can't risk that they might have someone watching. Stop whining. I'll pay you back."

Barrows grumbled but stopped complaining. Mostly.

They dropped their stuff off in their rooms, though Bobby looked a little undecided and finally told the two new hunters, "I'm bunking with you."

Barrows started to protest then took another look at Sam and Dean. The look in Sam's eyes dared him to make a comment. The man decided silence was the better choice and gave Bobby a nod.

"C'mon, let's wake the neighbors," Sam said and stepped back out in the hall and knocked on the door of the suite beside their own.

A petite young woman with dark hair opened the door cautiously. Her glower turned into a brilliant smile. "Sammy!" she squealed and dragged him into a hug, planting a kiss on his cheek. "You stay away too long!"

Sam laughed and hugged her back, practically carrying her into the room. "Good to see you too, Desiree." He greeted the other vampire that was awake. "Simon. Good to see you."

"I'll wake the others," Desiree said and disappeared through the doorway to an adjoining room. Those vampires sleeping in the room Sam stood in began to stir.

"You look well," Simon said, a hint of a British accent in his words. The vampire studied Dean who stood in the doorway. "Well, come on in, hunter. Any friend of Sam's and such," he said with a wave, then gave Dean a smile. "Oh, and quite a friend, I see," he said breathing in the mingled scents of the two men. He tilted his head and stared harder at Dean. "You're human but…" He shook his head.

"He survived turning. And he's my bloodmate," Sam said.

Simon stood up. "Really? I thought that was a myth." He walked closer to Dean and held out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Dean. I look forward to hearing the details. I've never met a survivor before."

They’d driven all night and most of the next morning to reach the town where their allies had agreed to meet up and plan their strategy before the fight ahead. It was about a two hour drive from there to the cave where Sam was certain the vampires were holed up. Far enough away they hoped they wouldn’t tip off the vampire’s radar too soon, but Dean wasn’t sure it would matter. The bastards would be ready for them no matter what.

He would have liked to stake out the cave first. Just to make sure the fuckers were actually there, but there was little doubt at this point they were. Sam had been making some calls during the drive, and if the vampires really were there in the numbers they were expecting…

Dean felt a chill crawl down his spine that he hoped his lover didn’t notice.

When Dean pulled into the four-star hotel his lover directed him to, he shook his head and gave Sam a look. Seriously? Couldn’t they stay some place a little more discreet? But considering this might be their few hours on earth, might as well spend it somewhere nice instead of a flea bag motel in the middle of nowhere.

The young hunter spotted the men sitting in the truck the same time Sam did, and Dean could tell from the expression on Sam’s face that he knew them. After throwing the impala into park in a nearby space, he got out of the car and followed Sam. He couldn’t help the slight grin that quirked his lips when Sam knocked on the window and the men inside looked like they would need to be peeled off the roof. Though considering they were obviously hunters, it was probably a wonder they didn’t instinctively shoot Sam instead from that scare.

Dean gave the two older men a nod of greeting when Sam introduced them, then grabbed his duffle out of the trunk before following along as they all went into the reception area for rooms. Dean had to admit upon seeing their room that he could probably get used to this. He was still checking out the room, snatching one of the mints off the pillow on the bed and popping it into his mouth, when he heard Bobby declare he was staying with the other two hunters. Knowing why, Dean did his best not to choke on the chocolate, or blush.

Then Sam announced they should go ‘wake the neighbors’ and Dean felt something he couldn’t explain settle in his gut. At least, he couldn’t define it until they were standing outside the room with a nest of vampires just on the other side. Fear. Yeah, he knew these vampires were the ‘good guys’. Yeah, he knew they were ‘vegetarians’, like Sam, nothing like the vampires that had tortured and… raped… him.

But that didn’t stop him from breaking out in a cold sweat when the door opened to Sam’s knock. It didn’t stop his hand from twitching, like he was reaching for a weapon, and probably the only reason he didn’t draw one was because he hadn’t brought one with him in the first place. The uneasy feelings inside of him warring with what his eyes were seeing, as Sam joyfully greeted the pretty ‘young’ woman as she hugged and kissed him like a long lost brother.

Dean almost didn’t realize he was still standing outside in the hall, almost like he was rooted in place, until another vampire addressed him. The other man’s friendly smile doing little to reassure him, in fact, the way the vampire was… studying… him made his muscles ache he was so tense. He was certain every fucking vampire in the room could hear his heart beat the way it was pounding hard and fast against his chest.

When the other man stepped closer to him and held out his hand it was all Dean could do not to back away, or at least, edge closer to Sam. Dean looked down at the hand held out to him, and back to the vampire. Even at the risk of appearing ‘rude’ Dean couldn’t force himself to take the man’s hand.

“It wasn’t fun. Let’s leave it at that.” Was all Dean could manage in reply.

God damn it… he thought he could handle this. If he couldn’t even handle being in the same room as a few ‘friendly’ vampires, what the fuck was he going to do when he came face to face with the ones that had…

Sam could hear Dean's heart racing, his fear thick and tangible. He stepped back and wrapped an arm around Dean's waist, pulling Dean to him reassuringly. Most of the vampires he knew and he hadn't considered how it must be for Dean. How would Sam feel walking into a bunch of hunters who knew exactly who and what he was but who were strangers, with only Dean's word they wouldn't hurt him, especially if the last group of hunters he had encountered had tortured and done the terrible things to him that Vanessa had done to them. Unnerved hardly began to cover it. For Dean these were the first vampires he had met outside of Vanessa and her nest.

Sam gave Simon a apologetic smile. "This is the first time Dean's encountered vampires who weren't out to kill him."

Sam waved in the other hunters who looked wary at the least. Simon stepped back, as cautious of the hunters as they seemed of him.

"Quite all right," Simon said. "This is a little…odd…for us as well. Hunters aren't exactly on our list of trustworthy people." He gave Dean a small bow. "Forgive me Dean. I know what Vanessa can be like, we all do. That's why we're here and willing to ally ourselves with," he shrugged, "the enemy."

He motioned the other hunters in to the table. "Please, take a seat. We'll get some coffee brewing, and food sent up." He twisted his head. "Desiree—"

"Already handled," Desiree said, practically bouncing back into the room, her smile as bright as ever. "Lots of coffee and sandwiches will be up in no time at all. I promised a major tip if they got them up here in ten minutes."

She turned to Dean and without giving him a chance to even react she hugged him and planted a kiss on his cheek just as she'd done with Sam. She felt his tension and stiffening under her touch. "It's so wonderful Sammy had found someone. It's nice to see the light back in his eyes."

Stepping back she gave him a broad smile even though she could see and smell how upset he was. Giving his shoulder a quick squeeze she said softly, "If you didn't know we were vampires, would you give meeting us a second thought?"

She reached up, standing on her toes and ruffled Sam's hair. "He's the dangerous one. He didn't get his reputation among hunters for being a nice guy."

Spring snorted at that. "That's for damned sure."

Sam gave him a glare before turning Dean in his arms and giving him a reassuring kiss. Whispering in his ear he said, "They're people Dean. Like you, like me, like Bobby. They have normal lives." He stared into Dean's jade eyes. "Trust me. My friends aren't like Vanessa and her nest. They care about people."

A woman waddled in from the other room, her belly distended and she was obviously pregnant. "You must be Sam," the tall brunette said as she settled herself on the bed and slapped the leg of a male vampire who slowly sat up and sleepily wrapped his arms around her.

Sam stared at her, his eyes going to her belly and back to her face again. She laughed at his wide-eyed look. "I'm Mel's wife, Stacey. Human, obviously. We decided we wanted kids so we went to a clinic." She rested her hand on her belly. "I look like I'm about to pop, don't I? I've another two months of this hell. Twins. Good grief."

"I didn't want her to come," Mel said, kissing her neck. "But she's a stubborn shit."

"And I don't want you going up against the bitch. We all have our crosses to bear. Suck it up big boy. And just remember, you get yourself killed and I'll take up with Nathan."

"Guess I better not get killed then, huh? He looks twenty years your senior!"

She made a tsking sound. "And you are three hundred years my senior. In sixty years they're going to think I'm your great-grandmother."

"Nah, just one helluva cougar."

She laughed and kissed him, then turned her attention back to Sam and Dean. She gave a smile to Dean. "Strange isn't it? V-squares are an odd lot." She saw Bobby's creased brow. "V-squared. Vegetarian vampires. I never thought I'd end up living in a commune and married to a vampire. Life is sure strange."

"Mel?" Sam asked, a plethora of questions in that simple word.

"She's army. Or was. Insisted that she wanted to be in on the planning." He shrugged. "She's more stubborn than you are. I tried to leave her behind until she pulled the tranq gun filled with deadman's blood on me. Lindsey's husband is here too. Insists on being in on the fight."

"He's human and not even a hunter!" Sam said thinking of the small man with glasses and retreating hairline. Lindsey was a blond and about as hot as they came. At first glance they seemed the most unlikely of couples.

"He's gotten to be a good shot through the years," Mel said with a shrug. "I swear, humans who take up with vamps are the most stubborn damned lot."

"Amen to that," Sam murmured aand looked down at Dean.

Dean couldn’t decide if Sam’s arm around him was welcome or not. A part of him was grateful for it, for the support and reassurance the touch offered, even though it didn’t really help him relax. At the same time, Dean hated that he needed it. He hated how it would probably make him appear to the vampires and hunters... even Bobby... weak and helpless.

The young man only gave Simon the barest of nods, acknowledging his apology. Even though he had the sneaking suspicion that Sam thought it was Dean who should be apologizing to the other man instead.

He was able to relax... slightly... when the other vampire finally moved away from him at least. Though the tension returned, and then some, when the vampire who’d opened the door for them returned to the room and immediately came up to him, hugging and kissing him of all things. It was probably only Sam’s restraining arm around his waist that had kept the young man from bolting.

Her question to him made Dean frown. Would it make a difference if he didn’t already know they were vampires? Yes, actually. Ok, so the fact that they were vampires had a lot to do with it. But that wasn’t the only reason.

Sam’s almost scolding words whispered into his ear certainly didn’t help matters any, but what could Dean really say? He certainly wasn’t going to tell them how he’d nearly broke Bobby’s hand the first time the older hunter had touched him after... Fuck, Dean hadn’t even let his father come near him before. Maybe Sam could get over what had happened to him in under a week, but Dean couldn’t. Fuck, it had been years since the first time it had happened to Dean, and he was still messed up over it. The fact that he let Sam touch him, not to mention fuck him, was a fucking miracle.

But Dean wasn’t going to tell them that. It was none of their fucking business. And Sam... he simply didn’t want his lover to know any more about that time. Sam already knew way too fucking much about it to begin with. So, fine, let them think it was just because they were vampires. He didn’t care, and he didn’t really care what they thought about him.

Though he did care what Sam thought of him, not to mention Bobby, and his father too would probably be ashamed of him for acting like a scared puppy who’d been kicked one too many times.

Suck it up, Dean.

Standing straighter and squaring his shoulders, Dean pulled away from Sam and headed for the table where the other hunters were already sitting.

“Let’s get this Pow-wow started then.” He said as he sat down. The sooner they got this over with and he could get out there with a machete in his hand the better Dean would feel.

Sam was pleased when Dean seemed to gather himself and his confidence apparently returned. Bravado in many ways, Sam knew that, all the vampires would know that with one whiff, but no one would call him on it. Sam could also scent something different in Dean, a fear of some sort that didn't make sense to him. Then he remembered the restaurant and the jukebox and the panic the stranger had put Dean into. Dean was in close quarters with a bunch of strangers, most of whom were vampires, and Dean didn't want to be touched. Vampires were notoriously tactile though Dean wouldn't know that. He needed to protect his bloodmate. Dean was already shaken and if Dean went into panic mode now, he might not have the confidence to join them. While the idea was appealing in some respects, Dean needed this as much as he did. He had to admit, he was scared on too many levels to count. Scared of how Dean would react to the real Sam Cristo. Scared of going up against Vanessa. Scared of returning to her den and them maybe not winning. Scared of losing Dean. Scared if Bobby died, how Dean would react…he stopped listing them off to himself at that point. The list was far too long.

They both needed to see Vanessa dead. With that in mind, he knew he had to keep Dean from freaking and there was only one way to do it without, hopefully, embarrassing his lover. He wondered if Dean knew the demonic tongue. Bobby might, but he could only hope Dean didn't.

"Ash dei la netre, sec wingedos soldaris tay ni tayo setra verades ber roon segla," Sam said softly but he knew every vampire in the two rooms would hear him. Dean might. He wasn't sure if the humans would. Plain and simple he told them both Dean and he were jumpy about being touched unexpectedly and asked that they not do so without permission. All the vampires eyes swung to Sam and he heard softly echoed words of 'Desada.' They understood and would abide by his request.

The sudden attention on Sam and the answer he got didn't go unnoticed by the hunters, but Sam didn't feel inclined to explain. It dealt with his people and his lover and was no one else's business. He walked over and took the chair beside Dean. Another wooden table was brought in by a vampire from the next room and more chairs, giving at least half of them a place to sit at the table.

Maps, newspaper articles, and printouts were spread over the tables. Simon decided he would drop the bombshell from the get go. "Fifty two people have gone missing along Vanessa's trip to her current nest." Simon heard the gasps from the hunters as well as Cristo but he pushed on. "Twenty-one bodies have been recovered, eight tortured, and the others were obviously dinner and entertainment. Thirty one are unaccounted for. Based upon our recon, we think all said and done there are about thirty vampires, maybe a little less. Sam you said she probably had fifteen in her nest when they ran, so we ought to be dealing with about fifteen newly turned and fifteen kept around for food. It doesn't appear that she's called in other clans, thankfully. Good news, if you want to look at it this way, is that there are probably fifteen people we can actually rescue. With that large a nest, especially with the newly turned, they need the food more than the additional manpower." Simon turned his attention to Sam. "One more bit of bad news. Though she didn't call in any other clans, we think there's a demon in the mix. You're still on their hit list, aren't you?"

