September 19th - September 22nd, 2014

We were sitting at a small outdoor café eating while Kevin and Dean argued.

"Are you kidding me?" Dean asked with a full mouth. "You're kidding me."

Kevin furrowed his brow. "What? Is it too much to ask if we can swing by and check on my mom?"

Dean raised his eyebrows. "Swing by? It's a day's drive in the opposite direction. You know that, right?"

Kevin nodded. "Yes. I understand we're in a hurry."

"Okay, well, then, what's the problem?" Dean asked.

"Channing's broken neck is my problem!" Kevin shouted. "As in, I'd rather not see my mom twisted into a corkscrew."

"Kid's got a point, Dean," Sam said.

"Stay out of this." Dean pointed at Sam.

Sam smirked.

"Kevin, your mom is fine," Dean said.

"How can you possibly know that?" Kevin asked.

"Because Crowley needs her to be, okay?" Dean nodded. "In fact, he's probably got the place stacked with bodyguards right now, protecting her so that when you do show up, they'll pounce on you both."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Kevin asked.

"She's bait, man, plain and simple. And you want to swim right up and bite the hook?" Dean asked.

Kevin didn't answer and just fidgeted in his seat.

"Look, we have got Crowley by the short and curlies, okay?" Dean asked. "All we need to do is find the tablet, whip up the spell, and… boom! Sunshine and sandy beaches."

"Dean, my mom's all alone. She's surrounded by demons," Kevin said. "Can you really not understand why I want to make sure she's okay?"

Dean looked at Sam and me. Sam just shrugged.

"We would want to do the same thing, Dean," I said.

Dean shook his head. "Son of a bitch." He tossed his burger down on his plate and threw his hands in the air. "Fine. Let's go."

We drove out to Michigan and parked in front of Kevin's house, across the street.

Sam looked into the house with binoculars. "Tiger Mom, 9 o'clock."

Kevin grabbed the binoculars from Sam. "Where?"

"Left window," Sam said.

Kevin looked into the house. "She seems okay." He smiled. "Sad… but okay."

"Check out the mailman," Dean said.

"Yeah, that's Carl. So what?" Kevin asked.

Dean nodded. "Yeah, well, Carl's filled your mom's mailbox three times since we've been sitting here."

"He's a demon?" Kevin asked.

"And see the gardener?" Dean asked.

A gardener was watering plants out in front of the house. There was so much water. It was starting to pour down the stairs and the path.

"Think that plant needs any more water?" Dean asked.

We snuck up to the house and cut the water to the hose, and waited out back for the gardener.

The gardener walked through the gates and bent down to turn the water back on.

Dean stepped out from behind the trees and stabbed him in the back, and his body immediately sparked orange.

Then a few seconds later, the mailman walked through the gate with black eyes, and Dean waved at him. The demon glared at him and started to charge.

"Don't move," I said.

The demon looked at me confused and then stopped moving. Sam came up behind him and stabbed him as well.

Dean nodded. "Honestly… controlling demons? Pretty awesome."

We went around to the front of the house, and Kevin knocked on the door while we hid. Then the door opened a moment later.

"Hi, Mom," Kevin said.

"Oh! Kev— Kevin!" she shouted emotionally.

The three of us stepped out and threw holy water on her.

Ms. Tran stood there in shock. "Oh! What—"

"She's clean," Dean said.

Kevin and his mom embraced happily as she cried.

"You smell that?" Sam asked.

We walked into the house and found a woman standing in the kitchen. She immediately screamed, and black smoke poured from her mouth.

"Don't you dare leave!" I shouted.

The smoke poured back into the woman's body, and she stood there, not moving. Ms. Tran screamed as Kevin held her. Then Dean came up and stabbed the woman in the stomach. She flashed orange and collapsed to the ground.

"Eunis!" Ms. Tran shouted.

Dean shook his head. "That's not Eunis."

After Kevin got his mom to calm down, we sat in the living room with her.

"Ms. Tran." Sam took a deep breath. "Your friend was possessed by a demon."

