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And I'll feel my world crumbling

I'll feel my life crumbling

I'll feel my soul crumbling away

And falling away

Falling away with you

Sam paced the length of the room, waiting for Crowley to arrive. Where the hell is he? He was beginning to think he'd somehow gotten the summoning spell wrong when he heard a loud crash from somewhere in the bunker.

"Don't bother checking on that." Crowley appeared inside the devil's trap just as Sam was about to investigate the noise.

Sam wished he didn't need Crowley to bring his brother back because he would much rather kill the son of a bitch than to look at him.

"Bad day, Moose?"

"I'm not in the mood for your crap, Crowley. My brother is dead and you're going to bring him back."

"Am I now?" Crowley seemed amused.

"Wipe that damn smirk off your face." Sam demanded. "It's your fault Dean is dead. You took him to Cain. You helped him get that damn Mark. You made him our only weapon against Metatron and Metatron killed him. So, damn straight you're fixing this mess. You're bringing him back."

"Would that I could, Moose, but see, here's the thing…."

Crowley cut his sentence short as Sam heard a rustling noise behind him. Sam turned, instinctively drawing his gun as he did. Dean was standing in the doorway.

"Dean?" Sam felt his legs grow weak. How was Dean alive? Had Crowley been yanking his chain all this time? Just one more reason to kill him.

Crowley had found his voice again. "Ah, Dean…..I thought we agreed….."

"We didn't agree to anything, you son of a bitch."

"Dean, how…" Sam left the question hanging. It didn't matter how. Dean was alive and Sam had about a million things to say to him. He hurried toward his brother but Dean backed away.

"Stay away from me, Sam."

"Dean, what's wrong?"

Dean turned his head to avoid looking at Sam. Instead he focused on Crowley.

"I'm not finished with you."

Crowley surveyed the devil's trap on the floor. "For once, I'm happy to be stuck here."

"You can't stay there forever." Dean had edged closer to the devil's trap and Sam saw he was carrying the First Blade.

How did that get here?

"Dean, what are you doing?" Sam reached for the Blade but Dean flung out his hand and Sam went hurtling backwards, hitting the wall with a heavy thud.

Sam shook his head to clear the cobwebs. What the hell is going on?

"Look, Dean, we already talked about this. Why kill me? I can help you. Besides I'm the King of Hell." Crowley sounded rather proud of himself. "You're supposed to serve me."

Dean brandished the First Blade menacingly. "You want to step over here and say that?"

"Give me the Blade, Dean." Sam once again reached toward his brother.

Dean jerked his head toward Sam and his eyes flashed black.

"I don't want to hurt you, Sam."

"Dean?" Sam choked back a sob and whispered, "No, no, no." He shut his eyes in denial but he couldn't escape the truth. Dean wasn't alive. He was something much worse. How could this have happened? Dean was truly gone….his eyes…..Sam shuddered. Those lifeless black eyes made his heart ache. How would he ever get his brother back now? Crowley's voice finally pulled him out of the abyss he was sinking into.

"Moose? Hey, are you okay?"

Sam slowly opened his eyes. Dean was nowhere to be seen and Crowley was peering at him with a look that could almost pass for concern.

"He's a demon." Sam's voice was tremulous and he hated himself for sounding so weak in front of Crowley. "How did that happen?"

"The Mark doesn't want to let him go, Sam."

"The Mark? The Mark caused this?" Sam reached for Crowley's throat without a second thought.

"Blame me all you want, Sam, but where were you when Dean got that Mark?"

Sam's shoulders sagged and he loosened his grip. Crowley was right. He'd been pissed at Dean because of Gadreel and Dean had gone off on his own. He should never have let him go. He should have made him stay, made him talk, made him work things out.

He shook his head sadly. It wouldn't have ended any differently. Dean would still have taken the Mark. He'd been willing to do whatever it took to get rid of Abaddon and now he'd become the very thing she had been, the thing Dean had despised, the thing he had hunted. Would Sam be forced to hunt his brother now?

"I can't do it," whispered Sam.

"I can help you, Sam."

Sam had almost forgotten about Crowley still stranded in the devil's trap.

"How can you possibly help me?"

"I can keep an eye on Dean, make sure he's okay."

"HE'S NOT OKAY, CROWLEY! HE'S A DEMON!"

"Okay, calm down. He's still your brother. That means something to you, right?" Crowley gave him a questioning look.

It means everything to me.

"You know it does."

"Let me out of here and I'll find him. I know you bloody Winchesters. You'll try to save him."

Sam nodded in agreement. "I'll try everything in my power to save him but I think I'm better off keeping you right where you are. You can fix this, Crowley."

"Sam, I can't fix this. Believe me, whatever I could do, it's already been tried. Cain has been down this road. I've heard all the stories."

Crowley sounded almost sorry for him but Sam didn't believe it for one minute. He had to be thrilled to have Dean Winchester on his side. He'd probably been planning this exact thing for months. There was no doubt in Sam's mind he was going to kill him but for now…..he had to use him.

Sam took out his pocket knife, scratching away a portion of the devil's trap painted on the floor so Crowley would be free to teleport out of the bunker.

"Keep me posted or I'll summon you here and you won't like it when I do."

"Now is not the time to be giving me naughty thoughts, Moose."

"Get the hell out of here, Crowley."

Sam tucked his knife back into his pocket and when he glanced up, Crowley was gone. Sam made his way back to Dean's bedroom, hoping that somehow he had lost his mind and that all of this had been some kind of crazy post-traumatic induced dream or hallucination.

When Sam arrived in Dean's room, he realized what had made the crashing noise. The mirror over the sink had been pulled from the wall and smashed to pieces. Sam imagined Dean seeing his black eyes for the first time. Was there enough of his humanity left to make him hate what he saw? Is that why the mirror had been destroyed?

Sam's legs suddenly didn't seem able to support him anymore. He sank down on the edge of Dean's bed and cradled his head in his hands. His brother was a demon. The phrase just kept going around and around in his brain and no matter how many times he said it to himself, it didn't seem real. How could Dean Winchester be a demon?

Then Sam remembered the lifeless black eyes and realized there really are some things worse than death.

A/N: I can't help it. I like my Winchesters angsty.

See you next Monday! Comments are always welcome.