April 25th - April 27th, 2010

We had been chasing a trail we believed Pestilence was leaving behind. We already went to four towns that had been hit with several completely random swine flu cases, accompanied by omens. Our biggest concern was why he was choosing the swine flu. Sam and Dean joined me back out in the Impala after finishing up speaking with the doctors in a hospital that had been hit most recently.

Dean dialed Bobby's number and put him on speakerphone.

Bobby sighed as soon as he picked up. "Let me guess… another steamin'-hot pile of swine flu."

Dean nodded. "Yup."

Sam shook his head. "Doesn't make any sense, Bobby. Pestilence touched down here. I'm sure of it."

"But why is he dealing them soft-serve like swine flu when he's got the Croatoan virus up his sleeve?" Dean asked. "I— I— I don't get it."

"Doesn't matter what the sick son of a bitch is doing," Bobby said, "What matters is this is the fourth town he's hit… that we know of… and we're still eating his dust. Did you get anything? We got even a snowball at a probable next target?"

Sam shook his head. "Uh, no pattern, we can see."

Bobby sighed. "Okay. Hold on."

We could hear him flipping some pages.

"Well, far as I can tell, he's still heading East," he said, "So… head East, I guess."

"East?" Sam and Dean asked in unison.

"Um, Bobby, we're in West Nevada," I said.

Dean nodded. "East is practically all there is."

"Yeah, well, you better get to drivin'," Bobby said.


So, we did just that. We drove East for hours. That was until some random guy appeared in the back next to me, making me jump.

"Say… I've got an idea," the man said.

Dean slammed on the breaks, causing the tires to screech and the car to swerve. Sam swung around and tried to stab the man with the demon blade but ended up plunging it into the seat.

"Did you get him?" Dean asked, panicked.

"He's gone," Sam said and pulled the blade out.

"Who was that?" I asked, my heart pounding.

"The names Crowley, sweetheart," he said from outside the Impala. "Fancy a fag and a chat?" he asked and then put his hands up in defense. "You're upset. We should discuss it. Not here, but—"

We all got out of the Impala and approached him.

Sam stalked up to Crowley, making him back away. "You want to talk? After what you did to us?"

"After what I— What I did to you?! I gave you the colt!" Crowley yelled.

"Yeah, and you knew it wouldn't work against the Devil!" Sam shouted.

Crowley looked taken aback. "I never!"

"You set us up. We lost people on that suicide run! Good people!" Sam yelled.

"Who you take on the ride is your own business! Look, everything is still the same. We— We're all still in this together," Crowley said.

"Sure, we are." Sam tried to stab Crowley again, but he vanished.

Crowley looked at Dean when he reappeared. "Call your dog off… please."

Dean grabbed Sam's arm as he tried to charge at Crowley again. "Give me one good reason."

"I can give you Pestilence," Crowley said.

Dean furrowed his brow. "What do you know about Pestilence?"

"I know how to get him. That's got your interest, doesn't it?" Crowley asked.

Sam looked at Dean in shock. "Are you actually listening to this?"

Dean sighed. "Sam—"

"Are you friggin' nuts?!" Sam yelled.

Dean put his hand up. "Shut up for a second, Sam!"

"Shut up, the both of you!" Crowley shouted and shook his head. "Look… I swear… I thought the colt would work. It's an honest mistake. It's all part of the learning process. But nothing's changed. I still want the Devil dead. Well… one thing's changed. Now the Devil knows that I want him dead. Which, by the way, makes me the most buggered son in all of creation."

"Holy crap." Dean shook his head. "We don't care."

"They burnt down my house! They ate my tailor! Two months under a rock, like a bloody salamander! Every demon on Hell and Earth's got his eyes out for me!" Crowley shouted. "And yet… here I am… last place I should be… in the road, talking to the Winchesters, under a friggin' spotlight!" He gestured to the streetlight above us, and it exploded. "So come with me. Please. Do you want the horsemen rings or not?"

The three of us exchanged looks.

Crowley nodded. "Yes, I know all about that. Shall we?"


Crowley had us drive to an abandoned cabin in the middle of the woods and led us inside.

"Here we are…" He sighed. "My life on the lam. How the mighty have fallen. Single-pane glass. Used contraception in the fireplace. The water damage alone—"

Dean rolled his eyes. "My heart's bleeding for you. Now, how do you know about the rings?"

Crowley nodded. "Well, now… I've been keeping a close eye on you lot."