"Have you ever seen The Exorcist?" Kevin asked.

Ms. Tran paused and then rolled her eyes at Kevin in annoyance. "Is that what you've been doing all year? Watching television?" She turned her attention to Dean. "Did you really have to kill her?"

Dean sighed and nodded. "The demon would have warned Crowley where Kevin was if we didn't."

She looked at Kevin. "And Crowley is the one who kidnapped you?"

Kevin nodded. "Yeah. He needs me to translate his stupid tablet so he can take over the universe or something."

"Which is why we need to get it so that we can slam the Gates of Hell forever with Crowley inside," Dean said.

Sam nodded. "So that things like that don't ever happen again."

Ms. Tran nodded thoughtfully and then looked at Kevin. "Prophet of the Lord, huh? It does have a nice ring to it." She smiled softly. "I'll get packed," she said as she stood up.

Dean stood up. "We're gonna need a safehouse since Crowley's been to the cabin, so—"

Ms. Tran turned around with her brow furrowed. "Safehouse? I thought we were going to get the tablet."

Dean nodded. "Uh, we are. You're taking a trip to a demon-free zone."

"And risk letting Kevin fall into the hands of this Crowley again?" She shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Ms. Tran, all due respect, Dean's right," Sam said, "Crowley… he's not just a killer. He trades in torment. And if he can find a way to separate your soul from you, he'll take that soul to Hell and— and roast it 'til there's nothing left but black smoke. Look, it's best if you let us handle this."

She nodded. "I understand. But it's not my soul I'm worried about. It's my son's." She folded her arms and gave Sam and Dean a mom-glare.

Dean looked at Kevin. "Kevin, you want to back us up here? Came all the way down here to pull her out of the fire, and now she wants to jump right back in."

"Like I can tell her what to do?" Kevin asked.

Dean and Ms. Tran exchanged looks. She put her mom-glare on a little harder.

Dean chuckled and shrugged. "All right. Coming with us has conditions… uh, hex bags to stay off the bad guys' radar and, uh, you're gonna have to get inked up."

"Do what, now?" Kevin asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, uh…" He pulled his shirt open to reveal his anti-possession tattoo on his chest. "You, too, shortstop." He nodded at Kevin. "Keeps the demons out."

Dean nodded at me. "It's about time you get yours too."

I pulled my shirt up and revealed mine on my ribs. "I got it covered."

"Oh." Dean shrugged and turned his attention back to Kevin and his mom. "All right, just you two then."

"Fine," Ms. Tran said, uncaring.

"Really?" Dean asked.

"What, like it's my first tattoo?" Ms. Tran smirked and walked out of the room.

Kevin stared at her in disbelief, and Dean smiled at her as she walked away, somewhat admiringly.

We watched Ms. Tran and Kevin while they held hands as they got their tattoos done on their arms. Kevin was sitting there whimpering and doing anything he could to not squirm around. Ms. Tran, on the other hand, was sitting firm, like nothing was even happening to her.

"You smell it?" Dean asked.

"Burning flesh?" Sam asked.

Dean shook his head. "Revenge. So close." He nodded at me. "Hey, you don't got any more ink, do you?"

I shrugged. "And what if I do?"

"You're too young." He shrugged. "Wait a few years."

Sam scoffed. "Dean, she's twenty."

Dean furrowed his brow. "What?" He shook his head. "No way."

I nodded. "Yeah, way."

"Do you have more tattoos?" Dean asked.

I smirked and shrugged.

"At least one more that I know of," Sam said.

"That you know of?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, Dean. She was nineteen, making her own money. Not really much, I can do about it."

Dean scoffed and shook his head.

"I got it for you," I said and pulled up my left sleeve to show him my tattoo.

Dean stared at it for a second and nodded, trying to disguise his slight happiness. "Wolf, huh?" He nodded. "That's pretty cool." He looked at me. "You got that for me?"

I nodded. "Yeah, does that make it okay now?" I smirked.

