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Foggy didn't speak up in defense for this demon. No one did.

He had been worried that Karen would be affected, but she just stared with a steely expression as the Winchesters tortured the demon, demanding answers. Once again, he wasn't sure if that meant she was handling this worse or better than he was.

They had relocated to an abandoned building in an isolated part of town. According to Sam and Dean, all their apartments and places of work were "burned." They didn't know where Bouvois was, and even if they did they had no way of knowing what to expect if they got inside. Or any effective way of fighting Bouvois and her demon lackeys. There had been some discussion of holy oil molotov cocktails, and calling another demon named Crowley for help, but in the end they settled on taking the demon out of the Impala's trunk and torturing it for information.

The demon was possessing a bulky looking grunt dude that already looked like he did bad things for a living. Foggy hoped it was true, because he hated the thought of torturing some innocent dude just because he happened to be possessed by a demon.

The demon, like the others they had talked to, was infuriatingly stubborn.

"We already know Evangeline Bouvois is trying to become Queen of Hell. We know she's using people to try and create new demons. We know she's trying to create some kind of new hell," Sam was saying, pacing around the edge of the circle, talking to the demon sitting in its center.

"It sounds like you have everything figured out," the demon said.

"Pretty much. So playing this loyal dog act out isn't going to help you or her. Just tell us what we want to know."

"Hate to break it you, but the loyalty isn't an act. So call me a dog, kick me all you want - kill me if you must. But I'm not going to tell you anything," the demon hissed, then grinned at Sam's obvious fury. Instead of running into the circle to attack the demon like Foggy was afraid he might, though, Sam just took a deep breath and walked away.

The rest of them were sitting in the next room, or what would have been the next room. It looked like construction had halted halfway through about a year ago, and no one had been in here since. There were still piles of lumber, plastic sheeting, and scaffolding sitting around the concrete floors and exposed rafters. The outside walls were solid, though, so they were hidden from sight of any skulking enemies prowling the streets. The Impala was parked in a garage on the first floor, which looked like it had been intended as private parking for the unfinished apartment they were now sitting in. Or maybe it would have been an office building. Foggy hadn't decided.

Either way, there were only a few yards and a curtain of plastic sheeting separating them from the captive demon, but Foggy was grateful for even the smallest distance. He hated looking at it. He hated it looking at him.

Sam walked over to Dean, both of them silhouetted foggily against the plastic, staring at the demon. They spoke so softly Foggy couldn't make out what they were saying, but their body language said it all. This wasn't working.

"They don't know what they're doing," Karen said. Foggy knew that tone. If Sam and Dean didn't come up with a plan soon, Karen was going to come up with her own plan. It was the same tone she spoke with back when they were fighting Fisk, and kept running into walls. But Karen hadn't let that stop her.

"They know better than we do. This, all this, this isn't our world," Claire said, vaguely gesturing towards the demon and the Winchesters, and maybe the entire world around them. Foggy was beginning to feel like maybe it was their world. Maybe their world had always been strange and frightening and filled with monsters, and they never realized it. Maybe they were the outsiders, an intrusion of normalcy in a world of nightmares. Then he shook his head - what was he talking about? His world had always been weird and scary and filled with monsters, just not always quite so literally.

"Let me talk to it," he said suddenly, getting to his feet.

Everyone looked at him in surprise. Sam and Dean stepped out from behind the plastic and looked at him with the same expression as everyone else.

"I don't think that's a good idea -" Dean began.

"It's not like you're doing any better," Foggy cut him off.

"Foggy, are you sure this is a good idea?" Claire asked.

"I'm a lawyer. I graduated cum laude from Columbia. I own my own firm. If I can't get this jerk to talk, I'll turn in my license."

Sam and Dean passed a look, then shrugged.

"Just don't go in the circle. Don't even go near the circle, actually."

"I got it, I got it," Foggy said, pushing aside the plastic sheeting and regarding the demon. It looked back, then smiled.

"Foggy Nelson."

"You know my name," Foggy didn't show his surprise, or the chill that went up his spine when the demon spoke to him. Behind him, he felt Sam and Dean step up to flank him. He didn't acknowledge them, but it made him feel better that two beefy, dangerous, supernaturally-experienced hunters had his back.

"I know who all of you are. Friends of Murdock."

"Is that why you attacked Claire?"

"She was getting in the way at the hospital. My Queen suspected she knew the Daredevil, but we knew she was working with the Winchesters. That made it necessary to eliminate her."

"What happened to loyalty? I thought you weren't going to talk."

"Nothing I'm saying gives you any valuable information. It's just...small talk."

"Alright. We're just chatting. So what's your story? How'd you end up here?"

The demon laughed, "If you're trying to get my name, it's not going to work."