Sam shook his head. "We got hex bags. We're hidden from demons."

Crowley nodded. "All but one. That night you broke into my house, our first date, my valet hid a tracking device in your car… a magical coin that easily trumps your little bags o' bones. It allows me to hear things, too… and my, the things I've heard." He chuckled. "So you want to cram the Devil back in the box? Cunning scheme. I want in."

"You said you could get us Pestilence," Dean said.

Crowley nodded. "Well, now… I don't know where Pestilence is… per se. But I do know the demon who does. He's what you might call the horsemen's stable boy. He handles their itineraries, their personal needs. He's who you want… believe me. He'll tell us where Sneezy's at."

"Well, how do we get him to spill?" Dean shrugged. "Rip out his toenails?"

Crowley shook his head. "No. Nuts at his pay grade don't crack. We bring him here, then I sell him."

Sam furrowed his brow. "Sell him?"

Crowley smirked. "Please. I've sold sin to saints for centuries. Think I can't close one little demon?"

Dean nodded. "All right, so where's this demon of yours?"


Crowley told us the demon worked as some big wig for a pharmaceutical company called Niveus. Then he left us to make a final decision and get ready to go.

"Why are we even listening to him, Dean?" Sam asked and shook his head. "This is totally insane."

Dean nodded. "I don't disagree."

Crowley walked back into the room. "One big happy family, are we, then? Fantastic."

"You ready to go?" Dean asked.

Crowley nodded. "Yes. Yes. I am." He pointed to Sam. "Sam, keep the home fires burning."

Dean furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about?"

"Sam's not coming," Crowley stated.

"And why the hell not?" Sam snapped.

Crowley shrugged. "Because I don't like you… I don't trust you… and… oh, yes… you keep trying to kill me."

Sam shook his head. "There's no damn way. This isn't gonna happen!"

"I'm not asking you, am I?" Crowley asked. "'Cause you're not invited. I'm asking you two." He pointed to Dean and me. "What's it gonna be?"

Neither of us answered.

He scoffed. "Enjoy your last few sunsets." Then he turned to leave.

"Wait," Dean spoke up, "We'll go." He looked at Sam and shrugged. "What can I say? I believe the guy."


Crowley told Dean that he needed to try and convince the demon that he wanted to trade the rings for cash during the drive.

When Dean parked the car in front of the pharmaceutical company, he watched the building with binoculars. "Demons?"

Crowley shook his head. "Nah. Human shields. The demons are up top… twelfth floor."

Dean nodded. "All right, then. We'll have to find a way in through the back."

"You Winchesters make everything so complicated," Crowley said and then disappeared.

"Ah, crap." Dean held the binoculars back up and then rushed for the door handle. "Oh, crap. Crap! Crap!" Then he opened the door and ran for the building.

"Dean! What's going on?!" I yelled and chased after him.

When we reached the door, Dean knocked.

"Door's open!" Crowley shouted.

We walked in and looked at the dead guards that laid on the floor with their throats slit.

"What?" Crowley asked as he wiped his knife clean of blood.

"You killed them?" Dean asked, with his arms out.

Crowley shrugged. "We're on a tight schedule." He grabbed Dean's arm, and we walked through the lobby toward an elevator. "Come on." Dean looked back at the dead bodies, and Crowley scoffed. "Now, you're squeamish? Please." He shoved Dean onto the elevator and put an arm up, blocking me from walking on before hitting a floor number and not stepping on. "Go get 'em, tiger."

Dean blocked the door from closing. "You're not coming?"

Crowley shook his head. "Oh, no. It's not safe up there. There's demons."

Dean nodded, annoyed. "Yeah, I get that."

Crowley shrugged. "Look, just do what I told you, and try to be convincing. It'll work like a charm. Trust me."

Dean shook his head. "No, I don't like this. I'm not leaving her down here with you."

Crowley rolled his eyes and scoffed. "She's safer down here with me than she is up there with you."

"I'll be fine, Dean, just go," I said.

Dean gave Crowley a look. "If you touch a hair on her head—"

Crowley nodded. "Yeah, yeah, you'll strap me to a chair, exorcize me, send me back to Hell, blah, blah, blah. I know."

Dean shook his head. "No, I'll kill you."

Crowley pressed the floor button again. "Have fun." He waved to Dean as the doors closed. Then he turned to me. "Okay, this is the real plan."

I furrowed my brow. "Real plan? What do you mean, real plan?"