He shrugged. "I guess it makes it okay."

Sam chuckled and shook his head.

"Okay, cool," I said, pulling up my other sleeve to show him my other tattoo. "'Cause I got this one for Sam."

Sam looked over it. "Wow." He smiled to himself. "Thanks."

"Ha," Dean said, "You got an owl. She sees you as a bird."

"Actually… owls usually represent wisdom and protection," I said, "Which is why I got it for Sam."

Dean pursed his lips and nodded. "Oh…"

Sam smirked.

"Well… what does mine mean then?" Dean asked.

"Wolves are a symbol of guardianship and loyalty," I said as I pulled my sleeves back down.

Dean thought about it for a second and nodded. "I'll accept it then."

I chuckled. "Well, you don't really have a choice. I can't just scrub them off."

Sam, Dean, and I walked around the bus station that the tablet had been stored in to check for any demons while Kevin and his mom waited for us on a bench. Then we met back at the bench.

"So, place is clean, far as I can tell," Sam said.

Kevin handed a locker key to Dean.

"All right. Positive thoughts," Dean said as he walked over to Kevin's locker.

We all looked in the locker, but the only thing that seemed to be in there was a light blue diaper bag.

"You hid the Word of God in a diaper bag?" Dean asked.

Kevin shook his head. "No."

Sam, Dean, and I exchanged looks, and then Dean grabbed the bag and started digging through it, finding nothing.

Sam smirked at him in annoyance.

Dean glared at him. "Shut up." He tossed the bag angrily back into the locker and slammed the door. He sighed. "Sam and I will be right back."

A few minutes later, they came back wearing suits and questioned one of the security guards. Kevin, Ms. Tran, and I sat nearby to listen.

"Been nothing but trouble with these lockers," the guard said, "Got broke into damn near every day for a while. Could never figure out who it was 'til yesterday."

"Oh, so you know who did it?" Sam asked.

The guard nodded. "Sure. Was Clem Smedley, a guy who worked the desk before me."

"Please tell me he's down at County right now," Dean said.

"Yup, waiting for arraignment," the guard said.

Sam nodded. "Thanks."

At the police station, we sat with Clem Smedley and questioned him.

Clem shook his head. "Should have known they'd plant a LoJack in one of the bags. Sharp guy, that Jerry. He'll be a fine replacement for me."

Sam nodded. "Right. Well, in one of those lockers, there was a tablet. Do you know where it is?"

Clem chuckled. "Can I even acknowledge that without my lawyer here?"

Sam cleared his throat. "Uh, look, I'm sure we can work out a little, uh, something-something with the locals if you just cooperate."

"What kind of something-something?" Clem asked.

I shrugged and looked at Sam. "Leniency?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

Clem nodded and chuckled. "So, here's what I'm thinking… full immunity from all charges both past, present, and future."

Dean walked behind Clem and removed his tie. He quickly wrapped it around Clem's neck, pulled him up, and slammed him against the wall. Clem gasped when Dean held a knife up to his throat.

"Dean?" I asked, a little nervous and surprised, but he ignored me.

"Hey!" Sam yelled and rapped his hand on the table. "Dean. Come on."

"You feel that?" Dean asked as he held the knife firmer against Clem's throat.

"Hey!" Sam shouted.

"How 'bout you just tell me where the tablet is," Dean said.

"Dean!" Sam yelled.

"Pawnshop," Clem said anxiously, "First and Main."

Sam stood up. "Dean?"

Dean removed his tie from Clem's neck.

I stood up, giving Sam a quick look.

"Come on," Sam said, annoyed, as he shoved his chair toward the table.

The five of us pulled up to the pawnshop and parked behind a red Ferrari.

"Whoa," Kevin said with a smile on his face as he stared at the Ferrari as we passed it.

Ms. Tran waved at him to hurry. "Hey."

We walked into the pawnshop, and we pulled out our badges, showing them to the clerk.