"No, no. That's fine. I'm just curious why you're all so devoted to Evangeline. She's just a human, right?"

"She is more than just a human! She is a Queen!"

"But she's not a demon."

"No, but her power is great. Greater than any of you measly humans!"

"But not as great as a demon's power."

"We are part of her court. She provides us with power we cannot achieve, and we provide her with our own power. It is...a partnership. You know about such relationships. You're partners with Murdock."

"Yeah, but I don't go around calling Matt my King and doing what he orders me to. That would be a little kinky."

The demon laughed, an angry scoff, "You joke. But you help him carry out his plans and wishes, and protected him from these hunters. You lie to the law for him. You're his Knight, are you not?"

Foggy laughed, "Do I look like a Knight? I'll leave the armor and the fighting to the trained super ninja, thank you."

"All of you, part of the Daredevil's court. But you pledge loyalty to a false king, who could not protect you or his city. Now you are lost, hopeless, without an idea of what is to come."

"I wouldn't say we were hopeless. We have a few tricks up our sleeves."

"Nothing that can save you, nor the rest of the city. And now that Evangeline has your friend, our deal is fulfilled. There's nothing to stop her from taking your city as her own!"

"There's still us," Foggy said, fighting back the wave of apprehension building in his gut. He swallowed hard, but his mouth was dry as a desert. "We can stop her. She's just one of us measly humans, after all."

"How will you stop her, when you won't even be able to recognize your city, or one another? You have little hope of saving your humanity, let alone your city!"

The demon was sneering, eyes wide, straining forward against the ropes binding him to a chair Suddenly, it realized it had said too much and snapped backwards, almost toppling the chair.

"Wow. That was pretty dramatic," Foggy said, letting out a low whistle and pushing his hair back.

"Unable to recognize each other or our city, losing our humanity? That's pretty heavy stuff."

"I'll say," Dean said, stepping up to stand beside Foggy. "When I heard Bouvois was trying to make hell 2.0, I thought she was planning to take over actual hell. But it sounds like she's trying to turn the city into a brand new version."

"It doesn't matter what you think you know. There's no way to stop her, especially now that she has the Daredevil," the demon growled, but with a little less bravado.

Foggy frowned, "Yeah, I've been wondering about that. Why was Bouvois - or should I say, Evangeline" the demon bristled at the use of the witch's first name, "so interested in Matt? You seem pretty hung up on him, too."

"He was the protector of this city. And now he isn't."

Foggy didn't stop to think about how much that sentence implied Matt was dead. Instead, he said, "Nooo. You said now that Evangeline has Matt, your deal is fulfilled. That sounds like some sort of shady business transaction. Which means that you and your Queen aren't working alone. Maybe she isn't as powerful as you think. Maybe she's just someone's underling, just like you're hers."

"I am no one's underling, and neither is my Queen. We lend power to others and they lend us theirs. That is how those with true power act - they don't have to scratch and scrape and cling to power like greedy humans."

"But she is working with someone else."

"No. This is all her doing. Don't underestimate her, filth."

"I'm just saying - partnership implies more than one person. And you said partnership. I heard partnership."

"I heard partnership," Dean agreed.

"It doesn't matter! When my Queen succeeds in turning your city into the hellgate, I will personally be the one to strip the flesh from your bones! No angel, no hunter, no Chaste, no mere mortal will stop that from happening."

The demon spit, then sat back and grit its teeth while staring each of them down. Foggy knew that look - they weren't getting any more out of this guy right now.

Sam tossed his head over his shoulder, and the three of them retreated back to the other side of the plastic sheet to talk with Claire and Karen.

"Nice going, Foggy," Sam said.

"Yeah. Maybe you should have stayed in law school after all, Sammy." Dean elbowed Sam, who looked flustered. Foggy appreciated the compliment, but he was trying too hard not to shot himself to do anything but stutter and shake. No one seemed to notice except Claire, who gave him a little encouraging smile.

"So we know their plan - they want to turn Hell's Kitchen into literal hell? How is that even possible?" Karen said.

"He mentioned a hellgate…" Sam turned to Dean, "Do you remember that hallway, with Dare- with Matt? At the first warehouse?"

"You mean the hallway of doom? Yeah, what the hell was that?"

"Bouvois was using that warehouse to do experiments - what if that was another experiment? We fell into a space that shouldn't have been there, like-"

"Like a pocket dimension!" Dean exclaimed. Claire raised her eyebrows. He shrugged, "What? I like scifi."

Sam scoffed, "Yeah, like a pocket dimension. I don't think she's turning the streets of Hell's Kitchen into hell, I think she's using the city as a gridwork to create a portal to her own hell 2.0 dimension."

"She's going to need a lot of magic to do that."

"Something she could get by sacrificing human souls."

