Chapter Two.

Woman In Black.

Oshea lifted a hand and smoothed away the moisture that had collected on the bathroom mirror. The shower had been comforting and had given her time to clear her head and let the fact that she was alive sink in. She slipped into a tight black strapless dress that fell down to her ankles; a slit cut through the left side of the dress to her hips, exposing her slender leg. Her feet were pressed into heeled shoes. She stared at herself in the mirror, frowning as her fingertips ran over the faint scar on her chest from where she had been stabbed by the demon killing knife. The first thing she had wanted to do was to call Dean and Ella, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that they were better off not knowing. At least until she had met her quota of souls. She was not sure how they would react to seeing her like this. Her red eyes glowed back at her from the mirror, and she looked away. She could not let them see her like this, could not take the chance of them recognizing her if they happened to be in the same area, which was why she had cut her hair. It now hung just below her jaw and was styled to flip out at the ends. She stepped from the bathroom, her heels clicking against the floor. "Alright, Crowley," She said softly. "What do I do?"

"First, stop the bloody moping. It's not attractive on a woman your age. Second, I think we need to have a little talk," He said as he down on the deep red colored couch, crossing one of his legs over his other knee. "You are not to make contact with Sam or Dean Winchester, or your sister, or anyone that knows them. If you think there's the even slightest chance you might try, you might as well jump back in the pit right now."

Oshea's brows furrowed. "What? Why not?" She had almost convinced herself that maybe she could at least tell them that she was alright even if she didn't tell them the details of how she had gotten back and what she was having to do.

"Rules are rules, and in this particular deal, if you break them, there will be hell to pay… quite literally."

"Crowley, please… I just want to hear their voices. I just want to make sure they're alright." She said quietly. "Then, I'll do whatever you say… I don't have to talk to them. Just let me see them."

"You humans are so sentimental," Crowley said , rolling his eyes. "Fine." He snapped his fingers and they were suddenly standing inside a room at the Riverview Inn. The room was dark except for some moonlight streaming through the window. There were two beds in the room, but only one of them was occupied. Dean Winchester was sleeping peacefully under the blankets on the queen sized bed. "There's your loverboy. Your sis and Sammy are a couple rooms over, but, uh, I'm not sure you want to go in there."

Oshea smiled a little as she stepped toward the bed. She crouched down by the bed and stretched out her hand, stroking Dean's cheek. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips against his forehead. "I love you, Dean." She stood up. "If Ella is with Sam… then I know she's fine. I don't want to disturb them." She turned back to Crowley. "Thank you…"

"This is getting a bit too maudlin for my tastes," He said with another eye roll, and then snapped his fingers. They were now standing at directly in the middle of a crossroads, the streetlight above them flickering a bit as they appeared.

Oshea glanced up at the light then looked around. "So… what do we do? Just… wait around here until some poor sap comes to make a deal?"

"Not we, just you. You're on your own for now, darling. But I did get you a present."

"You're leaving me here by myself? But I have no idea what I'm doing." She tilted her head. "A present? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you won't be by yourself." A low growling sound came from beside Crowley's feet as he smirked a bit.

Oshea looked down at his feet, her eyes growing wide. "What is that?"

"You already know what it is, Oshea, stop asking silly questions. It's a hellhound, well, actually, a hell pup, but don't call him that. He doesn't like it very much," He said with a grin. "You got a free ticket out of Hell, Oshea, some demons might find that a bit unfair. He's here for your protection, he won't hurt you. He's just here to make sure no one tries anything funny."

Oshea knelt down as the small hellhound came toward her, she stroked its head and smiled. "Thank you, Crowley… I really appreciate this."

Crowley rolled his eyes again, ignoring her sincerity. "Well this is where I get off. Good luck," He said with a wink, and then he was gone. Oshea took in a deep breath, looking around the crossroads as she rose to her feet. The hound growled softly and settled down beside of her.