"Hello, sir. Agents Neil, Lee, and Sixx, FBI," Sam said, "Uh, we're looking for a tablet."

"About, uh, yay big," Dean said as he demonstrated the size. "Got some hieroglyphic crap on it."

"Sold to you by a thief named Clem. Ring a bell?" Sam asked.

The clerk shook his head. "Nope."

Dean looked at the clerk's name tag. "Hey, Lyle, I've had a really, really bad day today, so I'm not in the mood to dilly-dally. If you want to do this the rough way, I am happy to oblige."

Lyle nodded. "Sure. We can do it that way if you want to get famous." He gestured to the security cameras.

"That your car outside?" Ms. Tran asked.

"What's it to you, mail-order?" Lyle scoffed.

"Hey!" Dean slammed his hand on the counter. "Pal!"

Ms. Tran held her hand up. "I got it." She walked up to the counter. "I notice you're driving with expired tags, maybe because you just acquired it in a trade, and I'm guessing that means you haven't registered it yet, which means you haven't paid the tax. Is that correct?"

Lyle stood up, a little antsy now. "None of your business."

"Kevin, average blue book on a 2010 Ferrari F430 Spider?" she asked.

"$217,000," Kevin said.

"And the 5% Wyoming tax?" she asked.

"$10,850," I said.

Dean raised his eyebrows at me.

Ms. Tran nodded happily but with a stoic expression. "$10,000. Something tells me you're the type who might balk at a tax bill that big.

"Wh— What is this, an FBI audit?" Lyle stuttered.

Ms. Tran shook her head. "No. But my brother, who happens to work for the Wyoming tax assessor's office, could arrange that if he thought something untoward was happening here."

Lyle swallowed hard. Dean, me, and Sam smirked, impressed.

Ms. Tran nodded. "So what's it going to be… the tablet or that piece of Eurotrash crap you call a car?"

We pulled up at the motel the tablet was supposed to be at and knocked on the door for Room 126.

"Sure this is the right place?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged. "It's what the pawn slip says."

"Kevin?" a man asked from behind us.

We all turned to see a man dapperly dressed and holding a cane.

"Who wants to know?" Dean asked.

"Oh, relax, Dean. I'm not going to steal your prophet," the man said and then turned his attention to Ms. Tran. "Ah. And you must be Kevin's mother. Um… Beau." He walked up to her. "And it is my absolute pleasure." He kissed her hand and then looked at Kevin as he backed away. "And, um, Kevin. Imagine my luck. Here I was, working so hard looking for you that I never stopped to think you might be looking for me. I have something for you."

"What is it?" Dean asked.

Beau pulled an envelope out of his jacket that had Kevin's name written on it. "An invitation, dear man, to a very exclusive auction."

"Let me guess… where you'll be selling the tablet?" Dean asked.

"Well, when we acquire an item as hot as the Word of God, it's smart to unload it as fast as possible," Beau said, "And we are in such desperate need of a headliner for tonight's gala."

Dean nodded. "Well, I hope you have four extra tickets to your little eBay party, 'cause the prophet's with us."

"Oh, if you're worried about the safety of the prophet, rest assured that we have a strict 'no casting, no cursing, no supernaturally flicking the three of you against the wall just for the fun of it' policy," Beau said.

"Is that right?" Sam asked, "How'd you manage that?"

"Well, I am the right hand of a god, after all… Plutus, specifically," Beau said.

Dean scoffed. "Is that even a planet anymore?"

I looked at Dean. "It's the God of greed."

Dean flashed me a look as if he knew that, even though he didn't.

"That's right, my dear," Beau said, "And my liege has warded these premises against Hell, Heaven, and beyond… quite necessary with some of the players we see. And incidentally, quite possibly the safest place your precious prophet could be. Mmm. Well, since time is of the essence, perhaps I'll just go ahead and add a plus-four to the prophet's invitation. Copacetic?" He tossed the envelope into the air and disappeared.

"Well, thank you, Mr. Peanut! All right. What do we have to bid?" Dean asked.

