Manchester, present day, 11:30pm

"I wonder which one was the red herring?" Watson said.

"Neither."

Everyone turned as Sherlock spoke. He wore a grim mask of determination and was playing with the cuffs of his jacket while he glanced around the room, analysing every part of it. Sam coughed so that he'd continue and he flicked his eyes back to the group.

"Neither?" Sam asked quietly.

"Lucifer is gone in this time, right?" Sherlock sighed, "But he was still around in the 1940s – in fact, he was stronger in the 40s than he'd been in a long time. So he put a contingency plan into place in case he got stuck again. He is clever, very clever. But I figured it out, after seeing the state of Moriarty's body."

"What?" Sam was still confused but both of The Doctor's seemed to be on the verge of figuring it out, as they were looking at Sherlock with a kind of mutual reverence.

With another small sigh, this time of exasperation, Sherlock continued, "Around the time he was rising last time, there was a weakness between universes and somehow he managed to get through and find Moriarty. I think before was trapped in the pit again, he found a way to escape. Through the soul of a being as evil as him. So on his way down to hell he grabbed the soul of Moriarty as it whipped past, and attached himself to it. Just part of himself, not enough to be detected. But when Moriarty came back to life, Lucifer came with him. And now Lucifer is taking over. "

"Yes, yes, yes, because someone resurrected Moriarty – called out a crossroads deal and brought him back for their own nefarious purposes, not realising what they were doing, and it brought Lucifer back with him. It really is quite brilliant." Ten pondered, running his hands through his hair.

"Oh, but I don't think that Lucifer counted on Moriarty dying… that's why it took so long - his plans changed." The Doctor wagged his finger and both Ten and Sherlock nodded.

"Urgh, don't you guys get sick of this? This…" Sam trailed off.

"Superiority?" Watson asked.

"Rambling thoughts?" Rose smirked.

"Randomness?" Dean finished.

"No." Everyone said in unison, and then laughed. Then the smell of sulphur wafted its way into their nostrils and they all fell silent, hardly breathing. Dean gripped his gun and felt the mark on his arm burning. He didn't have Cain's blade with him though, so he'd have to make do with his normal assortment of weapons: two guns and a knife.

"You're right you know my lovelies." Moriarty chorused, "Moriarty was supposed to be alive when I came back… but he made the unfortunate decision to win his battle with Sherlock, which forced my hand. Well done kittens, I'm very proud."

Sherlock, Watson, Sam and Dean ground their teeth and rolled their eyes in annoyance and hatred. The Doctors and Rose just closed their eyes and sighed. Then Moriarty struck.

All the doors slammed at once with an enormous crash. Sam dived behind another counter as a piece of chair ricocheted towards his head. Moriarty threw something else and then everyone scattered. Dean found himself rammed between a countertop and the wall and he could feel Lucifer pushing him further in. He strained against it but he knew it was no use. He just had to hope someone would distract the devil.

Ten grabbed Rose and pushed her to the ground behind a flimsy table. She rolled her eyes good-naturedly and leapt up, chasing Watson out the nearest door. As it swung shut behind her, The Doctor knelt down next to ten and grinned.

"Why do they always run off?" They both looked at each other knowingly and then dived to other sides of the room as the flimsy wood of the table exploded outwards due to the sudden presence of a very large piece of metal framing. The Doctor felt a sudden pull on his collar and then Cas was whipping him around a corner. He stumbled against the wall and dropped heavily to the floor. His bow-tie was askew and he'd just flicked his hand up to the red around his throat when Ten came hurtling past him, Cas following shortly behind. All three of them were panting and Cas's shirt was hanging out over his belt. Ten's hair seemed more gravity defiant than usual but that might have been due to the fact that he kept running his fingers through it, thoughts racing, trying to remember something.

"He's still out there." Sherlock's voice was quiet at the other end of the hallway but Ten's eyes widened and he bared his teeth against the truth.

"Who is?" Cas's face was stoic, as usual, but he didn't have to ask. Dean was the only one that none of them had seen escape. Sam had leapt through a broken window, Rose and Watson had run through the back and Sherlock had just joined the three of them. The only one missing was…

"There!" Ten hissed. He was pointing at a window halfway up the wall further down the corridor. The four of them shuffled towards it, but they needn't have bothered being quiet. Lucifer knew they were there. He just didn't care.

"Oh Dean. It seems your friends have left you. How awful for you. WOuldn't be the first time though, would it? People just keep leaving you, don't they? Maybe it's because they know."

"Know what?" Dean snarled.

"They know that if they stick around long enough, they'll die. Or worse. How's Sam? Still a tortured soul? Not as tortured as you at the moment, I'll wager. Mark of Cain? Oh sweetheart, really you shouldn't swim so far out of your depth. A current might push you under." With that he shot one sliver of broken metal into Dean's shoulder.

He bellowed in pain and his jaw clenched, grinding his teeth down. His breath was coming out in gasps but he fought to keep it under control. He felt something move inside him and he remembered what he'd seen in his reflection from earlier. A plan struck him and he started smiling through the sweat running down his face.

"So Lucy, still annoyed that we sent you back to your tiny box? And Morry, still pissed that Sherlock beat you? You did everything you could to take him down and all you succeeded in doing was ensuring his success. That's gotta sting," he caught a glimpse of the four faces in the window over Moriarty's shoulder and he winked at them. The Doctor's face cleared and he turned and ran out of view but Dean didn't care anymore, "But not as much as it must sting Lucy that he was SO close to reaching his goal and he was foiled by a pathetic, self-loathing demon hunter? God it must be HELL inside your head. Two people who refuse to blame themselves for their own, stupid, mistakes. Who else are you gonna blame? Me? Trust me, there's no way you can break me more than I already am. So go for it. Give it your BEST SHOT! BREAK ME!"

Moriarty's face contorted viciously and then all the debris in the room went flying into the wall. Bits of glass, metal and wood were pinning Dean's lifeless frame to the wall when The Doctor came flying around the corner. He wasn't fast enough and Lucifer flicked him into the wall. An ear-shattering yell pierced the air and Moriarty turned to see Sam grabbing at Dean. He jerked his wrist and the debris removed itself from the wall and dropped to the ground, along with Dean's body. Sam gripped it and yelled at his brother, but he knew it was no use. Watson leant down to examine Dean but even from five feet away he knew a lost cause. He sighed in frustration and anguish – couldn't he save anyone today?

Lucifer was watching the chaos with a smile on Moriarty's face. None of them cared about him anymore. They knew he'd gotten what he wanted – to make them suffer again. But they just didn't understand how delectable it was to make something feel so utterly devastated. It was exhilarating watching the pain and anger and heartbreak in their eyes as they all accepted the inevitable. They were all on their knees and Rose and Sam were crying. Sherlock, Ten and The Doctor looked livid. Castiel was the only one standing, his hand on Watson's shaking shoulders. Watson himself just looked defeated. PERFECT. He slipped back more into the shadows but… something was stopping him.

It was like he'd hit an invisible wall.

He turned back towards the group but as he did something even harder hit him from the front and he was forced a step back. He frowned and pushed back against it and then it threw him sideways into a wall where he slumped but didn't fall because it was holding him halfway towards the ceiling. His eyes widened and he searched the group of grief stricken people, searching for a sign that they were doing it, but not one of them had moved. Except…

Dean's eyes flew open but now they were black as the darkest pits of hell and beyond. He jumped to his feet and took a single, menacing step forward.

"Nice try."