Sam winced. He realized he didn't have on his hexbag and honestly couldn't recall when he last had it on. "Yeah. Probably. No one's bothered me in awhile, but given a free shot at me? I wouldn't be surprised if one showed up."

Dean turned to look at Sam when the vampire spoke. Though he barely heard the soft words it would have been impossible to miss how every vampire suddenly turned to his lover at the same time as well. He didn’t understand what Sam had said, but apparently the vampires did because they answered Sam easily enough.

He raised an eyebrow questioningly at his lover, but the other man didn’t seem inclined to elaborate what that was about. He looked to Bobby next, but the older hunter didn’t seem to understand any more than he did, and that bothered Dean a little. He saw it bothered the other human hunters as well, that something was obviously going on between the vampires that they didn’t want the humans to know about.

Not the best way to start an ‘alliance’… but there wasn’t much Dean could do about it. He hoped whatever it was didn’t jeopardize the vampires and the hunters working together effectively. There was enough distrust between them already and they needed to get over it quickly if they were going to go up against Vanessa’s nest together.

After another table was brought in, all of the vampires that had been sleeping in the other room joined them, and they got down to business quickly. Dean studied the maps of the area laid out on the table carefully, though the newspaper articles and autopsy photos were difficult to look at.

Fifty two people… twenty one of them dead… dear god… So many more than he had feared. Just the few Dean had learned of back at Jacobs had been bad enough, but thirty one… possibly even more than that, there was no telling how many people hadn’t been reported missing yet, or their bodies hadn’t been found yet. There was no telling how many of them were now vampires themselves. Even if they figured on the low end, sixteen hunters against thirty in the nest, almost two to one odds, and the Vanessa would have the advantage. She had the home court advantage, they would know they were coming and would be prepared for them, and they would have human shields to hide behind.

Fuck…

Then Simon dropped the big bomb, and Dean’s jaw dropped. Thirty vampires and a fucking demon on top of it! More and more this was starting to look like a damned suicide mission.

"There are some others we can call in," Sam said. "They said they'd come and help if we needed them."

"Luca?" Simon asked. At Sam's nod he glanced away a moment then returned his attention to Sam. "We got a call from Midge. Most of her family was taken out, including Luca. You know my entire nest came. Funny thing though. When we call our answering machine to check messages? It doesn't pick up. I called a friend. Our houses are gone. Ash." Simon sighed. "The Network has been informed. Our best guess as to why Vanessa didn't call in other clans is because she's got them hunting down vegetarians. Everyone's been put on alert though it looks like she's targeting Anastasia's descendants."

Sam stared at the maps and info spread across the table. "This is my fault," he said softly.

Mel stood up his eyes flashing angrily. "The hell it is. You're merely the excuse. She pulled this crap 250 years ago. I watched it go down and lost most my family to the bitch. She did it again about 100 years ago. She looks for a reason to declare a war to go after the kids of any Old One who went vegetarian. We've got the Network now so it'll be a helluva lot harder for her to get the drop on us since we know she's gone to war again."

Sam looked around and saw all the vampires seemed to agree with Mel and finally gave a nod of acceptance. Even if he was merely the excuse, it didn't make him feel much better. Sliding his hand under the table, he gripped Dean's hand, searching for reassurance.

"These are bad odds," Sam finally said. "The last time here, it took fire to get them out."

Stacy pulled her husband back down to sit beside her. "Guess it's a good thing I have contacts then. And am easily bored and like to play with explosives." She grinned. "Hand grenades fill with shrapnel coated in deadman's blood for one."

"We've got innocents in there," Sam pointed out.

"They're not full strength explosives. Don't want the cave coming down on top of you guys for one. Yeah, there might be a few innocents that get hurt, but it's highly unlikely it'll do them any significant damage. It's not going to kill any of the vampires in there either, but it will hurt and help distract them, slow them down some. They aren't meant to blow off limbs. We've got several high power rifles that shoot tranqs filled with blood. There's no accuracy with any distance much beyond fifty feet but they should pierce the chainmail in most cases. If it does, it should put them down within about fifteen seconds, and weaken them if not keep them down for a couple minutes."

"Neck armor?" Sam asked. "Any magic bullets for those?"

"Sort of," she answered with a nod. "Small explosives, sticky bombs, with a 5 second delay. You push the button, smack it on the armor and it'll put a hole in the metal about the size of a half dollar. You keep hold of it, you could lose a few fingers. With a hole in the armor it should weaken it enough that you can probably cut through with a strong enough blow. Nail it on the latch, and the collar will fall off. We experimented and it looks like you've got about a fifty-fifty shot of getting through the damaged armor, at least part way. Drawback is that obviously you have to get close enough to get it on the armor. We aren't sure how useful they'll be but we've got some made up. Obviously, a good headshot, pop the collar and decap is the best way. We brought armor for everyone," she turned her brown gaze on the other humans, "including for you hunters. Didn't know if you'd be going in or not and thought it best bring them in case."

"Probably best if the humans stay outside," one of the other male vampires said. "This will degrade into an animal to animal combat." He gave a mildly apologetic look to the humans. "We can't guarantee you won't take friendly fire. When the animal comes out, you're unknowns to us. We'll be focused on the other vampires, but deadman's blood will drive us to go for fresh blood if we can, to counteract the poison. If you're close, we might turn on you without meaning to."

When Sam suggested that maybe they call in some more help, Dean couldn’t deny right now it sounded like a pretty good idea. As much as Dean hated the idea of waiting, thinking of what might be happening to those prisoners at this very moment, the simple fact was they weren’t going to be any good to those men and women if they all died. But more than that, Dean didn’t want Sam and Bobby risking their lives on some damned suicide run. Before their chances had been ‘slim’ but now they were looking damned near impossible. If he was only risking his own life, that would be one thing, but he wasn’t going to risk their lives.

Unfortunately it looked like waiting for more back up wasn’t going to be an option. Dean wasn’t sure what to feel at the news that the vampire bitch was ordering the assassination of other ‘vegetarian’ vampires as they spoke. There wasn’t going to be any more help for them, and if they waited, pretty soon whatever vampires were out doing the hits would probably head here and only fortify Vanessa’s nest even more. The situation had just gotten shittier, if that was even possible.

If was now or never. Suicide run or not, if they didn’t hit her now, they weren’t going to be able to.

Dean looked at Sam when he heard his lover’s soft self deprecating whisper, giving the vampire’s hand that slid into his own a gentle squeeze. Not even really caring if the others noticed or not.

Sam was wrong, it wasn’t his fault, it was Dean’s. Him being sloppy and getting caught by the nest in the first place is what set off this domino effect. But Dean knew he couldn’t say those things to Sam now, at least, not in front of the other vampires. Considering they might decide he should pay for the deaths of their friends and family or something.

So all he could do was listen intently as the other vampires went on planning how to get into the nest and take out the vampires, armed with fucking armor, and without killing the civilians in the process. When one of the vampires suggested that the ‘humans’ stay outside of the cave Dean couldn’t agree more. He didn’t want Bobby going in there. He and the other hunters could help get any hostages they freed to safety. One thing was certain however.

“I’m going in.” He said firmly, giving Sam a look that said his lover better not even think of arguing. Dean was going to watch Sam’s back, plain and simple.

Sam nodded to Dean and squeezed his hand. "I said we'd do it together. I'd rather you stay outside in relative safety but I know you need this too. How ever it comes out." Sam turned his attention back to the other vampires. "Dean has shown close to vampiric strength and speed, but it's stubborn and we're not entirely sure of the trigger. Enough anger seems to bring it out. Enough blood loss and the dormant virus inside him activates and he needs vampire blood and he may well take from whoever is closest. Until he gets that blood, his blood becomes about as poisonous as deadman's blood. In general, consider him human, but don't be shocked if he suddenly starts to show vampiric abilities."

"Ya got a demon to deal with too," Bobby said to the vampires. "Can they toss you about like they can toss humans about?"

"'Fraid so. Simon said. "The demons in us are lower demons, animalistic demons like hellhounds and can't be exorcised from us, as I'm sure you hunters probably know. When it comes to a regular demon, we're as vulnerable as anyone. We're also not particularly comfortable around exorcism rituals, especially if our animals, our demons, are in control of our bodies."

"There ain't no way to get rid of the demon problem without an exorcism," Bobby said. He glanced at the other hunters who reluctantly agreed. "Guess that means we're coming in. We can salt the entrances, you folk head on in and get the party going. We'll come in, try to exorcise the demon, and be on hand to get the prisoners out. We'll stay outta yer way and yer war. The odds are bad enough, but if that demon gets even a handful of you up against a wall where the enemy can attack you, ain't no way anybody is coming out of there. It'll be up to you folk to keep them distracted. As soon as that demon is handled, we'll head out, hopefully with the prisoners."

Simon glanced at Sam who gave a half shrug. The humans had a point and everyone knew it. For that matter, of the vampires, Sam was the only one who knew an exorcism by heart. "You can't trust the prisoners," Simon said. "Any could be infected. Best you get rid of the demon, then get out, we'll get the prisoners moving your way as soon as we can. When they come out, dart 'em with deadman's blood and make certain they're human. We can't afford to release them until we've got the upper hand. We can't risk assuming they're human, and suddenly find we've reinforced Vanessa," Simon said. His face turned grave. "You gents keep in mind if you get cut and any vampire blood gets in that wound, you'll be like us. There'll be a lot of blood flying." Simon paused. "You gents won't have ever seen anything like this before except maybe in the movies."

"You folk get hurt, you'll need blood, right?" Bobby asked, scratching absently as his beard.

"Yes, we'll likely drink from our downed enemies," Simon said with a nod.

"Iffen they have deadman's blood in them, won't it make their blood poison?"

Simon nodded. "Initially, until the vampire system has killed it. That doesn't take long usually."

"How fresh does blood have to be coming from a human for it not to be poison to you?" Bobby asked.

The vampires all looked at one another, unsure.

Sam spoke up. "Max, two hours. Min, about an hour, assuming it's refrigerated. The fresher, the better. We can drink from a dead body if it's been less than about fifteen minutes. If blood isn't refrigerated, that fifteen minute window comes into play."

"What iffen we get you fresh blood, put it on ice, and you carry it with you. If you need it, it'll give you a bit of an edge, wouldn't it?" Bobby asked.

"Yes, but how would you get it and keep it that fresh for us? We're going to head in from about a mile away."

"They're going to have guards and know we're coming," Sam pointed out. "We might as well get as close as we can."

Bobby gave a nod. "Then we rent us a van, offer up a lot of cash to the right folk, and haul them out there with us, get their blood, and you can carry a reservoir with you," Bobby said.

"Sam?" Simon asked. "You're the hunter. What do you think?"

Sam tilted his head and cocked an eyebrow thoughtfully. He nodded. "I think it might help tip the scales. We get hit with deadman's blood, fresh blood will get us on our feet fast. We take a bad wound, same thing. It's a good idea. If we can find humans willing to donate."

Dean returned Sam’s nod, glad that the other man wasn’t going to try to keep him out of this. Even if Sam had said otherwise, Dean would have argued, or simply just went inside along with the vampires whether or not Sam wanted him to stay out. But it was definitely better that Sam just agreed with him. The last thing they needed was strife among them when they had a nest of sadistic bastard vampires to deal with.

Though Dean wasn’t sure how to feel when Sam started telling the other vampires about how much ‘vampire’ Dean had in himself. Seriously, he thought Sam was exaggerating, for one. He didn’t have the speed or strength of a vampire so they shouldn’t expect that of him. Though the part about him needing to drink vampire blood if he lost too much blood, that much was true.

Dean remembered well what had happened to him, and how he had drank viciously from Vanessa. It had helped them escape, but Dean didn’t like remembering how inhuman he was now. Would that make the vampires more trusting of him or less, though? Would they think of him more like them? Or would they view him as an even bigger threat? Considering how humans generally thought about vampires feeding from them, Dean could only assume the latter.

As though they didn’t distrust each other enough.

When Bobby finally decided to put his own two cents into the planning, Dean definitely didn’t like the idea of Bobby coming into the nest with them to handle the Demon. If it had to be a human to perform the exorcism, then Dean could do it. He was mostly human anyway, or at least he liked to think so.

When Simon mentioned all the vampire blood that would probably be flying around, that pretty much made up Dean’s mind. Sure, Bobby probably wouldn’t like being told to stay out any more than Dean would like to hear it from Sam, but he wasn’t going to risk his oldest friend getting killed or turned. Not if there was another way.

“I can do the exorcism. I’m immune from being turned too, so it won’t be an issue. Then you can handle tagging and bagging the prisoners outside.” Dean interjected once he could finally get a word in.

Dean definitely didn’t like the idea of dragging even more human’s out there that could potentially be used as human shields by Vanessa’s nest. The fact that Bobby had even brought it up was more than a little disturbing to Dean.

“Can’t we just get the blood right before we head out there and bring it with us? I don’t like the idea of bringing civilians out there anywhere near that place. There’s going to be enough civilians out there already, assuming she left any of them unturned like you think.”