Crowley shrugged and pulled a black bag covered in symbols out of his coat. "Dean was the bait, this—"

"The bait?!" I yelled and ran for the elevator button to warn Dean.

Crowley appeared in front of me. "Just listen and stop repeating everything I say."

"Did you just send Dean up there to get killed?" I asked, thoroughly pissed off.

Crowley shook his head. "No, hopefully not, that'll ruin the plan."

"Hopefully not?!" I shouted.

"Again, it would be easier to explain the plan if you would stop repeating me and just stay quiet," Crowley said.

I glared at him with my arms crossed. "Fine, what's the plan?"

"The demon's not going to go for the trade. Eventually, he will chase Dean back down here. When that happens…" He handed the bag to me. "You throw this over the demon's head, and I will take care of the rest."

"Whatever." I grabbed the bag. "As long as Dean's fine."

"God." Crowley scoffed. "You Winchesters are so co-dependent."

I gave him a dirty look, and then Dean came stumbling out of the elevator, his face bruised and bloody.

Then, the demon appeared behind him, hit him in the head, laughed, and bent down to grab Dean. "Good meeting, Dean. You know, I'm excited."

I quickly threw the bag over his head as he bent down.

Crowley came up with a crowbar and viciously bashed his head multiple times. "Evening, Uncle."

I watched him with wide eyes.

Dean stood up slowly, in shock as well. "What the hell was that?"

Crowley smiled. "That was perfect."

"Perfect?" Dean asked and shook his head. "He didn't want the rings. He wanted me."

"Imagine the surprise on your face." Crowley laughed.

"What?" Dean asked, pissed off.

Crowley nodded with a smile, totally proud of himself. "Your ignorance and misinformation… I mean, completely authentic. You can't fake that."

"Apparently, you were the bait," I said.

Dean glared at Crowley.

He shrugged. "What? It— It went like clockwork."

"Not for me, you son of a bitch!" Dean shouted.

"That's what you get… working with a demon." Crowley smiled.


On the drive back, Crowley and the demon sat in the back while I sat up front with Dean.

Crowley had ripped open the demon's shirt and started carving a sigil into his chest.

"Hey, hot stuff, watch the upholstery!" Dean shouted.

"Up yours, mate. This bit of carving will tie our friend here down. No zapping off, no smoking out…" Crowley grunted as he carved a few more marks into the demon's chest. "Locked in the meat suit… an important piece of our bargaining strategy. Now, up here, we don't want I-50. Take 93 north."

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked, annoyed.

Crowley sighed. "Look, we can't take this guy back to your brother."

"Why the hell not?" Dean stared into the rearview mirror, glaring at him. "Crowley!"

"They got history, all right?" Crowley asked.

Dean slammed on the breaks, and the Impala screeched to a halt, and then he turned to Crowley. "You want to go anywhere, you start talking. What history?"

I turned to Crowley as well. "What aren't you telling us?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, love."

"Oh, shove it up your corn chute!" Dean shouted, "Out with it!"

Crowley rolled his eyes. "Sam knows him from Stanford. He introduced Sam to Jessica."

Dean and I exchanged a look.


Against Crowley's protests, Dean drove us back to the abandoned house.

Dean and I walked the demon in and tied him to a chair in the living room while Crowley waited at the front door.

Eventually, heavy footsteps came down the stairs.

"Where're they?" Sam asked from the other room.

"Now… for the record, I'm against this. Negotiating a high-level defection… it's very delicate business," Crowley said.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"I begged Dean not to come back. We should be miles away… from you. He replied with a colorful rejoinder about my 'corn chute,'" Crowley said.

Sam scoffed.

"So, go ahead," Crowley said, "Go… ruin our last best hope. It's only the end of the world."

Sam walked into the living room.

"Sam." Dean put his hand out.

Sam shook his head. "What's going on, Dean?"

"I need you to stay on mission, okay?" Dean asked. "Focused."

Sam furrowed his brow. "I don't understand. What's all this about?"

"We're doing this 'cause we trust you," Dean said.

"Trust me to what?" Sam asked.

"Sam?" the demon asked from under the hood and cleared his throat. "Sam, is that you?"

Dean pulled the hood off of the demon's head.

Sam's eyes widened. "Brady?"

Brady chuckled. "Brady hasn't been Brady in years. Not since, oh… middle of our sophomore year?"

Sam shook his head. "What?"

Brady nodded. "That's right. You had a devil on your shoulder even back then. All right, now, let it all sink in."