Sam scoffed.

"What?" Dean snapped. "We can't just show up there empty-handed."

Sam shrugged. "Dean, all we have to our names is a few hacked gold cards."

"All right." Dean nodded. "Well, then, we're gonna have to get creative."

I shrugged. "Well, we have a little more than a few gold cards," I said as I looked at the Impala and then at Sam.

"Huh." Sam smirked and looked at the Impala too. "Well…"

Dean shook his head. "No. Mmm-mmm." He walked over to block the Impala from our view. "Either of you say it, and I will kill you, your children, and your grandchildren."

"All right, jeez," I said.

Sam nodded. "Okay, okay. Uh…" Sam paused. "Wait a second. They— These auctions— They display the items to the bidders beforehand, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah…?"

"So all we got to do is get Kevin close enough to memorize the spell," Sam said.

"What do you think, brainiac?" Dean asked Kevin, "Think you can swing it?"

Ms. Tran smirked. "Of course he can swing it… if the bumper stickers on my Previa mean anything."

Dean nodded and looked at the Impala. "They didn't mean it, Baby."

We walked into an older warehouse. A guard held the door open for us and then gestured for us to walk through a metal detector. Each one of us made it through without setting it off until Dean.

He hesitantly stepped through, and then the metal detector went off.

Beau walked up. "Now, now, Dean. The system only works when everyone participates." He gestured to a table that had a box filled with weapons on it.

Dean sighed and walked over to the table and started clearing out all of his weapons. He pulled the demon blade out of his jacket and held it up to show Beau. "I'll be back for this." Then he sat the knife in the box.

Then we continued walking and found the room that had all of the items on display. A bunch of other people were checking out the items as well.

"How the hell are we supposed to know who's who?" Dean asked.

"It's pretty simple, Dean. They're all monsters," Sam said.

Something caught Dean's attention. "Hey, hey."

He walked up to a display case that had the tablet inside, except for a piece of metal that had been placed in front of it so it couldn't be read.

"Great," he snarled.

"I guess we're not as original as we thought," Kevin said.

"It's okay. It's okay. We just got to come up with a plan B," Sam said.

"And what, pray tell, could possibly have been plan A?" the familiar voice of Crowley asked behind us.

We all turned to him, standing there with a smirk on his face.

"Bring the prophet to the most dangerous place on Earth, memorize the tablet, and then vamoose?" Crowley asked. "Hello." He smiled.

"Crowley," Dean said with a glare.

"Kevin. What a pleasure to see you." Crowley walked toward us and smiled at Kevin. "Sorry about your little playdate. Her name?" He held his hand up to his ear, waiting for Kevin to tell him, but he didn't. "Ah. Well, if you're gonna make an omelet, sometimes you have to break some spines." He looked at Ms. Tran. "And who is this lovely young thing? Must be your sister."

Ms. Tran punched Crowley hard across the face. "Stay away from my son."

Crowley glared at her. "Charming. Defiling her corpse has just made number one on my to-do list."

Dean stepped forward, but Sam moved in front of him to stop him.

Crowley shook his finger at Dean. "Ah, ah, ah. Don't mind a little love tap, but anything more, and our mookie pals here may just throw you out, and that would be a shame."

"He's right, Dean. It's not worth it," Sam said.

"Listen to Moose, Squirrel." Crowley smirked.

A bald man in a tracksuit, wearing a gold chain, walked into the room.

"Ah. Here comes our host," Crowley said.

"Honored guests, please take your seats," the man said as he walked by everyone toward the front of the room.

"That's Plutus? What is he… God of the candy aisle?" Dean asked.

"Gentlemen, the auction is starting," Beau said as he walked by us.

Crowley nodded. "Good luck with the bidding."

"Nice right hook," Sam said, smiling down at Ms. Tran.

Sam, Kevin, Ms. Tran, and I went off to find seats, and Dean joined us a few minutes later.

Someone rapped a gavel to begin the auction when Dean walked down our row past Sam to sit between Ms. Tran and me.

