Chapter 14

"Crowley?" Dean asked again.

"That's what she said," Willow replied calmly.

"Why the hell would we get help from Crowley? Last time we trusted him, Lucifer almost smoked our asses."

"Buffy said that Lucifer was looking for Crowley, sending hoards of demons after him. Crowley knows that Lucifer is after him. If he were smart, he'd help us."

"Yeah, but he ain't smart," Dean grumbled under his breath.

"Maybe, but Buffy said he's a survivor. We summon him, he'll help. She's sure of it," Willow cleared her throat, "and even if he doesn't agree, we're going to trap him. He won't have a choice."

Dean laughed, "Now you're talking my language."

Sam smiled at his brother, "Alright, what are we gunna do?"

"Nothing, the traps are drawn, and I just need to do the spell, so just sit there and look pretty," Willow replied with a smile, making the boys chuckle.

The Winchesters moved back as Willow began the summoning ritual. Within moments, Crowley was standing before them, looking annoyed and indignant.

"Squirrel. Moose," he called to the Winchesters in greeting, "and someone new," he added, looking to Willow.

"You screwed us, Crowley. You sent us after Lucifer knowing the Colt wouldn't work," Dean accused angrily.

"I never!" Crowley protested, trying to step forward before noticing the Devil's Trap, "is this really necessary?" he asked, pointing to the trap, "We're allies! No need to trap me."

Sam scoffed, "Allies? You sent us after the Devil with a dud weapon! We almost had people die on that suicide mission.

"Who you take on the ride is your own business! Look, everything is still the same. W-we're all still in this together," Crowley replied, looking at the trap nervously. "Just let me out, we can talk about this reasonably."

"Not until you tell us what we want to know," Dean replied, intimidatingly, "where are the other horsemen? Where's Pestilence?"

Crowley stood up taller, realising he may have some leverage, "why should I tell you? You've got me trapped, and I don't like being trapped."

Willow spoke up for the first time since Crowley arrived, "Because if you don't, I will send you back to Hell. From what we hear, that's not something you really want. So you can help us, or we'll deliver you to Lucifer wrapped in a pretty pink bow."

The Winchester's were shocked by the threatening tone the red headed witch used. They were so used to the dorky, kind hearted Willow that it was easily to forget just how powerful she was.

Crowley, on the other hand, looked impressed, "Alright, sweetheart, let's not making any rash decisions, I can help."

"Changing your tune pretty quickly," Dean commented.

"You live as long as me, lads, you learn how to pick your battles," Crowley replied, still looking at Willow in appreciation, "You've got real power, girly, I can feel it. I could use someone like you."

Willow scowled in response, not replying.

Crowley shrugged at being ignored, and looked around the room, "I heard your girl was taken, Dean. Sad thing, that. I wouldn't wish her situation on my worst enemy."

Dean clenched his fist, and stepped forward, "Just tell us what we want to know.

"Alright, calm down. Tell ya what, I'll take you to Pestilence, but I got conditions."

"Big surprise," Sam muttered.

"Careful there, Moose," Crowley replied, "Here it is, I'll take Dean, this beautiful witch," he smiled charmingly in Willow's direction, "and your boy Cas."

Dean frowned, wondering why he didn't want to bring Sam. His attention quickly switched to Cas. Since his discovery of God's disinterest, and losing his Angel powers, Cas had slumped into a depression. Dean was worried he wouldn't be up for the mission, but knew it was too important for him to say no.

"Alright," Dean agreed.

"Dean!" Sam complained, "I'm not being left behind."

"Look, with Lucifer after you, this is the safest place for you. And if this means getting those rings, we gotta do it."

"I'm not standing on the side lines while you guys do all the work."

"Yes, you are!" Dean practically shouted. Calming down, he continued, "If it means getting Buffy back, you're staying behind. This is important, Sam."

"Fine, whatever," Sam grumbled.

Crowley smiled, "alright! Let's get this show on the road!"

Buffy walked through the halls of the hospital with a skip in her step. Lucifer had healed all her injuries, making her feel better than she ever remembered.

"Why are we here?" She asked the man beside her.

"I want to show you something," Lucifer replied, smiling down at her.

"Wow, a hospital. You sure know how to show a girl a good time," she drawled sarcastically.

Lucifer laughed, "I'm not trying to show you a good time. Trust me, if I wanted to show you a good time, you'd know," he finished with a wink, making the Slayer blush.

"Oookay, smooth guy," she replied, with a nudge of her elbow, "So what are we here to see?"

"This," he replied, gesturing to the large glass window in front of them. Their walk had finished, and before them, through the glass window, was a large room filled with beds. Every single bed was filled with a body, and those bodies looked horrible. Like every type of disease had inflicted it.

"What is this?" Buffy whispered in horror.

"Pestilence," Lucifer spat out in reply. "He's been spreading his diseases throughout America, destroying whole communities with his sickness."

