"I'm telling you she controlled a Hellhound. Bobby, what is she?"

River awoke to that discussion. She lay on a cot and sat up. The room was covered in stars and made of metal. Books lined the shelf and Dean was talking with an older man in a cap. The man was shuffling through her bag.
"She's not a demon but she's packing heat. What I assume is a Demon killing knife and an Angelic Blade."
"Whose side is she on?"
"I'm on Sam's side."

River sat up as Dean and Bobby faced her. Her lips still tingled but she resisted the urge to touch them.
"Pardon?" Dean looked ready to attack. Bobby held him back.
"Who are you?"
"River Tam."
"Who gave you all this?"
"Badger." River paused. "But you know him as Crowley. He and Castiel worked to prepare me to come back here."
"Those two? Work together?" Dean snorted and walked to the side.
"I know you don't believe me..." River sighed. "But you saw Lucifer wearing your brother. He got out of the prison..."

He was thinking about when Sam had gained control and throw himself in a pit, Lucifer locked in his mind. It was a prison using the power if the four rings from the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. But he'd had to drag their half brother Adam-being controlled by Michael the Archangel.

"The cell overloaded, I think. There was too much power. Both Crowley and Castiel are afraid of the future Lucifer will create. Crowley is still a L.I.L.A.S." River giggled. "While right now he has no lover, he is a lover in league against Satan."
"While I believe that, Castiel went up top to run Heaven." Dean snorted.
"So that's why he felt guilt..." River stood up.
"None the less I'm here to save Sam and so the world."
"I can't help." Dean muttered. "I promised him I'd back down."
"I only ask you protect your loved one. For Sam's sake." River stared through the fan in the ceiling. "His spirit resists Lucifer, but it's weak. If the Devil uses him to kill Ben and Lisa he won't be able to stand how you look at him. It would still be Sam's hands coated in their blood, even if he wasn't in control. He'd fade away."

Dean's expression went through confusion, rage, relief, and disbelief. He and Bobby went to talk for a moment but River heard them none the less.
"I promised Sam I wouldn't poke my nose into this!"
"You're not! You'd be helping one girl find Crowley and maybe Castiel!"
"I couldn't call Cas now if I wanted to! I doubt he answers the phone now that he's a Heavenly Hot Shot!"
"Can you drop her off at Crowley's?"
"You want me to drop off a defenseless girl-"
"Hardly defenseless! Think about what she's carrying!"
"We don't know if she can use them! What if she's being used as a tool?"
"I am not a tool!"

Both of them jerked when River snarled this, seeming taller.
"Serenity and Paula asked me to save the world! People will die if I don't!" Wash and Book appeared for a moment in her memory. Dean raised an eyebrow.
"Serenity and Paula?"
"The angels who connected me to Sam."
"Angels. Multiple. Helping." Dean groaned. "If you're not crazy this is a bad sign."
"Will you help me find Crowley?" River folded her arms. She longed to take off her boots and run bare foot. That wasn't something she could do yet. Dean inhaled deeply before answering.
"I'll give you a damn lift."