Foggy, Claire, and Karen's eyes were ping ponging back and forth between Sam and Dean, but they all froze when they heard that.

"That's why she's been kidnapping people?" Foggy asked, "To power her portal? Like some sort of human battery?"

"Exactly," Sam answered.

"But I thought you said she was promoting crime throughout the city so people would start making deals and selling their souls. Why kidnap someone when you can just buy their soul off them?" Karen asked.

Sam shook his head, "I don't know. She's been using people as subjects in other experiments, too. And even buying souls, corrupting the city - it gives her more power. She can buy off authorities. And not that the angels do a great job anyway, but they're not going to answer prayers for someone who sold their soul. And all of this could be part of her spell."

"What I'm getting from this is we really have no clue what she's doing or how she's doing it," Claire said.

"We know she's about to turn your city into nightmare, and we have to stop it."

"How?"

Everyone was silent.

Then suddenly, a new voice spoke.

"We might be able to help with that."

Instantly, Sam and Dean had their guns drawn and trained on the newcomer. Foggy gripped his baseball bat, Claire had a pipe and Karen had a knife. He groaned but tightened his hold - if this was a demon, they were screwed.

The newcomer was standing a few feet away, near an unfinished doorway that had hinges but no door. Her expression was blank, her eyes fixed on Dean. Foggy hardly noticed her, though, because standing behind her was Matt, holding her arm just above the elbow and looking concerned. Or sick. Foggy couldn't tell, but Foggy didn't care.

"Matt!" He lowered his bat and took a step forward, but Dean blocked his path.

"Who are you?" He asked the the woman.

The woman's expression changed slightly, and she glanced down at her clothes, a hand lightly brushing her shirt. Then she went back to staring at Dean.

"Dean, I-"

Sam's brow was furrowed, "Cas?"

The woman nodded, "I had to obtain a new vessel. My other was - detained."

Dean lowered his gun, eyes hopeful. "How do we know it's really you?"

"I can't use the full extent of my powers in this vessel. This is just...a temporary arrangement." Cas said stiffly, shuffling his feet. Matt poked his head around the woman's shoulder.

"If my word means anything, it really is Castiel. He helped me escape," Matt said.

Foggy paused. Something wasn't right.

"Matt?"

Matt's expression twisted, looking sorrowful and guilty. It was a normal expression for Matt to be wearing, but he never quite so plainly showed his feelings.

"You said 'me,' not 'us." Foggy said.

The woman - Castiel - looked slightly uneasy as well. She stepped forwards.

"Azirale helped me escape. We couldn't save Matt."

Matt - no, Azirale - turned their face downwards.

"Test me, Dean. Sam. If you really must," Cas said, holding his arm out.

Sam lowered his gun, but didn't put it away.

"How did you find us? We put up wards."

"It was difficult. We checked several locations before Azirale heard you talking. Then we followed the sound of your voices."

Sam seemed skeptical, but something in Cas' voice must have convinced him, because he started putting his gun away inside his jacket. Then suddenly, his hand flew out again, this time holding a small silver flask. Water spilled out, splashing onto both the woman and Az.

"Fucking hell," Az bit out, dancing away and biting their lip to hold in a shriek. The woman didn't budge. Just stood there looking unimpressed. Dean reached out and moved Sam's hand down.

"That's enough, Sam." Then he turned to Cas. They stared at each other for a moment. Az and Sam let out an exasperated sigh at the same time, then looked at each other in surprise.

"Dean-" Cas began, but Dean moved forward and closed the space between them, drawing the angel into a hug, thumping him hard on the back.

"Good to see you, man."

"Wait - that's it? We trust her?" Karen said, incredulous. She was still holding her knife in front of her defensively.

"I trust him," Dean said, then turned to glare at Az, "Now them I'm not so sure about."

"You can say that again," Foggy growled, advancing on Az.

"What the hell happened? Where's Matt?"

"Foggy, I'm sorry," Az began, holding their hands up.

"I don't care if you're sorry! What happened?"

"That demon - Mora - she has some special power. She overpowered me and teleported us back to Evangeline's headquarters. And then...Evangeline, she, she ripped Matt's soul out."

"She what?" Karen rasped.

"There was nothing I could do! I tried! But she took Matt and threw me in some sort of prison, and that's where I met Cas."

Foggy reached forward, grabbing Az by their shirt, his knuckles white.

"And you left him there? Did you do this just so you could steal his body?"

"No!" Az shouted, "I swear! God, you know I wouldn't do that!"

"How am I supposed to know that? You're a demon! You possessed my best friend! If you hadn't been here, none of this would have happened! This is on you! So stop acting like we're buddy buddy or best friends or whatever you think is happening here. The only reason you're still around is because you're keeping Matt's body alive."

Foggy shoved Az back, though they only took a slight backwards step, and stomped away. He stormed over to a wall and thunked his head against the plaster. A comforting hand found his shoulder.

