AN: *Spends twelve hours at a show choir competition; Muse is dead. Tries to go to bed at midnight; Muse decides to kick in until two thirty in the morning.* Not even kidding. So if people are a little out of character, or if things are kind of jumbled, it's cuz I'm running on very few hours of sleep. Sorry for the long wait, but this chapter is nice and long as a reward for your patience!


"How you feeling, Cas?" It had taken a few days, but Castiel was steadily recovering.

"My vessel is slowly beginning to mend. How are you doing, Sam? Are you still seeing- him?"

Sam's eyes shifted away from Castiel at the sound of Lucifer's childish snickering. For a long time, he had considered not telling Castiel about his seemingly never ending hallucinations, but keeping things to himself had nearly gotten him killed too many times already, so he had managed to buck up and admit it. His nod to Castiel was probably unnecessary, but he did anyway.

"I'm so sorry, Sam." Castiel attempted to console his friend.

"Isn't he cute, Sammy?" Lucifer teased with a mocking smile. "Bet you wished he closed the Cage door all the way, don't ya? I wouldn't be here without him." Lucifer patted Castiel on the back, and for a split second, Sam thought he saw Cas flinch.

"It's fine, really." Sam insisted. "I can handle it." His hand slipped to his back, and he silently dug his fingers into the supposedly healing scar, but he was positive that with the constant abuse he put it through that it had grown enflamed and irritated again. If he could hurt himself enough in this world- the real word- he could sometimes make the Devil go away, even if only for a little while. "Have you-"

"No," Castiel interrupted, soberly knowing what Sam was going to ask him. "I have not found out anything about Dean. But I may have found something else."

"What is it?"

"During an- interrogation," Castiel dropped eye contact at the word, giving Sam the notion that it was probably a lot more heated than a simple discussion. "One of Raphael's followers mentioned something about a tablet."

"A tablet?"

Castiel nodded. "He didn't say much, other than that there are three tablets in existence; Leviathans, Heaven, and Hell."

"What's a Leviathan?"

"A creature from Purgatory. They feed on humans, and have the ability to take form of whoever they've eaten. From what the angel let on about the tablet, it says how to defeat them."

"Where are you going with this, Cas?"

"If the Leviathan tablet holds the key to stopping them, what do you imagine could be on Hell's tablet?"

Processing what he had just heard, Sam eagerly stood up. "So, you're saying there's a way to stop Hell?"

"There's no telling exactly what is on it, but it could be the key to finally being one step ahead of them."

"Alright, then let's go get it!" Sam watched Castiel's expression fall, and Sam's hope went right down with it. "Cas?"

"I do not know exactly where to find it."

Lucifer was suddenly blaring the whomp, whomp, whomp, waaaahh tune on a trombone he had made appear out of nowhere, making Sam's face harden, upset by both Lucifer, and the fact that Castiel had lead him on.

"But," Castiel added. "I do know where to start looking."

A start wasn't great, but it was better than nothing. "I'm with you all the way, Cas."


Despite being a Winchester, Dean had managed to get a fairly decent amount of followers topside. But unlike Crowley, he didn't have to rely on fear to get them. He simply told them about his experiences in Hell, and how he'd turned into this, more specifically, who had turned him into this. Say the name 'Lucifer' and the demons either flock right to you, or they try to run home to daddy. Those little brats need to grow up. Which they potentially could have, that is if Dean hadn't killed them the second he doubted their loyalties.

Still, Dean was a fair guy. He'd reward those who deserved it, and he'd punish whoever needed to learn their place. For example, Sam and Castiel were going to pay once he finally caught up with them.

On a lighter note, one of his followers had announced that they'd heard some very interesting news. This could either end with a congratulatory pat on the back, or with blood speckling the floor. Honestly, Dean was hoping for the latter.

"Come on in, Meg." Dean motioned her in to what he had deemed as his office. As a human, he had always hated Meg, well, not that he was exactly in love with her as a demon either, but she hated Crowley just as much as he did, and that made her useful.

"I always thought you Winchesters were a little high and might for my taste, but I think you're growing into really nice there, Dean-o."

"If you're looking for a way to weasel your way in as my queen, you're barking up the wrong tree."

Meg chuckled. "Slow down, big boy. No barking here. Just thought I'd let you in on a little tale I've been told."

"I'm listening."

"So, I was torturing one of Crowley's minions-"

Dean cut her off with w chuckle. "That's always a good start."

Meg giggled. "And they said something about the demon tablet."

"That some kind of demon bedtime story?"

"Urban legend more like. Rumour has it that it's got the way to close Hell written on it somewhere."

No longer smiling, Dean huffed. "That sounds like a potential problem."

"Bright side; there's only a few people out there who can read it. We track 'em down before anybody else, and we've got the upper hand."

"You got a name for me?"

Nodding, Meg replied, "Kevin Tran. Some AP student over at-"

"Don't care. Can you get him or not?"

Meg smiled. "Anything for my King."


Kevin Tran was an honours student, and yet somehow he found himself currently talking to a man who claimed to fight monsters, and another guy who thought he was an angel. It was all kind of a lot to take in, so when Kevin only sputtered out cries of confusion, neither man appeared to be very affected.