"You okay?" I asked as he sat down.

He looked a little upset about something, but he nodded. "Yeah. All good."

"Ladies, gentlemen, and… other, welcome to this once-in-a-lifetime event," Beau said, "The first name in magical and alchemical esoterica."

The five of us pulled out our wallets and passed whatever cash we had to Dean.

"Our prices may be high, but our quality is unmatched, and we stand by our products," Beau said.

"Don't know why you're so keen on that hunk of dirt," Crowley said from his seat behind us. "So it tells you how to blast back a few demons? I'll just make more. Can't get rid of all of my black-eyed boys, Samantha."

Sam turned to him and nodded. "Yeah, we'll see."

"And across the plane—" Beau continued.

"All right. So, how much we got for plan B?" Sam asked.

"Uh, well, we got our hacked credit cards," Dean said as he passed everything to Sam. "$2,000, and a, uh… Costco membership."

"Our first item, the amulet of Hesperus," Beau said, "Let's start the bidding with, um, three tons of dwarven gold?"

Dean raised his eyebrows and looked at Sam and me.

"Ah. This lady." Beau pointed to someone in the crowd. "I have three. Do I have, uh, four? Ah. Four gentlemen here. Four. Going for five. Five? Five to this lady. Do we have an advance on five tons?"

"Plan C?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded. "Big-time."

"Any other bids? Any other bids?" Beau asked.

"I'm gonna use the restroom," Dean said and walked away.

Beau hit the gavel on a table. "Sold." He turned to the next item. "Our next item up for bid, the hammer of Thor, Mjolnir."

A man stood up. "A finger bone from the frost giant Ymir."

Beau looked at Plutus, who shook his head.

"Uh… the bone and, uh…" The man held up a blood paper bag. "Five-eighths of a virgin."

Sam and I recoiled slightly.

Beau looked at Plutus, who nodded.

"Ah. Sold." Beau hit the gavel.

Dean walked up and slapped Sam on the shoulder before sitting down. "Plan C tanked."

"Maybe you should try plan D for dumbass," Crowley said.

I turned to him. "And maybe you should try plan F for shut the fu—"

Dean chuckled and put his arm around me. He put his hand on my head and made me look forward. "Okay, let's just focus on the auction." Then he settled his arm back on my shoulders.

"Our next lot, the Word of God…" Beau held up the tablet. "Capital G… very old, very rare."

Crowley stood up. "Three billion dollars."

"Whoa," Sam, Dean, and I whispered in unison.

A kid in a fast-food worker outfit and a nametag that read Alfie stood up. "The Mona Lisa."

"The real Mona Lisa, where she's topless," Crowley said.

"Vatican City," Alfie said.

"Alaska," Crowley said.

"Palin and a bridge to nowhere?" Beau asked. "No, thanks."

Crowley nodded. "All right. The moon."

"You're bidding the moon?" Dean asked.

Crowley nodded. "Yeah. Claimed it for Hell. Think a man named Buzz gets to go into space without making a deal?"

Beau shook his head. "Ah. I'm sorry, gentlemen. It seems that our reserve price has not been met. So in order to stimulate the bidding, we're going to add an item to this lot…" He pointed to Kevin. "Kevin Tran, Prophet of the Lord."

Ms. Tran gasped. Kevin vanished and reappeared in the front of the room, chained to bars in the wall.

Ms. Tran stood up. "No!"

Sam, Dean, and I stood up, but a couple of the auction workers forced us to sit back down with their hands on our shoulders.

"Mr. Tran is the only person on Earth who can read this tablet, which makes them a perfect matching set," Beau said.

"So out of your league," Crowley smiled at us.

Beau nodded. "So, do I hear a bid of, um—"

"No, stop!" Ms. Tran shouted. "I'll give you whatever you want. I have a 401(K), my house."

Plutus chuckled.

Beau shook his head. "Good effort, Ms. Tran, but I'm afraid this is a little out of your price range."