Sam gave a slow nod. "If we put it on ice immediately, we can do that. It's not as ideal, but we can do that. And Dean's right, we don't know how many guards Vanessa might have and where they'll be. If the civvies are too close, they might be vulnerable and that's the last thing we need." Looking at Bobby Sam shook his head. "I'm going to have to agree with Dean again. The three of you," his gaze swept over the hunters, "you're vulnerable too. Vanessa would delight in trying to turn you, if given the chance. You would be a liability in that regard. I wouldn't be at all surprised for her to have given orders to go after any human hunters. She wouldn't be surprised if I called in hunters to help and if she had managed to wipe out Simon's nest, that might have been what I would have resorted to, even if it meant betraying what I am. She knows I would do that if it meant saving innocents and attempting to put her down permanently." Turning to Dean he added, "But I don't like you going up solo against a demon who isn't in a devil's trap. It's powers won't be contained."

Bobby pulled the map closer to look at it. "Then we put a devil's trap on top, over the cave. It won't be expecting that and the vamps won't be able to readily access it to break it." He pointed a finger and the map. We put one here, and it'll cover a good section of the main part of the cave. We stay away from the tunnels coming in, so Dean'll have a place to retreat to that we know is outside the trap."

"It's covered with brush and dirt," one of the vampires said. "And how could you be sure to get in in the right place?"

"Topographic map says the highest point is right over the main section of the cave where you think the vamps are. So give us one vamp, uh, vampire, to help us clear it out fast. We can use paint right on the dirt. Should last long enough even in a wind to get the job done. As you all head in, you pour salt across the doorway behind you."

Sam nodded. "Again, not ideal, but better than nothing and it might make the difference. We need all the edge we can get." Sam dug in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He quickly called up a map, then dialed a number. "Hello, this is Sam Cristo. I'm sending a friend over to pull two thousand out of my account. Yes. 978432. Morgan. Peden Castle. Anastasia. Yes. Bobby Singer. He'll have my debit card. 2918. Yes. Good. Thank you."

Sam pulled out his wallet and handed over his debit card and showed Bobby the map to get to the bank. "You just have to show your driver's license. That should give you enough money to get the donors and supplies." Looking at the other two hunters he said, "You two get a van, and the supplies for taking blood and ice chests. Meet up, get the donors here. We'll need a van to get any innocents out so if you think we need two vans, get it. And get the paint and salt. We'll finish beating out the plan of attack and get geared up."

The rest of the planning went pretty smoothly. The details were hammered out and went over twice more just to make sure everyone understood the part they had to play. One slip up could mean none of them would walk out of there alive.

Dean was glad that Sam had agreed with him regarding the human blood donors. While the blood wouldn't be as fresh and probably wouldn't heal them as fast if they became injured, it was better than giving Vanessa's nest more human shields to hide behind. Frankly Dean had been a little surprised that Sam hadn't argued about him going up against the demon alone, neither had Bobby for that matter which probably surprised Dean more. But he was glad that neither man had put up any opposition. Dean felt a lot better knowing that his old friend would be relatively safe outside the cave and he wouldn't have to watch Bobby's back as well as Sam's and his own. The devil's trap on top of the cave was a really good idea too... if it worked. If it didn't, they'll probably be screwed.

When the other hunters returned with the vans and the other supplies that Sam had sent them out to get, they packed everything up quickly and headed out. Dean really wasn't used to wearing any kind of body armor on hunts, and the vest he'd been given to wear felt a little awkward, but hopefully wouldn't hamper his movements too much. He'd almost refused to wear it, but out of everyone going into the cave he would be the most vulnerable regardless and he didn't want the other vampires, or Sam, to feel like they had to protect him. With the armor it would be less likely he'd get dismembered in one hit at least.

Dean looked over at Sam who was also decked out in armor like chain mail and a thick studded leather collar around his neck, two large swords strapped to his back. They all looked like they were going to some weird renaissance festival or something. But sometimes the old tools were the best. Though Dean remembered the explosives that he'd been given to use on the vampire's neck protection if he got the chance... he really hoped Vanessa's clan hadn't thought of something like that. The idea of seeing Sam getting his head blown off with an explosive device... yeah... not something Dean wanted to think about.

They made good time to the cave, someone had a lead foot apparently, and it was a wonder they didn't get pulled over. Though Dean had a feeling that had more to do with the blood on ice that would become poison to the vampires rather than helpful before too long. If what Sam said was right, it should be good for another half hour before it became toxic. Still Dean watched with a bit of trepidation as Sam tried a bit of the blood to make sure it would could still be ingested by his fellow vampires.

Stopping about a half mile out from the cave, Dean got out to help unload the supplies.

Sam looked around at everyone, his face grim. Twelve vampires, four humans, and one half vampire all armed with weapons and explosives going up against twice their number, an Old One, and a demon. If they got out of this alive, relatively speaking, it would be a miracle. Although they had pounded out their plans, studied the tunnels and discussed options, it was a crapshoot and the dice were loaded against them.

Plain and simple, it sucked.

The human blood was distributed with icepacks accompanying them, hopefully keeping them fresh enough that much longer. Since the humans hunters couldn't move as fast as the vampires, some vampires would scout ahead and look for and take out sentries. Those designated scouts headed out as soon as they got their bloodpacks, both of deadman's blood and the fresh blood. The deadman's blood quickly smelled once exposed to air, so they had to wait until they got closer. There probably wouldn't be any sneaking up on Vanessa's sentries, but nothing like leaving a cloud of stench to tell them for certain.

Sam had tested a small bit of deadman's blood on Dean and it had no effect. If his virus went active, that might change, but Sam didn't think so. The virus Dean had went after vampire virus so deadman's blood should still have no effect.

The group was silent as they finished getting set. Moving in chainmail wasn't a silent affair even with shirts over them to help reduce the noise. The group moved into the woods, heading out at a good clip, vampires ahead and behind, watching for snipers and sentries.

At one point the hunters making the devil's trap broke away from the group to head for the high ground. One vampire joined them to help clear the brush to let them draw their trap. Bobby and Lindsey's husband, Ken, would have salt duty with two vamps watching their backs until they were done and the humans found a concealed location to dart anything that came out. The two vamps in turn would be watching the backs of the rest going in and then follow.

Everyone knew there were two key events that had to go down. Vanessa had to die and the demon had to be exorcised. Anything else was a bonus.

Sam paused outside the cave entrance and looked at Dean. He suddenly pulled Dean to him and kissed him hard. "Don't get killed," he said, his voice rough with emotion. Sam turned then and led the group inside.

As soon as they were all ready they headed off into the woods towards the cave without much talk. They all knew the parts they had to play, after all, so not much discussion was needed at this point. A few of the vampires went ahead to scout and the rest of them followed a bit more slowly behind, but Dean couldn’t help but wince a little at the noise they were making. Damned chainmail. Probably wouldn’t make much of anyway, Vanessa’s vampires were expecting them, but it still sucked. At least Dean didn’t have to worry about his hammering heartbeat giving them away, though.

When Bobby and the other hunters broke off from the group to get the Devil’s Trap set up, Dean said a small mental prayer to whatever might be listening that his friend would make it through this alive. He prayed if things went south fast… which they very well might considering the odds against them… that Bobby wouldn’t try to play hero and come after him this time. That the older hunter would just go, save whatever civilians he could, but mostly save himself.

It probably wasn’t fair to wish for something that he wouldn’t even consider doing himself, but Dean hoped for it anyway.

In the brush they passed by two beheaded vampires. Not one of their number, thankfully. The ones who’d scouted ahead must have taken them out… and no alarm bells yet. So far so good. It also meant they were getting close. No turning back now.

All too soon they reached the mouth of the cave, but instead of feeling good about the progress they were making an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of Dean’s stomach. This was too damned easy. Looking around at some of the other faces in their group he could see they were thinking the same thing he was.

When Dean looked to Sam, he was a little startled but not in a bad way when his lover suddenly pulled him into a kiss in front of everyone. Maybe another time he’d have been a bit embarrassed but right now he didn’t give a fuck and kissed Sam back just as hard.

“You too.” Dean whispered back, then forced himself to let Sam go as his lover started into the cave with the first group of vampires. Dean would follow in with the next group and start the exorcism, hopefully Bobby and the others would finish with the devils trap in time…

Sam crept slowly down the cave tunnel, watchful for traps. There were a couple entrances to the cave and tactically, it would have been wise to split their forces so they could attack from two locations. They could get pinned down in the single tunnel. Vanessa knew Sam was a good hunter and that splitting his forces would be the logical thing to do. That was why he chose not to do it. When they made their attack, Vanessa would have to split her forces, watching all the entrances. Truly he didn't expect any traps because Vanessa wanted him in the cave, in her nest. She had taken out Sam's support network and it was providence that had allowed the one nest he had with him to have escaped her plans. She would likely expect him to have brought several hunters with him and with the numbers she had, it would be a bloodbath.

He paused and listened. There was some occasional laughter, some faint sounds of sobbing, and indefinable sounds. It was daytime and he hoped many of the vampires would be sleeping, though she would probably have a least a third awake and standing guard against the attack she knew was coming. Easing forward more, he could see the light coming from the nest, battery operated lanterns. Vampires could see perfectly fine in the dark, but there had to be some small bit of light. The complete darkness inside a cave would prevent even vampires from seeing.

He hoped the devil's trap was completed.

Giving a discreet motion to those behind him, they charged into the next, keep low to protect themselves from any trap aimed at their neck, armor or no armor. Canisters of smoke flew into the cavern from Sam's team.

The cave reeked of an overwhelming scent of blood and death. Dead bodies, some still dripping blood were nailed into the stonewalls, bodies arranged almost artistically, meant to shock if they had indeed been a collection of hunters. Sam ignored the carnage. Before the smoke had spread far he identified Vanessa's location and ran for her, two other vampires at his side to run interference.

He opened the mental cage that he kept his animal in. We work together and finish this. Finish her.

Dean mentally counted the seconds after Sam and the first group of vampires entered the nest. They were to wait five minutes and then follow. It felt like the longest five minutes of Dean’s life. Finally Dean glanced at Simon standing next to him, and exchanged nods. They went in.

It was dark in the cave, as was expected, but Dean didn’t have as much trouble as he’d feared seeing where he was supposed to go. They heard the smoke canisters, shouts of alarm from deeper into the cave and knew the fight had started. They quickened their pace, but made sure to keep a close watch in front and behind them.

Their job was to make sure that none of Vanessa’s vampires were trying to ambush Sam’s team (or their own) from behind. About half way in two of their group broke off to lay down a salt line. They’d follow when they were finished. Hopefully by now Bobby and the other hunters had finished the devil’s trap and were repositioning themselves outside the cave to catch anyone trying to run out.

Dean had thought he’d prepared himself for this. Sam had warned him, vampire wars were ugly and bloody. But nothing had quite prepared him for this.

When they finally entered the main ‘room’ of the cave the smell hit him like running into a brick wall. The smoke canisters did nothing to hide the smell or the gruesome scene, and Dean knew their hopes of getting any survivors out alive had just dwindled exponentially. It was horrifically mind numbing, but Dean refused to let himself gag, and blamed the way his eyes watered on the smoke.

He could throw up and feel guilty over the loss of civilian life later, preferably over a good stiff drink, if he even survived the next hour. Right now he had a job to do. It was up to him to get rid of the fucking demon, wherever it was, then help Sam kill every last one of Vanessa’s fucking brood. The bastards were going to pay for this. Pay for everything.

Dean took great pleasure aiming his shot gun and blowing the face off of one of the vampires he recognized that had fucked him raw while whispering filth into his ear. He didn’t think. He simply let his training, everything his father had taught him, and his new instincts take over. Dodging the blow of another vampire, using his shot gun to knock it back several feet and then finishing it off by severing its neck with his machete just above the neck armor it wore.

Through the smoke Dean caught a glimpse of Sam, and Vanessa, and a chill ran up Dean’s spine. Everything in him demanded he rush to his lover’s side and help, but he forced himself to stay back. The demon. They wouldn’t have a chance if he didn’t take out the demon. But where was the fucking bastard? What if it wasn’t here, or if it was outside the devil’s trap? Without much choice, Dean began the exorcism ritual anyway, hoping that would get the demon’s attention at least.

A sudden invisible blow, knocking the air out of him quite literally and back into one of the cave walls gave him his answer. He’d gotten its attention all right.

Sam charged across the stone floor, sword ready. While he had his machetes with him, she would have a sword and it afforded her reach that his machetes didn't. He felt all his senses sharpen as the animal and he merged into a single being with a solitary goal. An inhuman howl left his throat as he charged, the two other vampires at his side blocking and intercepting enemies who tried to stop him. Sam leapt over obstacles, at one point planting a foot on a wall and somersaulting to reach a ledge. Vanessa was on a wide shelf overlooking the rest of the cave. Taking a final leap, he landed lightly on the stone shelf.

"It ends, Vanessa," he snarled, his hazel eyes sheened with red.

Her laugh was low and throaty. "You think you and your pathetic little troupe can kill us all?"

She held her sword in one hand, down, but was obviously ready for his attack. The fine chain she wore tinkled softly beneath her red shirt. She had on a high collar, vertical strips of metal placed every half inch or so around the leather. Tight fitting jeans were like her second skin and she wore high leather boots with straps joined by rings of metal over the black leather

"I only care about you," Sam said, his sword held in front of him.

"Oh, you care, baby. How sweet. Did you like all the presents I left for you and your bitch-boy?" she purred, laughter in her dark eyes.

The animal heard a sound and Sam shifted back suddenly as a crossbow bolt narrowly missed his chest. Showing his fangs and hissing at her he spat, "Afraid of me, Bitchnessa? Need one of your dogs to take me out because you're too impotent to do it yourself?"