"You son of a bitch. You son of a bitch!" Sam shouted and approached Brady, but Dean ran forward and held him back. "You introduced me to Jess!"

"Ding, ding!" Brady smiled. "I think he's got it!"

Sam struggled to push past Dean and attack the demon.

"Damn it, Sam!" Dean yelled, trying to hold Sam back.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Sam shouted over Dean's shoulder and pointed at Brady.

Dean pushed Sam out of the room as Brady started laughing tauntingly.

"Get out of my way!" Sam shouted as we finally made it back to the front door.

Dean shook his head. "No."

"Get out of my way, Dean." Sam glared at him.

"There's only one way to win, and it ain't by killing that thing in there," Dean said.

"Well… sounds like you got him nice and fluffed. Thanks so much," Crowley said sarcastically.

Dean gave Crowley a dirty look and then turned his attention back to Sam. "Listen to me. We need Pestilence to get at the Devil, and we need Brady to get to Pestilence."

"Why?" Sam snapped, "Because Crowley said so? Because we trust him now? Like I trusted Ruby? Or like I trusted Brady back at school?"


Crowley had decided to go back in to talk to Brady, and while he was gone, Sam went upstairs to take a breath.

"Well, how'd it go? He buy your girl scout cookies?" Dean asked when Crowley joined us in the kitchen.

Crowley shook his head. "Not yet. Where's your moose?"

"He's cooling off," Dean said.

Crowley nodded. "All right, then. Get bent." He turned to leave the room.

"You going somewhere?" Dean asked.

Crowley shrugged. "Well, he won't budge, so now I go stick my neck out."

"What are you gonna do?" Dean asked.

"Exactly the kind of desperate swashbuckle I've been trying to avoid. Now I go kick open a hive of demons. This whole bloody ring business better work," Crowley said and then disappeared.

Dean shook his head and walked to the bathroom.

I followed after him. "So, what do we do now? Just wait?"

Dean splashed water on his face and nodded. "Yeah, Sam can't go in there until he calms down."

Suddenly, I was shoved into the bathroom with Dean, and the door was slammed behind me.

"Sam?" Dean asked and turned the knob, but the door wouldn't budge. "Come on, Sam!" He banged on the door.

"Don't do this!" I yelled as we both banged on the door.

"Sam, come on! Open the door!" Dean shouted. He turned to me. "Step back for a minute, okay?"

I did just that, and then he started slamming his shoulder into the door, but it still wasn't budging.

"Come on! Do it if it'll make you feel better!" Brady shouted from the other room.

"Damn it, come on!" Dean yelled and then started kicking the door.

"Do it, Sammy! Do it! Come on!" Brady shouted.

Dean went back to banging on the door. "Sam! Open the door!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Sam shouted from outside. "All right! Wait! I'm gonna open it." Finally, he opened the door.

"What happened?" Dean asked.

Sam shook his head. "Nothing."

"My ass." Dean scoffed.

"Dean, I'm fine," Sam said.

"Yeah?" Dean nodded. "And what about Brady?" he asked as we charged into the living room to see that Sam had actually left Brady alive.

Sam sighed. "Like you said… we need him."

Crowley appeared out of nowhere. "God. The day I've had." He looked at Brady. "Good news. You're going to live forever."

Brady looked terrified by this news. "What did you do?"

"Went over to a demon's nest…" Crowley shrugged. "Had a little massacre. Must be losing my touch, though… let one of the little toads live. Oops." He smirked. "Also might have given said toad the impression that you left your post last night because you and I are…" He held his finger up and smiled. "Wait for it… lovers in league against Satan." He chuckled.

Brady sighed and shook his head.

"Hello, darling." Crowley smiled. "So, now, death is off the table. Now you get to be on the boss's eternal-torment list with little old me."

Brady shook his head. "Oh, no, no, no. No."

"Something else we have in common…" Crowley shrugged. "Apart from our torrid passion, of course… craven self-preservation. So, now, why don't you tell me where Pestilence is at?"

We jumped at the sound of howling in the distance.

Brady's eyes widened, and he looked terrified. "Oh, god, Crowley."

"Was that a hellhound?" Dean asked.

Crowley nodded. "I'd say, yeah."

"Why was that a hellhound?" Dean asked urgently.

Crowley groaned, rolled his eyes, and reached into his pocket, pulling out a coin.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Remember I was telling you about my crafty little tracking device?" Crowley asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

Crowley shrugged. "Demons planted one on me."