Ms. Tran hesitated for a moment. "My soul."

"Mom, don't!" Kevin yelled.

"I bid my soul!" she shouted.

"Are you sure?" Dean asked. "That's a big move."

"Interesting." Plutus smiled.

Crowley walked up the aisle. "If it's souls that you're after, I can give you a million souls."

Dean looked at Alfie. "Hey, flyboy, are you gonna get in on this?"

"We guard the souls in Heaven. We don't horse-trade them," Alfie said.

"So we have a deal," Crowley said.

"It's not about the quantity, chief," Plutus said, "It's about the sacrifice. This little lady's soul is the most valuable thing she has. It's everything. Are you willing to offer everything, Mr. Crowley?"

"Tick-tock," Dean said, looking at Crowley.

"Fine. You win." Crowley hesitated. "I bid… my own soul!"

Plutus laughed. "Mr. Crowley, you don't have a soul." He looked at Ms. Tran. "Congrats, sweetheart."

Ms. Tran nodded, crying. "Thank you. Thank you."

Crowley stormed out of the room.

After the auction wrapped up, we sat in the room with Ms. Tran after everyone cleared out.

"Losing my soul… is it going to hurt?" she asked.

Dean nodded. "Probably."

"Will I die?" she asked.

Sam shook his head. "No. You'll just wish you were dead."

"Okay," she whispered.

Beau entered the room. "It's time."

We stood up, but Ms. Tran remained seated.

"You all right?" Dean asked.

Ms. Tran nodded, on the verge of tears. "Yeah. Can I— Can I just have a minute?"

We nodded and then walked away.

"This sucks," Sam whispered.

"Are you kidding me?" Dean asked. "We're about to close the Gates of Hell forever. If you ask me, we got off cheap."

I rolled my eyes at Dean.

"What?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Just a little compassion would be nice."

Dean sighed as we walked into the next room, where everyone was claiming their items.

"Mjolnir, I've missed you," a man said as he walked out with Thor's hammer.

Beau and Ms. Tran walked up to us a moment later.

"Where's the kid?" Dean asked.

Plutus snapped his fingers, and Kevin appeared.

"What are you gonna do with her soul?" I asked.

Plutus shrugged. "Whatever I want. I might sell it, or maybe I'll just tuck it away with my other precious objects, let them keep me warm at night. Mmm." He chuckled.

Ms. Tran looked afraid but lifted her chin and straightened her shoulders.

Plutus held out his hand to her. "Whenever you're ready, dear."

After a pause, Ms. Tran held out a hand and stepped forward.

"Wait!" Dean grabbed Ms. Tran's outstretched arm and pushed up her sleeve. Her anti-possession tattoo had been burned off.

"Hello," Crowley's voice came out of her, and her eyes turned red.

"Crowley," Sam snarled.

Crowley flung his arms out and sent the three of us flying.

"No. You can't. My warding spells," Plutus said.

"Your girl Friday showed me a few loopholes," Crowley said.

Plutus looked at Beau, who smiled.

"And all it cost me was an island in the South Pacific. I love a bargain." Crowley smiled.

Beau stabbed Plutus from behind. Crowley pulled the stake out of Plutus's chest and hurled it at the man guarding Kevin.

"Can't do all my tricks, but I can do enough," he said.

"Get out of her!" Kevin shouted.

Crowley picked up the Word of God and smirked at Kevin. "If I had a nickel for every time someone screamed that at me—"

Sam tackled Crowley, and then Dean and I stood up. Sam walked over and stepped in front of Kevin.

"Getting in touch with your feminine side, huh, Crowley?" Dean asked, now holding the demon blade.

Crowley shrugged. "Something like that."

"Well, come and get him," Dean taunted.

Crowley looked around us at Kevin. "One out of two ain't bad." Then he turned and ran away with the tablet.

"Watch the kid!" Dean shouted at us and then ran after Crowley.

Kevin turned to run, but I grabbed him. "Kevin, don't! Let Dean take care of it."

