Foiled Plans

Screams echoed throughout the halls of hell like music on a record player. The halls were empty except for the red cloud of smoke that coiled down the main hall towards the throne room. It shifted, form twisting and turning until two feet touched the stone floor. The red sifted away and a man donning a well-tailored suit walked down the halls of hell. Demons bowed to him as he passed and muttered a "Lord Crowley" before going on their way. Crowley just waved at them. He was in too good of a mood to waste his time on them. He was very pleased with himself. It had been a good day. He had given Meg and Bella their daily torture, something they've received since being captured thanks to Crowley's inside help. Usually he left the torturing to his most skilled, but sometimes picking up the knife himself was very therapeutic. After tormenting the two demons he'd also dropped several of his caged angels off to terrible homes. One went to an abusive family, one went to a man and woman that wouldn't give the kid a second glance and another went to a family that would only use her for their own benefit. It would only be a matter of time before the angels all cracked. Why he hadn't done that in the first place instead of forcing them to torture he didn't know. This way was so much less messy. Humans did his work for him and when the angels would hit their breaking point he'd swoop in and save them like any other loving father would. He'd become their new father.

Their new God.

The great dark doors to his throne room burst open when he came near and Crowley stepped past them, freezing when seven familiar faces came into view. Crowley scowled.

"There goes my day," he muttered under his breath. He stepped farther into the room, walking down the red carpet beneath his feet before taking a seat on his throne. Once comfortable he gave the seven deadly sins a sideways glance before looking to the demon standing silently at his side with several papers and files in hand. "What do you have for me today, Guthrie?" Crowley questioned, pointedly ignoring the seven demons waiting silently in front of him.

"A form asking for your audience was filled out earlier, highness," Guthrie began, raising a white form. "It is about the brothel one of your followers wishes to open. I believe his name was Raul?" Crowley nodded, snapping his fingers and a quilled pen appeared between his fingers. He scratched his signature on the form Guthrie quickly handed to him, agreeing to the meeting.

"Lord Crowley –"

"What's the rest?" Crowley questioned, ignoring Lust's call. Guthrie curled his white mustache between his fingers before flipping through a few folders for Crowley to sign and look through. When the stack was finally finished, Guthrie pulled a small notebook from his front pocket and flipped through it. "Upstairs it was reported that the goddess known at Kali was witnessed following a handful of our demons handling your angels, my lord." Crowley bristled.

"And? Was she taken care of?" Guthrie nodded, closing his booklet.

"Yes, Sire. They were able to lose her. However, there is no sign of the vampire yet." Crowley nodded, relieved that his plans had not been screwed up just yet. Everything was running so smoothly after all. He'd hate to have to readjust to compensate for stupid mistakes.

"Is that all?" Crowley questioned at last. The demon bowed his head in answer.

"Yes, Sire," he muttered. Crowley nodded and waved a hand at Guthrie. The demon nodded and stepped back so he was hidden by the shadows cast by Crowley's throne.

Crowley stretched his arms and turned his body so he was staring straight ahead again. The seven deadly sins still stood before him, waiting silently for his word. The king of hell really didn't want to talk to them, but if he didn't they'd never get out of his hair. Reluctantly, he gave them his attention.

"What do you slimy, bottom feeding toads want?"

"Your majesty, we'd uh…we'd wish to seek your forgiveness," Sloth stuttered after clearing his throat. Crowley narrowed his eyes at the demon.

"My forgiveness?" he hissed. The seven bowed their heads and nodded. "My forgiveness?!" After the fiasco with the Winchester's angels, Crowley had made sure the seven were tortured beyond any torture they had been tortured with before. He'd been kind enough to push back their time on the rack after a while, but now the ungrateful slugs were greedy enough to ask this?

He looked to Guthrie still hiding in the shadows.

"Are you hearing this?" he hissed. Guthrie stepped into the light a little, head tipped up as he acknowledged his king.