"Foggy…" Claire began.

He sighed, then turned around a took a seat on some piled up lumber, rubbing his eyes before re-entering the scene, looking at the people around him.

Sam was talking to Cas, "Is that true?"

"Some demons came and threw Az into the cell next to me. Matt wasn't there, but - Az did seem truly regretful about it. Evangeline tried to turn them against me, against all of you, but they defied her and helped me escape. They had every intention of rescuing Matt as well, but...I made the call. I took us out without going after Matt. It was too dangerous."

"Wait. So you know where Matt is?" Claire asked, waving her hand in the air as if physically cutting through whatever anyone was going to say next.

Cas nodded, "Evangeline has created a new hell. That's where Matt is."

Matt wasn't in hell.

That's pretty much all he knew, and all he needed or wanted to know at the moment. As long as it wasn't there. As long as he wasn't being flayed, or burned, or flailed, or gouged, or stabbed. As long as he couldn't smell the blood and fear and fluids, as long as he couldn't hear the screams and the laughter and the sobs…

Actually, he couldn't hear much of anything at the moment.

He tried to concentrate on his senses, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't extend them further than his immediate surroundings. He could hear his breathing, and some people murmuring softly nearby. He could smell blood, sulfur, and a general harsh chemical smell that he couldn't identify. He frowned - since when could he not isolate scents? Or hear people in the same room as him?

Az? He tried calling out mentally for the demon, but Az didn't answer. He didn't expect them to. Even without talking to himself, he could just tell he was alone in this body. Which - he had a body. He must be back on earth. Slowly, he began mapping his surroundings with what little input he had to work with. Something wasn't right. He felt muffled, dulled. Every instinct was telling him to spring up and run away, but he didn't want to alert whoever was in the room with him that he was awake. Plus, he seemed to be strapped to some sort of examination table.

Once again, he strained his hearing, but all he could determine is that two people were standing a short distance away to his left. Then he heard another sound - footsteps.

"Okay, wake him up. We need him to talk," a familiar voice said, and he jolted. Evangeline Bouvois. How had he not heard how close she was? He must be drugged, or maybe he was concussed.

"Oh, I see he's already awake."

He was then greeted by a slap to the face.

His head jolted sideways, his muscles tensed though he couldn't act on his defensive instincts due to being strapped down. And his eyes opened.

And he saw.

He immediately snapped his eyes shut, and Evangeline laughed.

"Oh, yeah. That might take some getting used to. But I don't have time."

Her fingers, which were cold, closed around his face, her fingers squeezing his cheeks, turning his face towards hers. When her fingers brushed his skin, dug into his jaw, it didn't feel right. His face didn't feel right. It didn't feel like...like his face.

"What did you do to me?" he demanded, and then snapped his mouth shut. That wasn't his voice.

"I stuck you in a spare vessel we had lying around. A vessel I really want to experiment on, but your friends have made me change my plans."

Matt took deep breaths, tried to slow his heart rate. And yeah - he had a heart beat again. He could feel it racing in his chest.

Tentatively, he opened his eyes again.

Colors. Light. Images. He wanted to squeeze his eyes shut again, but he forced himself to look. To see. It was hard - he was out of practice. He hadn't used vision for 22 years. Whatever vessel Bouvois had slammed his soul into was obviously sighted, or at least the brain and eyes seemed to know how to work at the basic hardwiring level. But Matt wasn't having an incredible amount of luck deciphering the scene around him.

A woman was standing above him, quite close - he could smell her breath, and her hand was squeezing his face. There were two others, smaller, standing to his left. No, not smaller - further away. He wasn't quite sure how far away.

"Matt, focus. If you're distracted, I'll gladly pluck those eyes out of your skull."

Matt returned his eyes to the woman standing above him. He tried to take in her appearance, but it was beginning to give him a headache. She had a face, and a body, and was wearing a long, colored dress. Her hair was long, too, but he couldn't figure out what color or texture. Ah - brown. But darker than his dad's had been.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Your little demon friend ran off with your body, and they took my angel with them. I want you to tell me where they've gone."

He didn't have to try to decipher her facial expression to understand what she was feeling. Angry. And he had no doubt she was willing to take it all out on Matt if he didn't cooperate.

"Or what?"

"Or else I throw you back in hell."

Matt shuddered. He wanted to avoid that at all costs.

"And if I tell you?"

"Then we'll talk. Maybe sort out a deal."

"That doesn't sound like too great a deal to me."

She bared her teeth, her eyebrows tilting down and her nostrils flaring.

"It's either that, or back to hell."

Matt took a deep breath, then closed his eyes.

"Okay. I'll tell you."

He moved his eyes to meet hers.

"I'll tell you where they are."