"Letting your animal free," she tsked. "What makes you think you'll ever be able to put it back in its cage? Smell the human blood, hear the pounding of human hearts, the rush of blood through veins. Smell their terror. This is what it is to be a real vampire."

"No, that's what it is to be a killer. We, my animal and I, have a symbiotic relationship. I am a vampire, I am not ashamed of it, but I don’t' need to kill humans to be what I am. I don't need to smell their fear just to get off." Sam slowly circled her, watching as her stance shifted, watching how she moved and hefted her sword.

There was no feint as he suddenly closed the distance in a blur of motion, aiming his sword at her side. She jumped back, his blade cutting nothing but air. Blocking the blow she brought down toward his head, he then stabbed for the notch of her neck between her collar bones. Although he made contact the chainmail and leather both protected that area and he hadn't enough force behind the strike to break through. Her follow-up blow bit into his collar and only the metal underneath kept the blade from going through.

He danced back, unnerved by how close she came to killing him. The gleam in her eyes and her feral cold smile told him she knew that as well.

<i>Don't let her scare you,</i> the animal crooned. <i>Our bloodmate, remember our bloodmate. I hear his voice.</i>

The animal was right on both counts. Dean's voice rang in the cavern. He wondered if Dean knew which body held the demon. If he didn't, Sam decided he would give Dean a bit of help in that department as he bolstered his own confidence. "I am Sam Cristo!" he roared. "And you will die by my hand!" He charged her, pulling out a machete as he did. He was a two weapon fighter and with his machete in his off hand, he knew she wouldn't get through his defenses again. He believed that. He had to if he was going to survive this battle.

Even with the body armor he was wearing, Dean knew he was going to have some spectacular bruises later. Even though he was left gasping for breath from the demon’s psychic blow, he still forced his body to move, stepping and rolling out of the way of another attacking vampire, retrieving the machete he’d dropped and stabbing upwards. The vampire howled in pain as the blade sunk deep into his groin, and Dean quickly jumped to his feet, slapping one of the explosive charges against its neck armor in the process, and diving for cover. The small explosion sent a spray of stones down on him, but it had gotten the job done. Dean quickly retrieved his machete from the fallen vampire and used it to finish off the creature gurgling out of the gaping hole in its neck.

Unfortunately Dean still had the demon to deal with, but the bastard was keeping a low profile. Dean could only watch half way across the cave as one of their companions was flung back against the wall and held there helplessly as another vampire twisted and pulled their head off. Fuck. Where was the fucker!

Then he heard Sam’s voice echoing loudly through the cave, and while part of him was relieved to hear the sound of his lover’s voice so sure and confident, another large part of him was confused. Until he saw one, rather petite looking female suddenly flinch and her eyes turn black. There. Dean didn’t hesitate then, charging into the heat of the battle, avoiding the other skirmishes going on as best as he could. He had one job. Get rid of the fucking demon and then help Sam. Sam was counting on him.

When Dean was close enough he grabbed the flask of holy water out of his pocket and threw it at the demon. The demon’s screech was ear piercing as the holy water burned its skin like acid and its black eyes turned on him in rage. He turned and ran, and the demon did exactly what he hoped it would. It ignored everyone else and came straight for him.

Dean wasn’t really surprised when he went flying again, and slammed painfully into the wall a second time, but at least he was expecting it and managed to shield his head to avoid cracking his skull open. He was still slightly dazed as he scrambled back to his feet, but then suddenly the demon stopped abruptly as though it had run straight into an invisible brick wall.

The young man grinned, even though he had to blink away the blood that dripped from his forehead into his eyes. The devil’s trap. It had actually fucking worked. Again, Dean began to speak the exorcism ritual, his voice strong and confident and no matter how the demon screamed and struggled she couldn’t stop him this time. Finally pitch black smoke poured out of the woman’s mouth, the demon sent back to hell where it belonged, and the woman’s body crumbled to the ground. Dean quickly rushed to the woman and checked her vitals but he wasn’t surprised to find none. She was dead, had probably been dead for a long time, but Dean still couldn’t help the intense flash of guilt he felt.

It didn’t matter. Sam. He had to get to Sam now. Looking up, Dean didn’t have to search long for his lover. Like some kind of epic battle people only write about Sam and Vanessa were engaged in a duel to the death on a ledge overlooking the rest of the cave. Dean realized he could hear the clashing of the swords even from where he was over the rest of the battle. Sam was holding his own for now, but for how long?

His machete in one hand, shotgun in the other, Dean didn’t hesitate charging back into the thick of the battle. Using his weapons to take out what enemy vampires he could along the way. Adrenaline pumping through his veins and while some of the vampires seemed to move in almost a blur Dean had little trouble dodging and getting past their defenses to deliver blows of his own. Dean couldn’t tell if the battle was going in their favor or not. He had only one single goal in mind. To reach Sam. Dean wasn’t even sure how the hell he was going to make it up on the ledge where Sam and Vanessa were fighting, but he’d figure that out when he got there. As it turned out, when he finally got there, all he had to do was jump. He didn’t question it, he just reacted. Landing in a crouch behind Vanessa with a growl.

With the machete out to help block the matriarch's blow, Sam grew more confident, but not stupid. He had gotten confident with Bobby only to have Bobby disarm him time and again. His senses seemed hyper sharp and their clash of swords would probably be little more than blurs to the human eye. They seemed evenly matched. Sam pushed her back along the ledge only to have her take the offensive and push him back. He would try to draw her in only to have her stay maddeningly out of reach. He couldn't deny his wrists were beginning to ache from blocking blow after blow, or his own blows being powerfully blocked by Vanessa's sword.

Fighting against a human, holding back so as not to hurt Bobby or Dean, hadn't been a major effort, but this was different. He wasn't sure how long they'd been at it, but it felt like hours. His animal urged him on, strengthened him, and wanted Vanessa's blood like an addict needing another hit of crack. His animal growled and gnashed its teeth in frustration but but didn't push Sam, didn’t want to make him get careless. It growled threats and promises to Vanessa which she only laughed at.

"Getting tired, dear Samuel?" she taunted. "I can do this all day long. You're beginning to slow, cow's blood just doesn't give you the same kick as human blood, now does it? And I can't wait to bring you down. You'll be my toy for years to come."

"Not happening, Bitch," Sam snarled. He'd find a way to kill himself before he ever ended up in her clutches again.

He saw the movement and heard the growl of his bloodmate. Vanessa turned enough to see Dean crouched, ready to strike. Sam used her momentary distraction to start to attack. Until the arrow buried itself in his chest and he felt the toxins of deadman's blood coil through his system. He stumbled and the sword slipped from his fingers as he went down to his knees.

Out of the corner of his eye, Dean saw the movement. From a partially hidden ledge where Vanessa’s men must have been watching the fight between the bitch and Sam all along, waiting just for this moment. Ready to strike just in case Sam managed to gain the upper hand…

“Sam!” Dean shouted but the warning was already too late. The arrow buried deep into his lover’s chest and the way Sam staggered he knew it was more than just from pain or loss of blood. Dean knew the effect dead man’s blood had on vampires all too well.

Dean didn’t think about the possible consequences of facing off against Vanessa alone. He only knew he had to get to Sam. He wasn’t going to let that bitch hurt his lover when Sam was weak and defenseless.

Not again…

With a vicious growl of rage, Dean lifted his shotgun and fired several rounds at the vampire bitch, trying to drive her away from Sam. There wasn’t any blocking those with a fucking sword. She managed to dodge a few of the shots but one of them hit her in the arm and another grazed her leg. Not fatal wounds by any means but at least he had her full attention now.

Dean ducked one swing of the sword and brought the shotgun up to block the another, feeling the force of the blow ring through his entire body. But he managed to bring up his machete and slash at her across her stomach, his form quite sloppy but maybe that was an advantage since she obviously wasn’t expecting it.

As she jumped back, Dean situated himself between her and Sam in a half slide and replaced his machete for Sam’s dropped sword. At the same time he reached for and pulled the arrow out of Sam, wincing a little in sympathy that he couldn’t be more gentle about it but they didn’t have time to. In a second he was on his feet again, ready to protect his blood mate with his life.

Sam wanted to yell at Dean to stay back, but the weakness swept through him so violently he could barely do anything. He groped for the pouch of fresh blood and managed to get it out and gulp it down. He spotted the archer and growled low in his chest. He pulled free a dagger and scratched the blade over the arrow Dean had pulled from him, getting some of the deadman's blood on it. Although his first thought was to nail the bastard who had shot him, he had a better idea. He slapped one of the explosives on the dagger, leaned out so he had a clear shot around Dean, and flicked the throwing blade high and on the inside of Vanessa's thigh. It was a solid hit. The explosion should nail her femoral artery he hoped. And maybe a bit more intimate of an area.

"Fire in the hole," Sam gasped to Dean when the blade buried itself deeply in her leg.

Dean jumped back and away from Vanessa as the small explosive went off and did some serious damage to her leg. She screeched in agony and the leg almost caved on her, between the explosion and the small quantity of deadman's blood on the blade. Blood poured from the injury on her leg. Struggling to his feet, he picked up his dropped machete and pulled his second one free of its sheath. He knew he couldn't take on Vanessa yet but he could protect himself and his lover from more arrows. The deadman's blood wouldn't hurt Dean, but the arrow itself could kill him. There was also the distinct chance someone would come to try to help Vanessa.

The archer took another shot, this time at Dean, but Sam clipped the shaft in midair, disrupting its flight path and deflecting it away. He still felt weak and nauseous, but the fresh blood in his system was definitely helping fight the poison. It was at least keeping him on his feet for the moment. "Got your back," Sam said, though his voice was weak and shaky. "Don't underestimate her," he warned.

Dean wasn’t expecting the knife thrown from behind him from Sam that imbedded itself into Vanessa’s thigh, but he wisely jumped back at his lover’s gasped warning. Before the vampire bitch could pull the blade from her leg the small bomb went off, blowing a large chunk out of her thigh and Dean couldn’t help but smirk at the shrieks of pain coming from the bitch. For everything she had put Sam through, remembering well how she had carved his lover up to a nearly unrecognizable slab of meat, not to mention the countless other innocents she’d tortured and killed, that was the least she deserved.

The hunter was relieved to see Sam back on his feet, even though he could tell that Sam was still weakened by the dead man’s blood at least he was recovering quickly. Dean only needed to keep Vanessa busy until Sam was recovered enough to take care of the bitch once and for all. A few minutes? Maybe as many as five? Dean was sure he could last at least that long… if he wasn’t stupid.

“Well, come on bitch. Unless you just want to give up now. We might even make your death a quick one, even if you don’t fucking deserve it.” Dean taunted and with a growl of rage she attacked him and he barely got his blade up in time to keep her from taking off his head.

Dean had to draw on every trick, every lesson his father and Bobby had ever taught him about wielding a blade, just to keep up with her repeated attacks. They came in a flurry he could barely see, and even though she had obviously been slowed down by her wounded leg Dean received more than a few cuts where he was just a split second too late blocking her blow. At least he managed to keep her from doing more damage than shallow cuts, and even though he felt the force of every clash of their blades through his entire body she wasn’t pushing him back. He was holding his own. For now…

Dean hoped Sam was doing ok or if he was in trouble. He couldn’t even spare a brief glance to see if Sam would be able to rejoin the fight soon, one second of distraction and Vanessa would finish him off, no doubt about it.

Suddenly Dean got an idea… a risky, stupid, idea that he was sure Sam would flip out over, but if it worked it could give them the advantage they needed. If it didn’t work, well… he’d be dead and he wouldn’t have to worry about Sam yelling at him later over it. He could only pray it worked.

So, Dean purposefully dropped his guard to his left side. Not enough to be obvious, he didn’t want to flash a neon sign that said ‘hit me’ but he was sure it would be enough. At least he hoped it would be enough that she went for it… and she did. The blade hit him so hard that even with the body armor he was wearing Dean felt it bite deep into his flesh. If he hadn’t been wearing the armor… he knew it would have cut him in half.

As his knees began to buckle, he finally glanced towards Sam, seeing his lover engaged in a fight with two of Vanessa’s ‘children’ that had come to her aid, he once more prayed this worked. She went for the bait, just like he thought. Leaning in to rip out his throat and replenish the blood she’d lost, and maybe for revenge for the way Dean had fed from her. But Dean ignored the pain and weakness caused by his blood rushing out of him as he grabbed her arm to keep her close and slapped his last explosive directly to the side of her protective collar.

Not only was Sam protecting them both from arrows, but another vampire joined them on the ledge. The vamp hissed at Sam who responded with a low threatening growl. The man wielded a single machete. Sam would have smirked if he didn't still feel so sick. One machete against his two? Against his experience? Even watching for arrows, he shifted slowly, watching his new opponent as well as listening to the fight between Dean and Vanessa. He was relieved Dean seemed to be holding his own though he could hear the rapid pounding of Dean's heart. That comforted both he and his animal. He was ready to strike when a second vampire joined the first. The second wielded a main gauche, basically a long stiletto of sorts, and saber. Well fuck.

Sam couldn't let them get around him to Dean. He moved in fast and hard, the animal forcing him to move faster than he thought he could with the poison still coursing in his system. For our bloodmate, it said simply, giving Sam strength from the depths of his soul. He had to stay focused on the two he was fighting. They were surprisingly good and the one with the two weapons he suddenly recognized from the previous nest. Fury filled him once again, his blood boiling as he remembered the bastard raping him, raping Dean. The man with the single machete he focused on long enough to step in, slip past his guard, and swiped the blade at an angle, clipping him just under the chin and above the neck armor. Sam didn't quite succeed in decapitating him, but the vampire still collapsed to the stone floor, blood pouring from his sliced open throat.

