One passage is guarded by two bulky demons at all times. That's because it leads to the board room, which is where a lot of the big name players hang out to talk shop and plan their next moves in whatever market they're dipping their fingers into next. Ever heard of the demonic mafia? You have now.

::Birmingham grins cheerfully at the guards and flounces right past them, tailed by three warlocks who are carrying Luke. Once inside the room, she turns to face them.::

"Put him on the table."

::The warlocks do as instructed, dumping Luke uncermoniously on top of the long boardroom table. He's on his back, gazing up at the grimy ceiling. One of the warlocks moves to close the door. They then stand and watch B'ham, awaiting further instruction.::

"Go."

::Birmingham waves them off, except the warlock who injected Luke.::

"You, stay."

::Two warlocks obediently blink out. The third removes a ceremonial blade from his belt.::

"No."

::Birmingham shakes her head.::

"I have my own."

::She ducks and and removes a similar athame from her boot. She walks over to Luke, then smiles down at his features. She coos softly.::

"Don't worry, cowboy. It'll all be over soon."

::Luke remains motionless and is frankly a bit uncomfortable with this situation. The feeling he has at this moment is not unlike being awake during a surgical procedure wherein the anaesthesia has failed to complete its purpose.::

::Smiling, Birmingham rolls up Luke's right sleeve to expose his wrist and forearm.::

"Nice arms, cowboy.You have a good skintone."

::Dean runs along the corridor, following where he knows Birmingham and co. have gone.::

"I'm with them."

::He tells the guards as he quickly bursts into the room, immediately acting calm and as if he hadn't run here while casually closing the door.::

"Did I miss anything?"

::Luke sees this happening, willing himself to get up, but all that is produced is internal frustration from this predicament when not even his little finger is able to rise, which only increases upon hearing Dean's voice.::

"Nope."

::Birmingham looks up and smiles.::

"Didn't spoil your fun, did I?"

"I was getting bored."

::Dean catches his breath quickly and folds his arms across his chest now.::

"Hmm."

::Birmingham shrugs, not really caring much. She pokes the point of the athame at the flesh on Luke's arm, cocking her head slightly.::

"What are you, handsome? A witch?"

::She frowns lightly, not really getting that vibe.::

"No..."

::Her eyes flicker up to meet Luke's, filled with curiosity.::

"Does it matter?"

::Dean remains patient; it's a genuine question.::

"Hmm."

::Birmingham still sounds thoughtful.::

"No. I don't suppose it does."

::She picks up Luke's right arm, by the wrist, and then suddenly jabs the end of the athame into it. She drags a short, fairly thick line through his flesh, ignoring the red blood pooling around the blade as she cuts him.::

"Whatever he was, he's not any more."

::Luke's self-healing power will not kick in.::

::In either case, Luke just takes the incision like the good potential date rape victim that he is. He isn't aware of the lack of power, assuming that his wounds have stitched themselves up.::

[Luke, you are now a low-level warlock. The potion in the serum had started to introduce the seeds of warlockhood into your blood, which in turn cancelled out your powers. The ceremonial act Birmingham undertook of cutting your wrist not only seals your fate by spilling your blood, but acts as a physical display of what level you are. Within a matter of seconds, the wound has healed itself but leaves a thick ridge as a scar.]

::The demon smiles as the wound heals over.::

"There. Is it wearing off yet?"

::The serum usually does soon after the change. She knows level one isn't a very strong one. But it's a start, and once it's in you, it can only grow. Or so she believes.::

::Luke's fingers are the first to slip out of the paralysis, trembling at first as these digits reacquaint themselves with movement. Eventually, feeling returns to his face and the rest of his body, enabling him to express his rage over the situation by lunging at Birmingham with reaching hands in an attempt to throttle her neck.::

::That was one of the last things the she-demon had been expecting. Squealing like a human, Birmingham lurches backwards out of the way, her eyebrows threatening to touch the ceiling.::

::Luke falls flat on his face, but is more than determined to attack Birmingham. He isn't completely aware of what's happened, but all he knows is that Birmingham had him so out of the loop and vulnerable, which is more than enough reason to fry her. He holds out his hand instinctively at the heiress, as if expecting something like, say an energy ball, to spark up in his palm.::

"Easy. Easy!"

::Birmingham is back in control now. He'd taken her by surprise before. The demoness holds up a fireball in her hand now, eyeing the new warlock dangerously.::

"Get a hold of yourself, cowboy. Wouldn't want to have to kill you this soon after giving you a whole new lease of life."

::She raises her eyebrows questioningly.::

"What the hell are you talking about?"

::Luke clenches his opened hand and straightens himself up into a cautious stance, minimizing himself from being caught off-guard.::

::Behind Luke, the warlock is also holding an energy ball.::

"You tell me, honey!"

::Birmingham's voice has lost its syrupy smoothness for now. She sounds slightly shrill.::

"I was assigned to you. There must've been a reason that out of all your little friends, The Source picked you, huh?"

::She waves her hand and the fireball disappears.::

"Picked me for what?"

"That, I don't know. All I know is you're supposed to be here."

::Birmingham smiles now.::

"With me."

"I'm supposed to be here..."

::Luke says sardonically, allowing himself to roll his eyes at this statement. He remembers what had happened a few minutes earlier with Birmingham cutting into his arm, prompting him to curiously look at said limb. The presence of the scar confounds him; he's supposed to self-heal.::

"Looks pretty cool, huh?"

::Birmingham smiles and then her eyes flick past Luke, to Dean.::

"Where are you, sweetheart?"

::Dean eyes Birmingham. She'd asked to see his notches back at the diner and he'd refused. Feeling bravado in Luke's presence, Dean shrugs and rolls up his sleeve. He's got two scars.::

"Ahh."

::Birmingham chuckles.::

"You're onto the powers, huh?"

::Dean shrugs coolly.::

"I've done things."

::Luke turns his head to the familiar voice. Dean. The guy whose dad was supposedly good friends with his own father. He now starts to wonder if whatever that is happening to him now has been planned for months. There was that mysterious phone call as well, but as Luke mulls this over, he slowly cares less about the these prior events. All he's interested in now is his current purpose, though that in itself is frustrating because Birmingham doesn't have any answers or at least claims that she doesn't have any for him.::

"Cowboy."

::Smiling gently, Birmingham approaches Luke and moves her hand so her finger nudges his chin.::

"Relax. How does it feel?"

::Luke jerks his head away from Birmingham's touch, glaring at her.::

"How does what feel?"

"It."

::She steps back, shaking her head lightly with her eyebrows raised, once more, in question.::

"This! Everything! Can't you feel it? New power?"

::Luke has been too riled up from being drugged and such that he hasn't even realized the new power circulating his veins. He thinks of the words Birmingham has used: "new lease on life", "new power" and the Source himself picking him for a task. His silence and the relaxation of his hands indicate that he is starting to understand his metamorphosis.::

::Birmingham smiles!::

::Luke inhales sharply and releases the air at an equally forceful intensity, having finally gotten over the initial shock and ready to exploit this new life of his.::

"So what's next on the Source's agenda?"

"Now, that would be telling."

::Birmingham holds up a finger and wags it slowly from side to side.::

"And we don't even know if we can trust you yet. Tut tut, cowboy."