Sam furrowed his brow. "You're saying a hellhound followed you here?"

"Well, technically, he followed this." Crowley held the coin up.

Brady started to pull at his ropes. "Get me out of here. I'll tell you anything you want."

"Shut up," Sam snapped.

"Okay, well, then we should go," Dean said.

Crowley shook his head. "Sorry. No one knows more about the hounds than I. You're long past the point of go." He tossed the coin to Dean, who caught it on impulse, then he disappeared.

I shook my head and groaned. "What a dick."

"Damn it," Dean said as he realized what had happened.

"I told you!" Sam shouted.

"Oh, well, good for you," Dean said mockingly. "Luckily, we have salt in the kitchen."

Sam nodded. "I'll watch Brady."

"Watch me?" Brady scoffed. "Get me the hell out of here!"

Dean and I ran into the kitchen to search for the salt, but before we could get to it, the window shattered, and a hellhound broke through, landing on the table and crushing it.

Dean grabbed my arm. "Go! Go! Go!"

We ran out of the kitchen, and he slammed the doors shut behind us. Almost as soon as he did, the hellhound crashed through it. He grabbed a shotgun off of the dining room table and started firing shots at it.

"Maddi! Go!" Dean yelled.

I continued running into the living room with Dean trailing behind me, continuing to fire shots. "Sammy!"

"Salt?" Sam asked urgently as we joined him and Brady.

I shook my head. "No."

"Damn it, get me out of here!" Brady yelled.

"Shut up!" the three of us snapped at him.

Brady shook his head. "Great. Just great."

"Hey!" Crowley shouted, appearing in front of us, behind the snarling hellhound.

"You're back?" Dean asked.

"I'm invested, currently," Crowley said.

Another hellhound started barking at us.

"Stay!" Crowley commanded.

"You can control them?" Dean asked.

"Not that one." Crowley pointed beside us. "I brought my own." He patted a large invisible being beside him. "Mine's bigger. Sic him, boy!"

Loud thumps from giant paws charged toward us and attacked the hellhound beside us.

Things were being knocked around and broken, the room was filled with growling and barking.

Dean quickly untied Brady, and then we all started running out of the house. "Go, go, go, go."

"I'll wager $1,000 my pup wins," Crowley said as we jumped into the Impala.


We led Brady into an alley, where he finally admitted to us where Pestilence would be.

Brady handed Crowley a piece of paper with an address written on it. "Yeah. I'm sure Pestilence will be there." He rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

"What do you think?" Dean asked Crowley.

Crowley nodded as he looked at the paper. "It's good." He looked up at Brady. "You got no reason to lie, have you? Like I said before, you're in my boat now."

Brady glared at him. "You've screwed me… for eternity."

Crowley shook his head. "Nah. Won't last that long. Trust me." He turned and followed Dean and me down the alley.

"Where are you going?" Brady asked.

Dean and I bent down and poured a salt line along the exit.

"I'm going to do you a favor," Crowley said and then looked at Sam. "I expect we'll be in touch."

Dean let Crowley pass the line before closing off the gate.

"What is this?" Brady asked.

"All those angels, all those demons, all those sons of bitches… they just don't get it, do they, Sammy?" Dean asked.

Sam shook his head. "No, they don't, Dean." Then he pulled out the demon blade.

"You see, Brady… we're the ones you should be afraid of," Dean said.

Brady scoffed.

Sam approached Brady with the knife.

Brady chuckled. "I bet this is a real moment for you, big boy. Gonna make you feel all better?"

Sam shrugged. "It's a start."

"Gonna make up for all the times that we yanked your chain… Yellow-eyes, Ruby, me?" Brady asked, "But it wasn't all our fault, was it?" He shook his head. "No, no, no. You're the one who trusted us. You're the one who let us into your life, let us whisper in your ear over and over and over again. Ever wonder why that is, Sammy? Ever wonder why we were so in your blind spot? Maybe it's because we got the same stuff in our veins, and, deep down, you know you're just like us." He lunged at Sam.

Sam nicked him with the blade, and he grabbed his arm in pain.

"Maybe you hate us so much because you hate what you see every time you look in the mirror. You ever think of that?!" He laughed. "Maybe the only difference between you and a demon… is your Hell is right here."

Sam lunged forward, stabbed Brady in the stomach, and finally pulled the blade out once Brady sparked and fell. "Interesting theory."