With that enemy vanquished he focused on the remaining one. Their blows were fast and furious and he could tell that the vampire had definitely trained with Vanessa. His animal was growling at him. Something was wrong. He smelled his lover's scent. Pain, blood, fear…

There was no more time to waste. Something was wrong, very very wrong. He flew at the enemy, accepting the stiletto-like blade that broke through his chainmail and buried itself in his gut. He dropped his machetes and grabbed the vampire's head, twisting it violently counterclockwise, twisting it so violently, he pulled the head free of the body. As accurate as a pitcher at a ballgame, he lobbed the gory head at the archer, knocking the bow from his hands to fall to the ground below. He grabbed his machetes and turned. Dean was on the ground, blood gushing from his side, and Vanessa leaned over him, as if to tear his throat out.

"No!" he screamed, his voice filled with anguish at the thought of losing his lover now, after all of this.

Then Dean shoved Vanessa away and covered his head with his arms. Sam's eyes widened and he backpedaled. The explosion wasn't any larger than any of the others had been but somehow, it seemed to echo in Sam's ears, louder than any other noise except for his lover's labored breathing. He turned back to see the shocked face of Vanessa, her one hand trying to stave the blood pouring from her now unprotected neck. Her face twisted in rage and Sam saw her start to bury her blade in Dean's chest. He leapt at her, sweeping the blade aside with his arm, feeling the blade bury itself to the bone.

The animal took over and Sam buried his teeth in Vanessa's neck, biting, drinking, ripping, as he wrapped his hand in her hair and yanked hard, exposing more on her throat. She screeched in fury and fear until Sam's teeth crushed her trachea. Pulling back, he swung his machete with every bit of strength in him, a snarl on his bloody lips. There was nothing more precious than hearing the blade slide through flesh, through bone and then finally slice air as Vanessa's held fell away from her body, her body dropping to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

Sam immediately went to Dean's side and held his bloodied arm up to Dean's mouth, cradling him but kept a machete close, ready to protect them. "Drink lover," he said. "She's dead. You did it. We did it. Now don't you go and get any ideas of following her. Drink."

Without a doubt it was Sam’s shouted denial his lover’s voice so filled with pain that gave Dean the strength to do what he needed to. Even though the hunter felt as weak as a newborn kitten with his life literally draining out of him he managed one final act of defiance. Somehow he managed to shove away the blood hungry vampire bitch, not to mention the fangs that would have ripped out his throat and bled him dry, with all his remaining strength. As she stumbled back, thrown off balance probably more to do with her wounded leg than Dean’s strength, Dean covered his head as a feeble protection from the imminent explosion.

Sometimes … well… you got lucky.

The sound of the bomb going off and the shrieking gurgling curses of the vampire bitch was sweet music to Dean’s ears. Not to mention the spray of blood that hit him and he knew that his desperate gamble had paid off. Nothing else mattered then. Not the blade coming down at him he had no hope of deflecting. Not the blood still pouring out of him. Or the deep cold ache that had settled through his whole body that told him even if Vanessa didn’t stab him in the heart right now it wouldn’t be long…

Dean had given Sam a chance. That was all that mattered. A chance to take the bitch down for good. He just hadn’t expected to still be alive to watch it happen. It was kind of funny how a few weeks ago the sight of a vampire ripping out someone’s throat, hearing her screams, would have disgusted and horrified him, but watching Sam now do to her what she would have done to him only satisfied him. An even greater sense of satisfaction and pride in his lover filling him when Sam took off the bitch’s head.

It was over…

Dean smiled faintly up at his lover. The first thought going through his mind that Sam was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, even if he was covered in blood and gore, when the vampire dropped down beside him and lifted him in his arms. He knew he could probably die happy now but of course Sam wasn’t going to allow that.

It was kind of funny how only after Sam brought his bloody arm up to his mouth Dean noticed the cold inside him had been replaced with burning. The same burning he’d felt when he’d been beaten so severely when they’d been captives. When he’d attacked Vanessa for her blood as viciously as any vampire in blood lust, practically draining her dry… the virus in him needing vampire blood to live. Sam was already injured. He was wounded and weak from the dead man’s blood.

Even as he shook his head weakly in denial, his eyes pleading with Sam not to do this, afraid that he might take too much… oh god what if he killed Sam, drained him dry… he could already feel the hunger building inside him. He wanted to stop but he couldn’t. Wanting, needing, always craving Sam’s blood even when he wasn’t so hungry. Dean grasped his lover’s arm, a small whimper which turned to a low growl escaping him even as he sealed his mouth over the bloody wound, drinking deeply.

Sam smiled down at his lover as he felt Dean's lips seal over the wound in his arm. He had just fed from an Old One. His nausea was all but gone and certainly he had injuries, but he had the blood to spare considering how much he had taken from Vanessa and how strong that blood made him feel. Vanessa's body was still basically in reach for more blood if he needed. He looked around and saw the battle was still going on, but the loss of Vanessa and the demon had demoralized the nest and vampires were beginning to run. No one seemed to take notice of Sam and Dean up on the ledge for the moment. Shifting Dean a little higher in his arms, hearing Dean's soft growl at the threat of losing the source of blood he so desperately needed, Sam set down the machete and used his free hand to go to Dean's wounded side. Grasping Dean's shirt, he fisted in up and used it as a compress to help slow Dean's bleeding. After another minute or so, he could tell he needed to get Dean to stop drinking, at least until he got more blood into himself. His animal growled to its bloodmate to cease, that more blood would be available in just a few minutes.

Sam had to tug a little to get Dean to release him. Once Dean did, he double checked to make certain his allies were holding their own and no one was threatening him or his lover, then he turned to Vanessa and ripped the shirt she wore. Lifting Dean's chainmail, he quickly bandaged the wicked wound. The compress had seemed to help and the blood was slowing. Sam was certain the vampire virus was contributing to helping to heal Dean as well. Pulling Vanessa's body closer, Sam sank his teeth into her flesh, drinking deeply, then held his arm back out to his lover to drink from, growling lovingly to him, encouraging him to take what he needed. Until he was certain Dean was not going to die and could defend himself, he would not leave his love.

As he drank the burning pain inside of him started to ease and instead it was replaced with a slowly growing warmth that started in his stomach and spread through his entire body. A feeling of peace began to wash over him. Comfort. Safety. He knew that Sam wouldn’t let anything happen to him. To them. Even though Dean knew there was still danger all around him he started to relax in his lover’s arms as he drank. It was only when Sam started to pull away his arm that Dean tensed again and a low growl escaped him in spite of himself.

The vampire’s soft comforting growl and gentle tugging finally made him come back to himself a little and he released his lover’s arm with soft panting breaths. Without Sam’s blood to distract him Dean began to realize how much he hurt, the other man’s fingers pressing hard against the deep gash in his side far from comfortable but he knew it was necessary.

Dean shivered a little when Sam lowered him to the ground, feeling cold again, but not the same cold as before. He didn’t want Sam to let him go but his lover needed both hands to bandage his wound. It fucking hurt and Dean winced a little when he looked down at his side for the first time. It was ugly, it would surely scar, but it wasn’t bleeding as bad as before.

Once Sam was done bandaging him he watched his lover feeding from Vanessa’s decapitated corpse and rather than feeling disgusted he felt relieved. He’d been worried that he would take too much from Sam, but watching Sam feed his worry eased.

When Sam offered him his arm again, Dean shook his head again but this time his thoughts were clear enough he could actually refuse.

“I’m ok…” He reassured his lover weakly. Dean was pretty sure he was telling the truth too. He might be hurting like a bitch right now, but he didn’t think he was dying anymore. “Go help them… help Bobby…” If the vampires were running then the human hunters outside were going to be at the greatest risk now.

Sam cupped his lover's face, then leaned downed and kissed him, a deep, passionate kiss. "Okay. I'll go."

Standing up, he looked around at the carnage. "Desiree!" he called out, seeing she had just finished off a vamp and a distraction would put her in no danger. He yanked free the blade still in his side with a soft grunt and dropped it to the floor.

Desiree glanced up at him.

"Protect Dean." He glanced down at his lover lying on the ground.

"Yes, sire," she said and ran over, leaping up to the ledge. She lightly slapped his bloodied face. Go kick ass."

"He may need more vampire blood. Vanessa has plenty to spare," he told her, flicking his gaze to the decapitated body.

"I've always wanted to taste an Old One," she murmured, "But I'll share."

Sam gave her a small smile, picked up his machetes, and then his face turned hard. With a shout, he leapt down to the cave floor. Like a whirlwind, he viciously cut down anything that got in his way. Powered with Vanessa's blood he blows were strong an able to cut through weaker armor. He left injured and dead in his wake until he found himself outside. Some vampires lay on the ground groaning, crossbow bolts sticking out of them. Looking out to the surrounding area he saw that two had gotten by the arrows and were trying to take out the hunters. One had hold of Spring, her fangs buried in his neck while Barrows was nowhere to be seen. Bobby and Ken were fighting with another vampire and seemed to be holding their own for the moment. Sam crossed the distance to Spring in a blur of motion, sinking his blade deeply into the back of the neck of the one who had hold of the hunter. The vampire released Spring and tried to turn, but with a final blow, Sam finished her off.

He placed Spring's hand against the wound on his neck. "I'll be right back," he promised the man. He saw Barrows was on the ground but hearing his heart was still beating assumed he was merely unconscious.

With another burst of speed he was running to the side of the other hunters. Sam's gut clenched as he heard Ken's cry, watching helplessly as the vampire shoved a blade through Ken's armor and into his chest. The vampire started to pull the blade out when Bobby clocked the vampire across the jaw. Sam leapt the last twenty feet. "Down," he shouted at the older hunter.

Without hesitation or thought Bobby dropped to the ground. Crossing his blades as he leapt, Sam landing behind the vampire and with every ounce of strength he had, he pulled the blades across one another, decapitating the vampire. He tossed Bobby a fallen crossbow then knelt by Ken. Ken's heart was slowing and he weakly coughed up some blood, a strangled cry escaping his lips as the coughing jostled the blade in his chest.

"Do you want turned?" Sam asked the dying man.

"Lindsey," Ken gasped, pain in his eyes. After only a moment of hesitation he gave a slight nod.

Sam wasted no time, slicing open his wrist and putting it to the man's lips. "Drink," he ordered. Lindsey and Ken could always change their mind, but not if Ken were already dead.

The man swallowed down the blood that gushed into his mouth, almost choking half a dozen times. Sam felt the man's lips finally seal around the gash and began to drink in earnest, his heart stuttering a bit but not stopping. Sam pulled his arm away. "That's enough. Lay here, don't touch that blade in your chest. You can't afford the blood loss yet."

Pulling the decapitated body of the vampire over next to Ken he told him, "If you crave more, drink from him." Looking up at the hunter Sam told him, "Stay out of his reach. No telling how fast he'll turn with this much blood loss. If he goes for the vampire's body, let me know and get the hell away from him. Don't shoot him with deadman's blood if you can avoid it. It might kill him."

"Got it," Bobby said, loading a fresh bolt into the crossbow and lifting it, ready for the next vampire to make an appearance from the cave tunnel. "A few others got by," Bobby told him grimly.

"We'll hunt them down, but some of our team might be coming out anytime so watch for friendlies." He saw the question in Bobby's eyes. He gave a nod a brief smile. "The demon's gone, Vanessa's dead, and Dean is injured but okay."

Bobby heaved a sigh of relief.

Sam returned to Spring's side, finding the pale man sitting on the ground, blood streaming from his neck from between his fingers.

"Trust me," he told the man, not really giving Spring any choice as he pulled Spring's hand away from the wound. Immediately he latched on with his own mouth working his tongue over the wound, attempting to seal it, Spring trying feebly to pull away from Sam. The blood tasted almost foul, tasting of death and fear. He finally felt the blood flow cease and with a final lick, released the man.

"It's stopped bleeding, but you've lost a lot of blood," Sam told him. "Just stay sitting, don't do anything or it might start bleeding again. My saliva stopped the blood flow, but it could easily open back up with that bad of a wound if you move much. Try to stay conscious." Looking around, Sam spotted one of the backpacks. Pawing through it he found the medical supplies in it and quickly hooked up an IV for Spring. "This should hold you until we get you to a hospital."

"Thanks," Spring rasped.

Sam checked Barrows. He was out cold, a lump on the side of his head, but seemed fine otherwise. Sam glanced back toward the cave, hoping Dean was still doing okay.

Sam’s kiss tasted of blood and love. A few weeks ago he would have been disgusted by the former, and maybe on some small level it still did. Only because it was Vanessa’s blood on his lover’s lips, even though he himself had nearly ripped out the bitch’s throat once, it wasn’t exactly a pleasant memory. It was only Sam’s blood Dean truly craved. But the wave of comfort and affection that filled him, giving him strength almost as much as the blood Sam had given him, more than made up for the slight unpleasant aftertaste in his mouth when their lips finally parted.

Dean wasn’t all that surprised when Sam called over one of their vampire allies to watch over him, though the young man would have liked to protest that he didn’t need babysitting he knew his lover wouldn’t leave him otherwise. He gave Sam one last reassuring smile and a nod before the vampire hunter left. At the expression on Sam’s face Dean might have felt sorry for the other vampires if he didn’t already know they fucking deserved everything coming to them and then some.

“Help yourself.” Dean told Desiree, waving half heartedly towards Vanessa’s corpse. He didn’t want to drink any of Vanessa’s blood if he could help it.

