SHOUTOUTS\ANSWERS

Dancing-through-starz (ch 10, 11): Yeah, I'm evil that way. Thanks. As you can see, I had one more chapter.

FLOAT-ON-CLOUD-9: Thanks. No problem.

GreggoAddict (ch 9): Well, as you can see, it did. Merry Christmas. Hope this has all been soon enough to suit you.

Charmedsupernaturalfan: Okey-doke. Thanks.

DISCLAIMER

Supernatural and Machida belong to the WB. I know he's dead, but they talk about him in this chap. I got Machida from the BTVS episode "Reptile Boy". I also don't own Metallica.

Two days later, after Sam's ribs had healed enough for him to travel, the two were back on the road. One of Dean's Metallica tapes blared through the speakers. Dean glanced at Sam, who was staring out the window. The older Winchester turned down his tape.

"Sam?" he queried. There was no answer. Dean smacked him on the arm. Surprised, Sam turned.

"What?" he asked.

"Just tell me one thing," Dean demanded.

"What?" Sam questioned.

"With your aversion to the supernatural, how the heck did you get mixed up with that freak?" Dean wondered. Sam blew out a breath.

"My first year at Stanford, I kinda went overboard on the whole normal thing and joined the Sigma Psi Cappas. At first, they seemed like your basic fraternity: rowdy, partiers, you know...normal. I didn't know about Machida until I was in too deep," he answered.

"He said you broke some oath," the older man recalled.

"To do things without question. The rule was: what Machida wanted, Machida got," his brother said. "Only thing was, his power grew only if the blood of the innocent was spilt. I, uh----I---" Sam trailed off.

"You what?" Dean asked.

"I found this girl---pretty girl. High schooler. They were gonna kill her, feed her to Machida. But I helped her escape. And when Machida found out---" Sam stopped and let out a bitter laugh. "Let's just say he wasn't too happy," he concluded.

"Why didn't you kill him back then?" came the next question.

"Oh, come on! You saw what he did to me! I was scared! He's strong, Dean! His telekinetic powers alone---" again, Sam trailed off.

"Did he, uh---" Dean paused, not sure of how to phrase it. "Did he ever feed from you?" he asked. Sam let out another bitter laugh.

"Yeah. That was my punishment for helping the girl escape. I couldn't focus for a week after that," he revealed. Then, not wanting to talk anymore, he reached over and turned up the tape. Dean wasn't satisfied, but also knew that he couldn't force Sam to talk if he didn't want to. Dean smacked Sam again.

"Geek," he said when Sam looked at him. Sam hit him back.

"Jerk," he shot back, as a smile curved his features.

THE END

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Not sure when I'll start the prequel to "House of Fear" and "Blood Ties". Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. And for those who have seen "The O.C.", Merry Chrismukkah".