"Yes, Sire," he commented. Crowley shook his head and glared daggers at the seven sins. "You useless parasites almost ruined my plans," Crowley began, crossing a leg over his knee. "My plan was fool proof until you grabbed those three miniaturized pets of the Winchesters. Thanks to you lot I had no choice but to add them to the chess board too. I could have kept them, but with those denim wrapped idiots threatening my perfectly unholy ass I couldn't afford to risk it. The deal was all a bit unnecessary honestly, but desperate daddies are blind to what is and isn't necessary. I wanted them back in Dean's arms. It wasn't like I was going to say no and kill them, but…" Crowley raised a brow at the deadly sins. "…you seven were already attempting that weren't you?"

"Sir, I…" Crowley held up a hand, shutting Wrath up.

"You definitely aren't at the top of my best buddies list, but Castiel's little mind problem did open the doors wider to helping me in my plan." The sins frowned, but Crowley ignored them. Instead he stared upwards, chuckling behind his hand as he thought of it all. "They haven't even noticed anything wrong yet. I had been worried at first, but those idiots –"

"Wrong, Sir?" Sloth questioned. Crowley rolled his eyes again.

"Honestly, are you all thick?! My plan!" he shouted. "My little angel army was almost found out thanks to you and I'm being hunted day in and day out by those monsters the Winchester's hired, but I have the advantage with a demon spying on them through their own angel's eyes!" The sins stared at him wide eyed and Crowley allowed his pride to shine a little before he cracked back down to the point of his speech.

"Anyway way, you seven have cost me to make several unneeded adjustments to my plans. Whether the changes were good or not do not matter now. What matters is that my forgiveness will not easily be –"

"Sir!" a breathless demon cried, bursting through the doors. Crowley frowned at the intrusion and stood from his throne.

"What do you think you're doing, diving in here like a –"

"Sir, you…you have a visitor." The demon stepped aside and a black cloud of smoke draped in a dark cloak hovered through the big doors. Crowley frowned.

"What are you doing here?" Crowley growled. "You're supposed to be possessing –"

"I've made a mistake, Lord Crowley," the cloaked demon whispered. Crowley's eyes slit and he stepped into the demon's personal space.

"Excuse you?" The demon remained silent for a second or two and Crowley's impatience started to peak. "What happened," Crowley hissed.

"I went too far with my game. I let myself be known to the Winchesters and set their home ablaze." Crowley stared at the demon, vein pulsing in the side of his neck.

"And?" Crowley growled.

"And, Sir?" Crowley got even more into the cloaked demon's personal space.

"And what exactly happened to the Winchesters and their tribbles?" Crowley hissed; voice like poison. The demon remained silent for a second too long and Crowley lashed out. He raised a hand and the demon's smoky form withered in pain. "What happened?!" Crowley shouted.

"The angel fought me!" the demon screamed. "But…but the house was in flames! There's no way they could have escaped, my lord. They'll all be nothing but ashes soon. They won't be a problem. They…" Crowley's eyes blazed with fire and the demon's smoky form started to pull apart. It withered and screamed under Crowley's hold until suddenly exploding with a small puff.

The king of hell lowered his hand, glaring at the spot the demon had once been.

"It takes a lot more than hell fire to kill those plaid encrusted morons!" He spun around, turning his gaze onto the seven deadly sins. He smoothed down his suit and hair and pointed at the seven. "You want to win back my favor? Go to the Winchester's home and report back to me the damage. Do not do anything. Just watch them. I doubt that poor excuse of a demon even scratched them. All we can do now is lay low." The seven bowed their heads and quickly rushed out of the throne room.

Crowley let out a long sigh and went back to his throne, lounging in it comfortably. "At least I got what I needed out of them while I had the chance," Crowley muttered to himself. He snapped his fingers and Guthrie appeared at his side with a drink with a little pitch fork and umbrella in it. Crowley took it and sipped lightly. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply. Plan B had been burned away by stupidity, but that was just one of many carefully drawn out plans. Plan C was still an option. He snapped his fingers and Guthrie came to attention.

"Yes, Sire?" the demon asked with a bow. Crowley cracked open an eye.

"I want more hands on deck," Crowley said softly, pointing a finger upward. "Tell my people I want eyes all on the vampire Benny Lafitte and the goddess Kali." Guthrie nodded.

"Is that all?"

"No," Crowley growled, glaring into his drink. "I want the caged angels on Earth and in the nastiest homes possible ASAP. Every. Last. One."