When he finally thought he could move without his guts spilling out or something, Dean started to push himself up slowly. It hurt like a bitch but with Desiree’s help he managed to sit up. The cave was nearly empty now, only the dead or dying left and the remaining sounds of battle far away. Probably either down in the tunnels or outside. With the vampire woman’s help Dean managed to get to his feet shakily and stay there with her support, despite the fact she was more than a head shorter than him.

When she started leading him to the tunnel that would take them out of the cave, Dean shook his head. As much as Dean wanted to get out of the cave away from the gory mess and stench of death, they needed to help their own. If one of their allies were injured they needed to get them blood. Also look for any humans that might have been spared.

“We need to look for survivors.”

After covering Spring with a blanket to hopefully help against shock, he headed back toward the cave. He took care of any fallen vampires still moaning from the deadman's blood. His face was hard and stoic. Two people sat against the stones, having each taken a shot in the leg and in the shoulder. Sam knelt by them.

"If you're not vampires, you'll live. You try to run, we'll take you down, regardless. We can't risk it. Stay here, stay down, and we'll get you help."

"Who are you," the young woman with long blond hair asked, her eyes pain-filled and scared.

"Most of us are vampires. We just wear the white hats," Sam answered as he stood and turned from her.

When another vampire ran out of a tunnel, Sam cut her down without even losing his stride. Two more he encountered died in the tunnel and a third he started to decapitate when the young man fell back.

"I'm not a vampire! I'm not!" he screamed, waiting for the death blow.

Though the animal told him to just kill the man, Sam stayed his hand and listened to the man's heart. It was beating so fast Sam wondered if some of the man's trembling wasn't purely from the pound of his heart. Bobby would nail him with an arrow or two and they could be sure. He waved the young man to go on down the tunnel, ignoring the sound of his cries when he heard first one bolt, then a second take the man down.

Inside he saw there was still one cage that held five people that was still locked. They locked scared out of their minds and Sam couldn't blame them. His interest was his lover at the moment. He saw Dean and Desiree helping the fallen and headed their way. Growls of the animals inside the vampires and moans of those who had taken back control echoed off the stone walls.

Picking through the bodies was not an easy task. It was… a mess to say the least. He’d never seen carnage like it… and the hunter hoped he never would again.

At this point, he wasn’t sure if it was his own blood loss or the smell that was making him dizzy. It certainly didn’t help that Dean was still very unsteady on his feet even without the piles of corpses and body parts he had to carefully step over. Or how the blood and gore made the rock floor almost as slippery as ice.

Still after Desiree helped him down off the high ledge where he and Sam had taken down Vanessa, he insisted he’d be fine on his own. It was more or less true, and besides, she couldn’t help others if she had to constantly hold him up. Dean noticed she stuck pretty close to him even as they both went about looking for their fallen among the dead and dying bodies.

When Dean came across injured or dying vampires of Vanessa’s nest, he dispatched them quickly with Sam’s sword. Sometimes using it as a makeshift cane to help keep him upright when a wave of nausea or dizziness hit him unexpectedly. That was the easy part.

Of course Dean knew there’d be casualties. It was really a miracle any of them were alive at all and it looked like they’d… won… for what it was worth. That didn’t make it any easier. Already Dean had found six of their number dead, including Simon, and all Dean could think as he looked at the vampire’s decapitated body was that he’d refused to shake the man’s hand.

Under the body of two of Vanessa’s nest he found one of their comrades alive. He was missing an arm, but he was alive. Dean quickly gave the vampire a packet of blood that Dean had collected off of the other dead bodies, hoping it would help.

When he heard footsteps coming down the tunnel, Dean looked up, tense and ready for a fight if need be but when he saw it was Sam he relaxed. Well, as much as he could relax right now. Dean gave the vampire another packet of blood when he asked for it, and when the man reassured him he would be fine, Dean nodded and slowly stood. Holding his side and using the sword for support, Dean made his way over to Sam.

The hard look on Sam’s face, Dean was afraid to ask what the other man had found outside the cave.

Sam walked up to Dean, dispatching a fallen of Vanessa's nest along the way. He gave his lover's shoulder a squeeze of reassurance. "Bobby's fine. Looks like we have three humans out there, but time will tell. A couple got away that those of us who are strong enough will need to track and take down. Ken took a fatal blow, so I turned him at his request. Spring about had his throat ripped out, but I got the bleeding stopped and got an IV in him but we need to get him to a hospital ASAP. Barrows got clocked and is out cold."

Sam looked around at the carnage of the battlefield and closing his eyes, shook his head. So damned much needless death. Opening his eyes he gave Deana tender smile. "Told you you had some vampire reflexes in you."

After kissing Dean, firmly but quickly he gave a nod of his head toward one wall where there were very few bodies. "Would you head over there? We need to set up a triage for the survivors. We'll get them over to you, and you make sure they get the blood they need, help patch them up, whatever. Let us know what you need. If someone's eyes go red, get the hell away from them and give me a shout. Or throw a dead body at them. Both, preferably. We also need a place to put our fallen so we can give them a proper burial." He saw Simon's body and felt sadness well up inside him. He had been friends with Simon a very long time.

Sam looked around. "I guess we can't just bury Vanessa's nest here under rubble. There are people out there who need to know what happened to their loved ones. I guess we can contact the Network. They'll send some FBI out that know about us or are vampires themselves. They can handle that part of the ugliness."

Although Sam wanted to help Dean over to where they were going to set up triage, he knew instinctively that Dean would want to do it on his own. He really could do the most good over there because he wasn't going to be able to carry the bodies around with the way he was injured.

Dean let out a sigh of relief when Sam told him Bobby was fine. All and all it seemed the humans had fared better than the vampires… whatever the hell that meant now in the light of everything else that had happened. Though the hunter winced a little hearing that Sam had to turn Ken to save his life. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Surely Ken would become a vegetarian, like the others, but it was still not the best news. And Spring… he could still die if they didn’t get him to a hospital.

The young man merely snorted at Sam’s mention of his ‘vampire’ reflexes. Now wasn’t the time to talk about it. Especially since if he really did have reflexes like Sam he probably wouldn’t have had to be nearly cut in half to get close enough to Vanessa to plant the bomb. He certainly wasn’t going to tell Sam that though.

Dean nodded when Sam started to give him orders on how to treat the wounded vampires. What the hell did he know about vampire first aid, after all? He agreed with Sam’s assessment that they should probably try to get the bodies of the kidnapped victims, whether they’d been turned or not, back to their families. He hoped the Network Sam kept mentioning lived up to their hype.

“Who’s going to take care of Spring?” Dean asked as he worked his way as quickly as he could through the sea of bodies towards the spot Sam had pointed out.

Sam looked around and saw Mel was still on his feet. "I'll get Mel to do it. Stacey will want to hear from him as soon as possible anyhow." He couldn't deny he was relieved Mel had survived.

After talking with Mel, Sam began helping the injured over to Dean, finding packs with bandages and blood in them. The blood was probably getting close to going bad, so he brought over some of the dead from Vanessa's nest and told Dean to open a vein in the bodies somewhere and get the blood into cups he had found and give them to the injured.

Seeing a slight look of confusion in Dean's eyes, Sam gave a soft if sad laugh. "We're just like anyone else, Lover. Bandage them just like you would if they weren't vampires. You just need to get the blood loss stopped. Get it stopped for long enough, and the virus will take care of the rest."

Sam took some of the bottles of water and protein bars over to the still locked cage. "We'll get to you in a few," Sam told them. "We don't have time to deal with you right now if you've been turned. If you haven't, we'll get you home safely."

One of the men, in his early twenties or so, looked at Sam. "They…they gave me blood. Can you…can you stop it? Can you make me stay human?"

Looking at the others, Sam asked. "What about the rest of you?"

"It was just my brother," a younger girl said, grabbing one of the waters Sam tossed in. "She," the girl looked up toward where Vanessa's body was, "wanted to watch him kill us."

Sam gave a nod. "The rest of you stay back or I will kill every last one of you," he said seriously. "You," he motioned to the young man, "let's get you in another cage for now." Glancing over at Dean he gave a small shake of his head. "I don't know if we can save you. Let me see what I can do. There are options to killing you if we can't."

Sam opened the padlock with a tug and motioned the young man out and into the cage next to it. Sam used the chain to 'lock' the cage he had just opened. It wouldn't hold a vampire, but it would hold humans. The young man he put in the cage and used another chain and bent the door frame. Newly turned, it was unlikely the man would be able to get out immediately. Certainly not without making a racket.

Sam returned to Dean's side as he helped the last one of their own over to the triage area. "How hungry are you? Are you burning for blood? There's a kid over there who hasn't turned yet."

Dean nodded at Sam’s suggestion, glad that Spring would be taken care of. He hoped the man made it. Then Sam started helping their injured comrades over to him and Dean’s confusion must have shown on his face as his lover explained how to take care of the injured vampires.

Dean nodded, feeling a little stupid, but went to work right away. His father and Bobby had drilled in him enough about basic first aid to get the job done. Using the bandages Sam brought him and making makeshift tourniquets when necessary to stop the bleeding. Bringing the injured vampires cups of blood to replenish what they’d lost wasn’t exactly part of regular first aid, but he refused to let it phase him as he filled cup after cup of blood from dead bodies.

Fuck… he’d never been squeamish about blood before but after today he really hoped he wouldn’t have to see it again for a long time.

Dean briefly looked up when he saw Sam go over to tend to the imprisoned humans but he was too busy to pay attention to what was going on. So when his lover approached him telling him about the boy and asked him how hungry he was it took him a moment to realize what Sam was asking him. If Jacob had cured him with his blood, then it was possible Dean could cure the boy. There really wasn’t any question of whether or not he would try, but he wasn’t ‘burning’ for it because of the blood Sam had given him.

“I didn’t take anything from Vanessa, but its not burning anymore.” Dean replied, looking at the boy and then looking back at Sam. With a slight shrug, Dean took the knife he’d been using to slice open the dead bodies and pressed it to his own wrist instead, the next cup he filled with his own blood as he remarked casually, “Might as well not let it go to waste?”

Sam wasn't at all surprised by his lover's actions though he wished Dean wouldn't have just jumped right in. He would have rather had time to get things set up and make sure Simon's nest, what was left of it, was tended to first. But that was Dean and he had a feeling there would be no changing that about him.

"As soon as you get any hint of hunger, stop offering it to the others. Your blood hurts like a bitch when the virus activates. But keep draining until you're burning. The stronger the virus, the better the chances I think. I'll get an IV ready to put into him and you. Once you've given all you can without passing out, then we unhook you and you can drink from me. And remember, you pass out, you can't drink, and…and not get vamp blood in you could kill you. So don't get stupid. We can get you sated, give it a few hours, and maybe try again. Maybe we've caught it early enough he kid won't go through the hours of fever," Sam said. He really didn't want to have to deal with moving a person going through the change, but they would need ice if the fever hit. While he would like to try to save the kid, his people came first. Besides, they had no idea if it would even work.

With Dean already draining himself, Sam dug out the IV supplies they would need. He headed back to the cage with the young man in it and waved him forward. "I don't make any promises, kid. This is kind of new technology. And it's probably going to hurt like a bitch. I don't have the luxury of tying you down all comfy, and being able to ice you down if the fever hits. The longer we wait, I'm afraid the less chance you have."

Sam tossed in some rope. "Tie your legs and your knees. Don't cut off the blood flow, but don't give yourself any slack." Sam glanced into the other cage and the four wide-eyed people. "Guys, gimme your shirts. I need something to cushion his head and everything out here is bloody with vampire blood." He turned to the young man. "What's your name?"

"Jason," the young man said quietly as he tied his knees and ankles. "I still feel okay. I've seen others change like in a few minutes. They fed me like, I don't know, maybe six hours ago."

"It can take up to three days," Sam said. "The longer it takes to turn, the better your chances of getting through this probably. They could have also been fucking with your head and just gave you human blood."

"No, she gave me blood. Held me down and made me drink some right from her wrist."

Sam arched an eyebrow. "Old one's blood and you haven't changed yet? That is a good sign. Still no promises. Okay, put your back to the bars." Sam took the shirts and folded them up and put them as a cushion behind the man's head, then tied the man to the bars. "I'm doing this to keep you from pulling out the IV. You're probably going to thrash around and feel like you're blood's on fire. Literally."

He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Dean was making his way over to him. He could see it in Dean's eyes, the bloodlust was setting in. He pulled a dead vamp closer in case Dean got out of control. Quickly he got the IV in Jason's arm.

Dean nodded to Sam in understanding, remembering well the effect his blood had on Vanessa when she’d tried to feed from him, as he watched his blood drain slowly from his wrist. He had a feeling it wouldn’t take long for him to start feeling ‘hungry’ though. He hadn’t been feeling all that great to begin with, still weak and unsteady from his wound… and now he’d just opened his wrist to let himself bleed out again. He must be out of his mind.

But he couldn’t let that kid turn into a vampire if there was something he could do to stop it. Dean might have had a big change of heart regarding vampires, at least where ‘vegetarian’ vampires and their allies were concerned, but if the kid didn’t want to turn he wasn’t just going to sit and watch it happen. They had to try. He had to try.

Dean gave a couple cups of his blood to the injured vampires, watching them closely, worried in spite of himself that his blood would have a negative effect on them. But it didn’t. Not yet anyway. When Dean started feeling the now familiar burning ache inside of him he stopped giving it to the vampires and simply let his blood drain out onto the floor. It didn’t take long. Soon he felt like he was burning inside even as he felt cold. Sweat broke out on his brow and his breathing quickened as the pain quickly became worse, and his hands were shaking a little as he tied a bandage around his bloody wrist to slow the flow of blood.