"Look," Sam tried to explain. "I know this sounds a little crazy-"

"A little?!" To say Kevin was freaking out was a gross understatement. "I get struck by lightning one night, then next thing I know there's an 'angel' in my dorm room telling me about closing the gates of Hell, and that I-I'm a prophet of Jesus or something!"

"This is nothing to be afraid of." Castiel added.

"You said Hell! Hell means demons, and that definitely sounds like something I should be afraid of!"

It appeared as though Castiel was about to protest, but Sam answered first. "You're right."

Kevin just blubbered. Sure, he thought he was right, but he had been hoping for some kind of comfort in the matter.

"You should be afraid of them." Sam continued. "If they find out about you, which they probably already have, they're gonna track you down, and they're gonna torture you until you tell them every single thing that's on that tablet. It doesn't matter if you want this or not. You have it, and you can't escape it."

There were a few beats of silence, before Castiel commented, "That was a little harsh, don't you think, Sam?"

"It's the truth and you know it, Cas." Sam countered. "If our side knows about you, I don't know how long you've got before the other side learns."

Abruptly, as though the universe just loved to screw them over, the lights began to flicker.

"Wh-wh-what's happening?!" Kevin demanded frantically.

"They're coming." Sam announced as he stood up, taking a protective stance in front of Kevin. Being half a foot taller than him made Sam a pretty good meat shield.

"Hey!" Lucifer finally decided to make his 'presence' known by shouting to the world. "Prophet's right here! Cowering behind my bunk buddy! Get 'im while he's hot!" Flames slowly began creeping like snakes up then around Sam's legs. It burned just as much as a real fire would, but Sam managed to ignore it, and focus on the bigger problem.

The door swung open before Sam could really prepare himself, and next thing he knew, he was plastered to the wall, unable to move.

"Well, well, well." Crowley greeted. Sam hadn't seen him since before he fell in the pit, which had been centuries to Sam, but he still never forgot a face. "If it isn't my old business partner."

Had-had Sam heard him correctly? "'Business partner?'" The way Castiel purposefully moved his eyes away from Sam made his heart sink. "Cas, what's he talking about?"

"My, my, Castiel." Crowley chastised with a chuckle. "You never told him about our little arrangement? You make it seem like we had an affair, dearie."

"What arrangement?!" Sam demanded, noticeably angrier.

"You don't really think sweet little Cassie got all those souls on his own, now do you Moose?"

"Y-you're working for him?" Kevin finally managed to squeak out.

"Crowley," Castiel warned. "I suggest you stop talking."

"Couldn't agree more." Announced a different, yet still distantly familiar, voice. Crowley suddenly fell to his knees, blood burbling past his lips. A woman with black hair stepped in front of the door. "You coming or what, boys?"

That face… Could it really be, "Meg?" Sam asked disbelievingly.

"You really are a moose, aren't you? You wanna do introductions, or you wanna flee?"

Despite his numerous question and doubts, Sam elected to follow Meg. After what Crowley had just revealed about Cas, Meg was officially the most trustworthy person in the room. As they ran off the campus, one question slipped loose. "How did you find us?"

"Your brother sent me. You still got a car, right?"

"Allow me." Castiel stepped in. He pressed his fingers to Meg and Sam's foreheads, shortly followed by Kevin's, and took them all somewhere far away from Crowley and the undeniable amount of followers he had probably brought with him.

Clearly still mad about Castiel's betrayal, Sam made no effort to thank him, and he turned back to Meg. "You're working for Dean?"

"I use 'working for' very loosely. Right now, he's the only downstairs guy with power who doesn't want my head on a stick. I run a few errands for him, and he lets my head stay attached to my body."

"What kind of 'errands?'" Sam inquired cautiously.

"Not in front of the honours kid. Anyway, once I'd heard about this little cutie," She pinched Kevin's cheek like an overly affectionate aunt fawning over a newborn baby. "I just had to make sure he didn't fall into the wrong hands."

"What exactly are you saying?" Castiel questioned doubtfully.

"I don't like Dean," She answered. "But he's a lot less likely to kill me than Crowley. I've just been waiting for the right time to jump ship. I miss the good ol' days. Back before my dear old daddy decided to make plans, and rules. I guess I just miss the beautiful anarchy Hell use to have."

"Meaning you want to help us?" Sam confirmed.

"Meaning I want to guarantee my own safety. I figure, I'm on two-thirds of the competing sides, those are some friendly looking odds."

"How do we know Dean didn't send you so you could tell him everything our side's planning?"

"Guess you don't." Meg shrugged. "Looks like you're gonna have to use some of that human thing called trust, Sammy. What do you say? You got a friend in me? Promise not to possess you this time."

"Sam," Castiel advised. "You can't be considering-"

"Really, Cas?" Sam snapped. "You're gonna lecture me about siding with a demon after what just happened?" He didn't wait for Castiel to respond before looking back to Meg. "You got a deal."

"Let's leave this unofficial." She said with a smile. "I've already kissed enough Winchesters for one lifetime."


Bringing back some fandom favourites, who also happen to be my favourites. Now, I've got a soft spot for Megstiel, so I might poke at it a bit, but it'll never be super in-your-face. This is sammysmissingshoe we're talking about here. I'm not known for romance. I love me dat tortured Sammy, and angst abound, so that's what there's always gonna be. Let me know what you guys think so far, and I'll try to do better with updates. Seriously, show choir is taking over my life.