Dean pulled the demon knife out of his jacket pocket.
Crowley took step forward, ending up right on the rim of the devil's trap.
Dean and Sam tensed, hoping, praying, Crowley would put another foot forward and get caught in the circle. Unfortunately, Crowley was still one of the few demons smart enough to look up.
Crowley smirked. "You know what they say. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." His expression darkened; his voice became menacing. "Bobby got me once; I won't be caught twice. Especially not by you bloody morons. Did you really think you could waltz right in here and kill me?"
"That was the idea," Dean said, readjusting the grip he had on the knife.
Crowley rolled his eyes. "You boys are more stupid then I thought. Wait," he paused, "Actually, no, I did think you were that stupid. So I came prepared."
As if on command, a growling came from Crowley's side.
Sam and Dean's eyes grew wide with fear. They knew, all too well, what that terrible sound meant.
Crowley grinned, patted the enormous creature beside him on the back, then yelled, "Sick 'em boy!"
The Winchesters could not see the hellhound obey, could not see it jump into the air, but they certainly felt it as it crashed into them and knocked them both to the ground.
Winded from the impact of the heavy beast Dean and Sam gasped for air, dazed long enough for it to be able to have the opportunity to grab Dean's shirt sleeve in its powerful jaws and throw him up against the wall.
"Dean!" Sam shouted, worried.
Crowley watched the scene playing out before him gleefully. He'd been waiting for this for a long, long, time.
The hellhound turned away from Dean, who was now unconscious, and faced Sam, who was in a crouch, having been in the process of standing.
The beast yipped happily, and then bolted towards Sam, aiming his huge jaws for Sam's throat.
The only warning Sam had was the breeze that blew into his face as the hellhound fell upon him.
Sam quickly raised his hands to shield himself from the impact he was expecting, but it never came.
Instead, just as he felt the creature's leathery skin brush his, it released a loud cry, and jerked aside, as if shoved away from him.
Sam lowered his arms and looked up. Sofiel was standing before him, the demon knife in her hands and dripping blood. He glanced to his left to see a dark pool of blood slowly expanding on the floor, then back at Sofiel. Their eyes met for a moment before she turned to lay hers on Crowley, who was obviously stunned by her sudden appearance and execution of his hellhound.
"You bloody angel," he snapped, glaring at her intensely. "That was my best hound."
"Good," Sofiel said flatly.
"You'll pay for this," Crowley growled.
As he disappeared to the safety of Hell to figure out his next move, Sofiel's lips curved slightly. "Whenever you're ready, demon."
She then looked down at Sam. "Are you hurt?"
He shook his head. "I'm fine. Heal Dean."
Sofiel nodded and moved to kneel beside his brother. She lightly brushed Dean's cheek with the back of her hand, sending her power through him, healing the injuries to his head and his broken nose.
Dean awakened with a start, gasping, staring at Sofiel. "How'd you get in here? The place was completely covered with Enochian symbols. And where's Crowley? More importantly, Sam?"
Sam stood and walked into Dean's view. "I'm right here, Dean."
"Okay, that answers one question," Dean said pointedly.
Sofiel stood as Sam helped Dean to his feet.
"It's not that hard to get a demon to destroy a symbol if they don't like who it's protecting," she explained. "As for that demon Crowley, he's a lot more cowardly than I thought he would be, considering his rank in Hell."
"He surprised you and me both," Dean grunted. "I'd forgotten about his gigantic freakin dog."
"You won't have to worry about it anymore," Sofiel told him, handing him the demon knife.
Dean studied the drying blood on it, put the weapon away, and then looked back to her face. "Thanks for that." And he was honestly grateful. With the hellhound dead, he and Sam had one less thing to worry about the next time they ran into Crowley. He felt his grudge against Sofiel for being an angel slip a little. He definitely still didn't trust her, but he wouldn't be so bristled around her anymore. She'd earned that.
Sofiel nodded at him.
"So how'd you know we'd be here?" Sam piped, curious.
"Bobby," Sofiel answered. "After he threatened to take his chances and call Castiel to 'smite my ass' if you two didn't make your presence on Earth known by tomorrow. So please, call him soon. I won't be much more help if he gets me killed."
"We will," Sam promised.
Sofiel unfurled her wings, making a quiet swishing sound.
"Where are you going?" Dean inquired.
Sofiel sighed. "Where do you think? Somewhere, everywhere, wherever I decide is a good place to go. I'm on the run, remember? It's best I keep it up."
"Any luck on finding a way to get Purgatory's souls back to where they belong?" Dean asked.
"Is that why you wanted to see us?" Sam added.
"No to both questions," Sofiel replied. "I just wanted to know if you two had learned anything yourselves. I take it you haven't."
"Unfortunately not," Dean huffed. "The only lead we had was on Crowley's location. So we thought we'd take care of him while the opportunity was there."
"You two should have not come on your own," Sofiel scolded them. "It is his cunning ways that got that demon to his current position in Hell. Next time, let me assist if you decide to try to take revenge on him again anytime soon."
With that, she teleported away, leaving the brothers feeling scorned. Well, at least Dean, anyways.
"I told you this was a bad idea," Sam grumbled.
Dean sighed. "Yeah, I know."
A/N: Don't worry, this is not the last we'll see of Crowley in this "season". I've got future plans for him. As for this story, I got quite a lot done in this chapter. There might only be one more chapter in this book and then I can start the next one.