He could see Desiree glancing worriedly in his direction but he shook his head slightly at her concern and motioned for her to stay away, remembering how he had attacked Vanessa. Dean stood pressing his hand against his wounded side and swaying unsteadily on his feet, but he managed to move further away from the injured vampires. He wouldn’t risk attacking them.

Dean approached Sam and the cage where the boy was in, managing not to stumble and fall on his ass along the way. But when he got there he had to lean up against the bars and then slowly slid down to sit on the floor. Dean waited for the room to stop spinning then offered his arm to his lover.

Sam watched his lover worriedly as Dean sank down to the floor. He was already sweating. Sam could smell his bloodmate's need, but it would have to wait. Sam ran the air out of the IV then inserted it into Dean's arm and started the flow and got it connected so Dean's blood would flow into the young man. "Jason, it'll only take a few seconds. Once Dean gives all he can and I feed him, I'll knock you out."

Sam had barely finished telling Jason that when Jason let out with a howl of pain and tried to pull his arm away from the acid pouring into his veins. Jason's sister was at the bars watching her brother, tears in her eyes. Sam watched Dean carefully, ignoring the screams and curses spilling from the young man's mouth as the vampire viruses fought against one another inside him. When he saw Dean's eyes begin to drift close, he shut off the IV and sliced open his own wrist, holding it up to Dean's mouth. After the first few drops fell onto Dean's lips, Dean reacted with more strength and speed than Sam anticipated. Dammit, his lover bit hard and there was no way he was pulling his arm free of Dean's demanding mouth. Sam simply pulled the vampire body over and sank his own fangs in, replenishing his blood supply as Dean drank what he needed, growling to his bloodmate. Sam growled back reassuringly.

Dean watched as Sam slid the IV needle into his arm, seeing his blood flow into the younger man. He remembered well the pain Jacob’s blood had caused him when it had first entered his veins, like he was being burned from the inside out by acid. Thankfully he didn’t remember much after that, the memories lost in fever and pain, but watching someone else go through the same pain brought some of them back. He winced in sympathy as the young man started to cry out and thrash in agony. But he remembered what Sam had told him. It meant it was working. If the young man survived the pain, he might just survive the turning.

He could feel Sam’s eyes on him, and he knew his lover was worried. He supposed he couldn’t blame Sam. Dean felt like shit. The fire in his veins only growing worse as his blood flowed out of him into the boy, and as his pain increased so did his dizziness and it became harder and harder to think. To focus on anything other than the pain… and the burning hunger…

Dean hadn’t even realized his vision had gotten so dark until he couldn’t see when Sam held his arm up to his mouth. He could only smell the blood. Taste it. What he wanted. What he needed. With a growl Dean lunged and bit down hard on the flesh of Sam’s arm without thought. Hearing Sam’s reassuring growl, knowing his lover would take care of him, give him what he needed, Dean gentled his bite but did not release Sam’s arm.

Much like the first time he’d entered this blood lust rational thought did not begin to return until the burning inside of him began to cease. Only then did he stop drinking. Still feeling exhausted, weak, and dizzy but in control again. Dean let go of his lover’s arm, worry filling him as he saw the nasty wound his teeth had made in Sam’s arm.

“Sam?” Dean whispered worriedly. Fuck… how much had he taken from his lover?

When he heard the concern in words probably too soft for anyone but him to hear, he pulled Dean gently into his arms. "I'm fine, I had my own supply," he said, nodding to the dead vampire by him. He gave Dean a light kiss. "Let me knock the kid out before he breaks something."

Sam wrenched open the cage and with almost frightening accuracy, punched the young man in the temple with just enough strength to knock him out, but not do any serious damaged. He gave the boy's sister a nod and a small smile. "It's a good sign. I know that was hard to watch. It's not over either. This is like…a real bad case of the flu. He might pull through it human, or he might not. My allies and I, we don't feed off of humans. If he doesn't beat the virus, we can place him with a family who will try to help him stay vegetarian, no human blood."

He gave a nod to Dean. "He just survived turning not that long ago. I know you saw him drink my blood, but that was because the vampire virus strain inside him needs vampire blood sometimes. Your brother will need it too but only once every couple years, and he can get it from an IV, he doesn't have to drink it. If he pulls through this, we'll give him some contacts for when he starts to feel the burn inside. And no, he won't be contagious.

"I need to go help my friends and we need to start getting things cleaned up. Each of you will have to be given some deadman's blood. It's poison to vampires, incapacitates them. We have to be sure you're human. You all just settle down for a little bit longer. We'll get you out of here just as soon as we can. Jason should be out for a good couple hours, but you watch him and if he starts to wake up, give a shout. Or if any of you start to have problems, speak up. My name's Sam."

With that, he left the unconscious man and returned to his lover's side. "You look like you could sleep for a week." He helped Dean get unsteadily to his feet. "It's time we started moving everyone out of here. The humans need to get to hospitals, and the vamps need to get back to the hotel to rest and heal."

Sam thought about those who escaped. If they were newly turned, they wouldn't do well at hiding, their need for blood too great. If they were experienced…then Sam was certain everyone would be in for a treat in another fifty or a hundred years. He'd put the Network on it. They could catalog the dead vampires and figure out who got away. Then they could all work on tracking the escapees down and taking them out, once and for all.

Wavering a moment as he felt his world tilt a bit, Sam shook his head as if to clear it. The dead vampires' blood was getting undrinkable and Sam had been poisoned and lost a decent amount of blood between Vanessa, other vampires, and Dean. His system was getting very unhappy with him and he knew he needed to sleep as much as the others.

"C'mon, let's get you outside," Sam said and started guiding Dean toward the tunnel.

Sam’s soft reassurance that he was fine made Dean relax, his worry bleeding away and leaving only weariness in its place. He was tired enough that he didn’t even think to protest when his lover pulled him close and kissed him despite the audience they had. In fact, he was reluctant to let Sam go, but when his lover mentioned the kid that was still screaming his head off, Dean nodded and released the vampire.

He turned his head just enough to watch the well placed blow that Sam laid on the poor kid and winced in sympathy. Well, hopefully the kid would sleep through the worst of it, just like Dean had. Now they could only wait and hoped it worked.

Dean rested his head back against the bars of the cage and closed his eyes, only half listening as Sam explained to the captive humans what to expect. Never in a million years would Dean have suspected he could sleep in a place like this, but he was definitely startled out of a light doze when Sam nudged him.

Dean snorted softly when Sam commented on how exhausted he looked. Well, it was true, he wanted to sleep for a week too, but they still had things to do. It wasn’t over yet. They had to take care of the wounded, get the civilians to safety, get rid of the dead bodies, and chase down the vampires that had escaped… Dean mentally groaned in exhaustion just thinking about it but he nodded and allowed Sam to help him back to his feet without complaint.

“Oh yeah? Well you need a shower.” Dean commented, looking up at his lover once he was standing. That was definitely true too. Sam was covered in blood from head to toe, and Dean knew he didn’t look any better. Blood bath, quite literally. But even now Dean didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone more beautiful than Sam.

He nodded when Sam suggested they move outside, Dean wanted to see for himself too that Bobby was ok, but he stopped walking in the middle of the tunnel and turned to face his lover. Without much preamble he wrapped his arms tightly around the vampire’s neck and kissed him hard. Yeah, it was selfish, but he needed this moment, just one moment, damn it.

“Fuck… I can’t believe it… you’re alive, we’re alive…” Dean whispered when he finally allowed himself to draw a breath.

Sam laughed at Dean saying he needed a shower. Of all the things to come up with…even if it was true. He was taken a little off guard when he sudden had an armful of Dean, Dean's lips pressed against his own. He responded to Dean's kiss instantly, wanting to just stand there and hold his lover in his arms. Dead bodies lay strewn about even where they stood, but it all melted away to just Dean and himself. He held Dean close when Dean finally broke their passionate kiss.

"And Vanessa's dead. And we probably managed to save seven people. Maybe eight." He hugged Dean to him. "A life for a life," he murmured thinking back to the dead of Simon's nest. Killing Vanessa would save uncountable lives in the long run, both human and vampire alike so it was more than just the humans in this cave that were saved this day and Sam knew it. It didn't mean it didn't hurt to lose his comrades though. How many other nests were killed by the ones Vanessa had sicced other nests on? Too much death. Always too much death.

"C'mon," he finally said and led Dean out to the sunshine, arm around Dean's waist. The bright light only made him want to sleep more. "Bobby, it's over," Sam called out.

He saw Bobby poke his head up from behind some bushes. "Casualties?"

"Too many," Sam called back. Sam felt his knees grow soft and he suddenly leaned heavily on Dean.

Dean's concern made him give him a weak smile. "It's okay. Too much different blood, deadman's blood, everything. I'm just tired. Sun kinda sucks it out of me too." He let Dean guide him over to a rock wall and sat down in some shade. Leaning his head back, he shut his eyes. The shade definitely helped.

Bobby was down from his perch quickly. "Sam?"

"Just need to sleep, that's all," he reassured him. "Gimme a few minutes to sit here. Any way to get a van down here? We're all in pretty crappy shape. The walk out is gonna be hard in the light of day. Got four more humans inside that need checked for vampirism, and one guy who's staving off turning. Dean gave him some blood, so hopefully, that'll keep the kid from going vamp. I knocked him out, but he's gonna need to be iced down soon."

Finally opening his eyes, he could see the concern in both the men's faces. "Stop worrying. The shade's helping. I'll be ready to start helping move the wounded out in ten or fifteen minutes."

Dean practically melted in Sam’s embrace when his lover pulled him close, not giving a damn about the gore covering both of them at the moment. Dean only wished he could take more comfort in Sam’s words. Yeah, they’d survived and even managed to save some innocent lives too, but so many had died too… too many… Somehow Dean had a feeling the same thoughts were going through the vampire’s head and Dean really didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing. Merely nodding when Sam suggested they get out of here, and Dean agreed wholeheartedly.

When they exited the cave and Dean saw Bobby alive and apparently unhurt, the young man let out a relieved sigh. He certainly wasn’t expecting Sam to suddenly stumble with weakness, and given how unsteady Dean himself was he had no idea how they didn’t end up both on the ground.

The fear in his eyes must have been obvious because Sam quickly reassured him that he was ‘fine’ even though his lover obviously wasn’t. At least Dean managed to help Sam over into the shade of some trees and sit down before they both fell down.

Dean couldn’t help but roll his eyes a little at Sam’s tough guy routine, but if the vampire was feeling well enough to play it tough then it probably wasn’t too serious. Sleep. Yeah, that sounded really damned good right now. Too bad it would have to wait.

“I can get the van.” Dean finally said with a nod. He might not be up to carrying anyone right now, but he could handle driving at least.

Bobby damned near smacked Dean over the head with his ball cap. "You ain't up to walking any half mile, idget. I'll do it."

"Desiree, she's in about the best shape I think," Sam suggested. "She'd be up to it probably." It felt so good to just sit down for a few minutes it was all Sam could do to keep his eyes open. The animal in him reminded him Dean was injured too, that Sam needed to stay awake, get off his ass, and get them out of there. It didn't care about the others, but his bloodmate needed to be safe and it wasn't going to let its bloodmate leave.

Looking at Dean, Sam added, "And if you insist on walking to the van, I'm coming with you. My animal is not willing to let you out of our sight. And it can be very stubborn as you know."

"I'm not hurt. I can do it," Bobby said. "Besides, Ken needs some looking after. He's hungry and I'm not real comfy being too close to a newly turned vamp, no offense."

"None taken. I killed a couple vamps in the tunnel. Their blood should still be fresh enough for him. As his sire, I can keep him under control for a little while. And it's better if he doesn't get a taste of human blood right now. Cow would be preferable, but we don't have that luxury."

Dean couldn’t help but roll his eyes when both Bobby and Sam tried to gang up on him protesting him going for the van alone. Christ, he wasn’t some fucking toddler. He didn’t need coddling. Yeah, he was wiped, but what was he supposed to do, sit here on his ass and do nothing? It was only a half mile, he was tired sure but he was sure he could make it without much trouble.

“Look Bobby, I’m not just going to sit here on my ass. I can handle it, ok. Besides, someone needs take care of the humans when they’re bought up from down there.” Dean told the older hunter then turned to give Sam an exasperated look.

“Someone also needs to take care of the others in the cave and there’s too much vampire blood down there for Bobby to do it, so that leaves Desiree. Just rest and look after Ken. Bobby can probably bring a couple of the bodies over for him if it’s necessary, if he’s careful about the blood. I’ll be fine. Tell your ‘animal’ to behave, and I’ll be back before you know it.”

With that, and before either man could argue with him, he started walking in the direction of the vans.

A growl, both a threat and a plea to be careful, erupted from Sam's throat as the animal demanded Sam get up and go after Dean but Sam just didn't have the strength. And Dean was right, he was more than capable of taking care of himself. The terrain wasn't that rough, obviously, or the van would never make it to the cave.

He heard Bobby's frustrated curse, but noticed Bobby let him go without following him. "I'll get these three tended out here, then go in to get the others."

"You really shouldn't go in. You'd be walking through blood and gore and while you may not be injured, the humans are and it's just too easy to for blood to end up in a wound."

"Says the man covered in it. I'll be careful, and those humans need to be tested. I'd rather use a blade and pour deadman's blood on the wounds than shoot them with bolts like we did these folk. You're certain there will be an immediate reaction? Even if they haven't started to turn yet?"