Kevin gasped as he looked behind Sam and me. "Move!" He pushed us as Beau started shooting at us.

We dove behind an overturned table and realized the man with Thor's hammer was hiding there. Kevin turned and ran for the door.

"Don't!" Beau shouted, causing Kevin to stop. "You know what's better than one private island? Two private islands."

Sam grabbed the hammer from the man and walked up behind Beau. Just before he pulled the trigger, Sam hit him in the back of the head. Lightning crackled, and blood splattered as Beau went down. Then Kevin ran out of the room.

"Okay. Give it back," the man said, "Give it back."

Sam held the hammer out to the man.

I put my hand on Sam's wrist. "Wait." I looked at the man. "Where'd you get the five-eighths of a virgin?"

The man shrugged and smiled uncomfortably.

Sam pulled the hammer back angrily.

"Oh, no," the man said in shock.

Sam swung the hammer down at the man and let go. Lightning crackled and exploded out. He turned to me and blocked the explosion from me with his body. When it stopped, we slowly looked to see that the hammer was just sitting in a pile of the man's clothing.

"That was awesome." I smiled.

Sam grabbed my arm. "Let's go."

Sam and I ran out to find Crowley back in his old body. Kevin was crouching down by Ms. Tran, who was leaning against the wall, and Dean was standing in front of them.

"Well, that was exciting. Good luck closing the Gates to Hell…" He picked up the tablet. "Without this." He looked at Kevin. "Surprising what mommy dearest has rattling around in her head. Want to know who your real father is? Scandalous."

"Crowley!" Dean shouted.

"I know we're not mates, Kevin, but one word of advice… run," Crowley said, "Run far and run fast. 'Cause the Winchesters… well, they have a habit of using people up and watching them die bloody."

Dean looked at me. "Can you control him?"

"I can try," I said and looked at Crowley. "Give us the tablet."

Crowley glared at me, and for a moment, his eyes glazed over. We were fighting for control, and my head started to throb. After a minute of going back and forth, I let out a gasp and collapsed on the floor. Dean hurried over to me as I wiped the blood that was dripping from my nose.

I shook my head. "He's too strong."

"It's okay," Dean said.

Crowley faked a frown. "Aw, poodle. You can't handle a man like me." He winked. "Maybe one day. Toodles." He waved and then left the room.

We helped get Ms. Tran into a chair. Kevin sat in front of her with his hand on her knee.

"Has she said anything?" Sam asked.

Kevin shook his head.

"Listen, Kev, what your mom went through… it's Hell. Trust me, I know. But she seems tough. She'll pull it together," Dean said.

"You tried to kill her," Kevin snapped.

Dean sighed. "Kid, in this life—"

"Shut up!" Kevin shouted. "I don't want to hear any more of your crappy speeches. I just want to talk to my mom alone."

Sam nodded. "Sure. Five minutes."

We walked into the next room and closed the door behind us.

Sam sighed. "Dean, were you really going to, uh…"

"What?" Dean asked. "Slit soccer mom's throat? Yeah, I was. I wish I had."

I shook his head. "Dean—"

"It was Crowley, guys," Dean said, "No matter what meat suit he's in, I should have knifed him." He nodded. "I mean, yeah, it would have sucked, and I would have hated myself, but what's one more nightmare, right?" He paused and looked at the door. "It seem a little quiet in there to you?"

We walked over, and Sam opened the door, but Kevin and Ms. Tran, were both gone.

"Kevin?" Sam asked.

"Kevin!" I shouted.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Dean yelled, and then something caught his eye. "Hey."

"What?" Sam asked.

Dean walked over and picked up a piece of paper off of a chair.

"What's it say?" I asked.

Dean shrugged and shook his head. "Uh, that they bolted, that we shouldn't come looking, and since we lost the tablet, Kevin figures we don't need him."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, but Crowley still does. What's that kid thinking?!"

"He thinks people I don't need anymore… they end up dead," Dean said.

"Dean, that— that— that's not true," Sam said, "You know that."