Nodding, Sam said, "Yeah. Blackish lines, sudden weakness, jerking back. They'll do something to give it away. Besides, Vanessa turned one in the cage, planning on watching the one kill the others. It's a pretty good bet they're fine. You let one of the vampires deal with the one who's out cold, who's been turned. Just in case he wakes up."

"All right. You feeling better?"

Sam gave a nod. "Some. About another ten minutes and I should be ready to get up and help. My system just needs to rest and heal some, regain some balance. Even vampires have their limits."

"All right. I'll get to work then. Give me a yell iffen you need anything."

Sam gave a nod and laid his head back against the wall, telling his animal to wake him in ten minutes. He absolutely needed to shut down just for a few minutes.

Dean wasn’t up to jogging to the van like he may have liked, but he managed a fairly good pace walking to the vans at least. It probably wouldn’t take him any longer than fifteen minutes or so to reach the vans and drive back.

The sun shining brightly through the trees, leaves rustling thanks to a cool breeze blowing through them, it was almost hard to believe such carnage had taken place not far away. If he wasn’t still covered in blood, his own and others, from head to toe he might have believed it was all a bad dream. Definitely not a dream though, as his bruised and sore body decided to remind him with every step he took. Dean couldn’t wait to return to the hotel, spend about an hour in the shower, and then sleep for a week with his lover in that very inviting looking king sized bed that had been in their room.

It wasn’t long before Dean saw the vans through the trees and quickened his pace as much as he could. The sooner he got the van and got back to the cave, the sooner this would be all over.

Really, there was no excuse other than stupidity when the sudden blow from behind him sent him flying to land hard against a tree, almost cracking his skull open. Stupid. Fucking stupid to think just because they’d beaten the vampires in the cave that they would have all run scared with their tails between their legs.

Dean grabbed for his machete, trying to shake away the dizziness that almost sent him back to the ground when he tried to stand up, but he was too slow. An iron grip caught his wrist and twisted it almost to the breaking point, causing Dean to cry out in pain. At least, he would have if he wasn’t grabbed by the throat and slammed down again, knocking all of the air out of his lungs.

His vision blurred but that didn’t matter much when the big male vampire’s face was so close to his own. A face Dean instantly recognized. Vanessa’s ‘right hand’ man. Michael…

“Sam might have killed our sire, but I’m going to leave him pieces of you to find all over this fucking forest.” Michael snarled, tearing at his clothes and taking more than a few layers of Dean’s skin with them. Dean struggled, getting a few good hits in, but the hand around his throat kept tightening until darkness started to creep in the edges of his vision. Only when he started to go limp did the vampire let up.

“Oh no, you’re going to feel everything I do to you.” Michael growled and released him only long enough to flip him over and tear off the rest of his clothes. Dean began to struggle again, catching sight of the dropped machete laying in the grass and reached for it blindly. However a sharp blow to his already wounded side made cry out in pain as his vision went white and then dark.

“Go ahead, scream. I want him to hear you.” The vampire hissed in his ear, and it was pretty clear the vampire didn’t care whether or not he died as long as he took a few pounds of Dean’s flesh with him as he went.

Sam slowly opened his eyes, but still felt like shit. He felt like he could stand and help, but he would be very glad to get back to the motel and into one of his healing sleeps. All of them would, he was certain. He looked over and saw that the three humans outside the cave had been patched up and that Barrows, now awake, was sitting with them, talking to them and reassuring them.

"Alex," Sam rasped to Barrows as he slowly straightened. He wasn't sure there wasn't a part of him that didn't ache. "Glad to see you're conscious."

"Pretty good bet I've got a concussion," the hunter replied. "I definitely wobble when I walk and it feels like my worst hangover ten times over. I didn't think anything took you down."

"Yeah, that's what I'd prefer people think. It's mostly from drinking all the vampire blood, blood that's not of my lineage. Vanessa's was invigorating, but it and the others are foreign to my own vampire virus. And I wasn't drinking to feed, I was drinking to replenish. Big difference. It just finally overwhelmed my system and I needed to catch my breath. You convinced 'em they're actually going home?"

Barrows gave a soft snort. "More or less. Though Kyle is a bit pissed you let him by you only to get shot."

"Hey, I didn't kill him and I didn't have time to check to see if he was lying. If Bobby hadn't been out here to shoot him, I probably would have killed him, not willing to risk it."

"Another reason people say you're a bastard."

"Thank you. I try," Sam replied with a weak smile. "Okay, better get off my ass and start helping. Dean should have made it to the van by about now and he'll probably be here in a few minutes. Bobby can drive the humans to the hospital and Dean can get the second van and get us vampires back to the motel."

Sam slowly pushed himself to his feet with a grunt. First thing he decided he better do was check on Ken. He went up to where he had left Ken. The man was sitting there, stripping the bark off of a twig he held in his hands.

"Ken?" Sam asked tentatively.

"She told me about it. The hunger. The sweetness of blood. The way the world is so different for a vampire and their heightened senses. I never understood. I tried to imagine it, but it's…it's more amazing than I thought. I'm hungry in a way I've never been hungry before. Thought I better stay up here, away from people until someone came to get me."

Sam was impressed with the man's calmness. "Probably wise. There are a couple vampire bodies, I can bring them up to you.

"Just one. I want…there's cow's blood back at the motel. I don't want to get a taste for anything else. But I don't want to attack someone either. The beating of the hearts of the escaped prisoners, the ones we shot, it's getting harder to sit here."

"Okay. I don't know yet if Lindsay—"

"She's fine. I heard her voice," Ken said. "Blood. Please," he said looking up at Sam.

Sam returned to the tunnel and got one of the vampire bodies and took it to Ken. He'd barely put the body on the ground before Ken attacked it, a stark contrast to the calm demeanor Ken had just a minute prior.

"I'll be back to check on you soon." Sam said and let the newly turned vampire be. With Lindsay to help him, the family would be able to keep Ken in check. Even if Ken couldn't adjust to cow's blood, they'd be able to work something out to keep him from being a threat.

Sam trod back inside the cave to see how things were going. The smell of death and blood was everywhere and was enough to make even his stomach queasy. He had been on battlefields, but usually there was a breeze or something to help ease the horrid stench. Not in the cave. It seemed stagnant and putrid.

"Hey Bobby," Sam said.

"Would you get these blasted doors open. They've all tested out good." Bobby said, fighting with the chains.

"Sure." Sam walked over and with a jerk, the chains gave. He saw each person in the cage had a wound on their arm and blood was still sliding down their forearms in fresh rivulets. "Get those covered before they head out."

"I know what I'm doing, idget," Bobby said crossly. He'd been fighting with the chains for a good minute or more and was mildly irritated that Sam opened them so easily.

Sam held up his hands in placation. "Sorry."

Bobby gave him a 'harumph' then asked, "Dean back yet?"

"Not yet and I didn't hear the van, but my hearing's not that good. I won't hear the van until it's about a quarter mile out. With all the scent of the dead, I can't smell shit, either. I'm going to go help the others," Sam said and motioned to the injured vampires. "If Dean's not back by the time we get the wounded out, I'm going after him."

Sam headed over to Desiree. "How is everyone?"

"As good as can be expected," she said but accepted the hug Sam offered. "You know I'd be pissed at you for dragging us into this if I didn't know we'd all be dead from one of the bitch's hit squads if you hadn't."

Sam ran his hand over her hair. "I know, Desi. I'm sorry. For everything." He just held for a moment, recalling when he had sired the girl. He really didn't think she was going to be able to go vegetarian, she'd been a handful, but getting her placed with Simon's family had made all the difference. "Let's get everyone out of this hell pit. We need to call the Network and get people down here fast before the locals come, which they will once the humans get to the hospital."

"I already called. People are on the way," she said.

"Thanks," Sam said with a final tightening of the hug then let her go. "C'mon, let's get moving," he told her and went to the first vampire to help him out.

Admittedly the vampires preferred the dark, but the gruesome blood-soaked, body littered cavern had everyone ready to leave, even if it meant going out into the sun. Eyes were glistening with tears as Desiree and Sam helped the remains of Simon's family outside.

Sam paused after he had helped the second vampire out. Dean should have been back by now. He listened for the van but didn't hear anything. An uneasy feeling began to settle in his gut and his eyes clouded with worry. The animal began to pace in its cage, telling Sam he never should have let Dean out of their sight. Sam couldn't argue that at this point.

It was hard to shake away the darkness from his vision. His head was spinning so badly he felt like he was on a fucking merry go round from hell. He had to focus damn it. He had to… The pain of the vampires nails digging deep rents down his back from his shoulders to his buttocks helped push him back towards consciousness at least, even if it wasn’t a pleasant feeling in the least. Suddenly Dean was jerked up on all fours, Michael’s nails digging viciously into his flanks and it suddenly became very clear what the vampire had in mind. Michael wasn’t planning on just killing him after all.

No. Not again. No!

Dean tried to twist away, despite how his struggles only made the vampire’s claws dig deeper into his flesh. Michael laughed, clearly amused by his pathetic efforts, but only for a moment. Suddenly Michael’s fingers tangled into his hair, lifting him and slammed his head hard into the ground like he was a broken doll, dazing the hunter again. Not a difficult feat since Dean was already half unconscious to begin with.

“Oh yes. I’m going to fuck you so hard you’ll probably bleed out before I ever get my fangs in you. Then I’m going to rip you apart.” Michael chuckled darkly when Dean went limp again and the vampire released him. Dean wasn’t sure why until he heard the sound of a belt buckle.

Once more Dean tried to scramble away, but of course he wasn’t fast enough. The large vampire easily grabbed him again and pulled him up hard against his body, letting Dean feel the huge hard length of the vampire’s cock against his ass. Dean pushed down the panic that tried to fill him, once more reaching out but this time not trying for the machete, since he couldn’t reach it anyway.

His fingers curled around a large rock, probably the same one that Michael had slammed his head against, on the ground. Dean decided to return the favor, twisting and hitting the vampire as hard as he could over the head with the rock. His angle was bad and he couldn’t get the power he wanted to behind the blow, but it was enough for Michael to release him with a string of curses.

Dean didn’t waste the opportunity, crawling away from the stunned vampire and once more reaching for his machete laying in the grass. He felt Michael grab him again, dragging him back, but not before his fingers wrapped around the handle of the blade. Either Michael didn’t notice or he was too pissed off to care that Dean had his weapon back, a definite mistake on his part.

Ignoring the blood dripping into his eyes practically blinding him, Dean swung the blade and was rewarded with the feel of the sharp metal slicing through flesh and bone. Michael’s curses took on a distinct gurgling tone and Dean knew he’d at least cut open the vampire’s throat even though he hadn’t beheaded him.

Sam finished helping to get the vampires out and then retrieved the unconscious young man who hopefully would survive the turning. He changed the way the man was bound and carried him out. The young man's sister was right there, and asked Sam to set her brother down with the humans. After a moment he did as he asked. The young man wouldn't be dangerous for a while mostly likely and he could feel the fever begin to burn in him already. That, Sam thought, was a good sign the boy might beat it.

Where the hell was Dean?

"Bobby, something's wrong. I'm going after Dean," Sam said and not giving the man a chance to answer, secured his machetes and headed off down the path at a vampire's pace. It didn't take him long to reach the vans. There was no sign of Dean whough he could smell that his lover had been here. And he smelled another all too familiar scent.

Michael.

The animal was out before Sam even realized it. He scented the air, a low growl in his throat. Nothing. Dammit. The wind was coming from the west. There were no scents of another vehicle so Dean was still here. He caught a sudden strong scent of his lover and found blood on treebark.

He was going to rip out that bastard's throat. If Michael was downwind of him, then Michael would know he was there. He didn't know if Dean would be able to smell him. Reluctantly he had to resort to tracking the ground and follow lingering scents he found in the foliage and on the ground. He feared calling out, feared that Michael would kill Dean. He might anyhow, but Sam hoped that maybe he could track the two without Michael realizing it. He listened as he moved, hoping to hear something that would help guide him.

Dean blinked his eyes open slowly. He didn’t remember losing consciousness, but he couldn’t say he was all that surprised. Michael must have finally gotten tired of playing with him and knocked him out after all after he’d cut the vampire’s throat.

He realized quite suddenly that what had woken him finally was the pain caused by his injuries, aggravated from being jostled around as he was carried like a sack of potatoes. He also figured out pretty quickly that he couldn’t move, his wrists bound behind his back by some kind of thick leather, probably Michael’s belt. His mouth was also stuffed with some kind of fabric, probably the remnants of some of his own clothing.

Dean had no idea how long he’d been out, but he had a feeling it hadn’t been too long. It also wasn’t long after he woke up that he found himself dumped unceremoniously on the ground, his cry of pain muffled by the gag in his mouth. Michael stood over him, strips of cloth wrapped around his wounded neck, and a sadistic light in his eyes.

“Cristo is on his way.” The vampire said, and Dean’s eyes widened. Of course he knew that Sam would come looking for him when Dean didn’t return, but the last time Dean had seen his lover Sam had barely been able to stand, and Michael was obviously at full strength. Then Dean cried out in pain again when Michael kicked him sharply in his side and ordered. “On your knees.”

It was hard, but his own bloody machete held in Michael’s hand convinced him to obey and he struggled to get on his knees with his arms still bound behind him. Michael had promised to leave pieces of him for Sam to find… Dean wondered with a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach if this was where Michael cut off the first piece.

Apparently it was. At least the bastard hadn’t been able to rape him again. Of course that was a small consolation as Dean began to scream as the machete began to saw through the meat of his thigh.