Buffy turned to Lucifer in anger, "You expect me to believe you're angry with him? You released him! This is what you wanted!"

Lucifer looked down at her in disappointment, "I hoped you had understood me better than that, Buffy, after everything I've shown you. After everything I've told you."

Buffy looked slightly contrite, but continued with her point, "What do you expect me to think? I was there when you raised the Horsemen. This is what you wanted," she finished, pointing to the hospital beds.

"I wanted their power, that I won't deny, but I was meant to be able to control them. They've slipped from my control, and are going about their own agenda," Lucifer replied, looking at the diseased patients with concern. "This hospital, and the others like it, it's the best I could do to help them."

Buffy looked shocked, "This is your hospital? As in, you own it? You own a hospital? Wow, evil must pay off," she said, finishing her last sentence under her breath.

Lucifer heard it anyway and laughed, but quickly sobered. He looked back at the room with the sick patients, "I don't know what's right, or wrong, anymore," he said quietly, "my first instinct is to put all these people out of their misery, to kill them now, to end their suffering, but I know that's not right, it's not-"

"Human?" Buffy interrupted with a smile.

Lucifer smiled back, "yes, human," he stared back at the sick, watching them suffer, "I don't know what to do anymore." He finished with sadness touching his voice.

He soon felt a small warm hand slip into his own. He looked at Buffy in surprise. She was smiling in return, "let me help. I could be your conscious or something, like Jiminy Cricket!" she finished with an excited smile.

Lucifer smiled back broadly, squeezing her hand in return.

The Scoobies and Winchesters were in the War Room, undertaking various demon hunting activities. Bobby and Giles were swapping books between them, pointing at certain passages. Kennedy was with Andrew, checking the monitors for any news updates that could be mystically related. Faith, Spike and Xander were making calls, checking up on the girls who were on the road, or trying to find any new information. Willow was arguing with Dean, with Sam trying to play referee. Cas was sitting quietly, looking morose.

"We had to let him go!"

"The hell we did! You think he's gunna come back now?"

"How do you expect us to kill Pestilence if we don't know where he is?" Willow shouted back, "Letting him go was the only way!"

"We coulda gone with him!" Dean emphasized his point by smashing his hand on the table.

Willow was about to reply, but was interrupted by a new voice, "while I would have loved a day out on the town with you, Dean, you would have just slowed me down," Crowely drawled, taking a seat across from Cas, sending a wink his way.

Dean tried to ignore Willow's 'I-told-you-so' look, and sat at the table. Willow and Sam soon joined them.

"Well?" Dean asked impatiently, happy that Crowley came back, but annoyed that the Demon proved him wrong, "what did you find out?"

"He's holed up at some nursing home, making some old bird the target of his experimenting," he replied, picking at his nails.

No one wanted to know what Pestilence would be doing while 'experimenting', so they decided to ignore it.

Dean pushed his chair out, as if to leave. He looked at Crowley, "alright, what we waitin' for? Let's gear up, and head out."

Crowley didn't budge, "I won't be fighting, ride only," he commented, looking serious for the first time since meeting with them.

"We need your information, not you," Willow said bluntly, "You'll drop us off, come back here until I contact you, and then you'll come back for us. Do you understand?" she asked, looking into Crowley's eyes.

He thought it might be his imagination, but in that moment, he swore he saw her eyes flash white. "That was the deal," he agreed, trying not to let her intimidation get to him.

She looked at him for a moment longer before smiling, "alright, let's go!"

Dean was in Buffy's room, gathering any supplies he'd need. He had taken to staying there, with her gone. He wasn't sure if smelling her on the bed every night was making him feel better, or worse, but he did know that he wasn't going to give it up. He had almost finished packing when he heard a knock on the door.

"Yeah?"

Cas entered, looking as depressed as ever.

"What's up, Cas?"

Castiel stood there, looking at Dean. Dean was starting to become uncomfortable until Cas eventually spoke, "How do you do it, Dean?"

Dean crinkled his eyebrows in confusion, "Do what?"

"How do you keep going? You've lost family, friends. Your God has abandoned you, and the Devil has the woman you love," Castiel looked at him imploringly, "why haven't you given up?"

Dean was shocked. He has never been a man who people could call emotionally stable, or even healthy. He tended to deal with his problems with a bottle of something cheap. The fact that Cas was coming to him for help, well that spoke volumes about how distressed Cas had become. Dean looked at his friend, really looked at him for the first time since Buffy left.

Castiel looked so lost, as if his whole world had been taken from him. He was in the middle of a war between Heaven and Hell, and had lost all faith in the entity to which he had dedicated his existence. He didn't know what to do with himself without his faith.

"Cas, I keep going because I have to. The world is bigger than my friends and family. It's bigger than God and it's bigger than Buffy." Dean approached his friend, putting his hands on Castiel's shoulders, "we keep going because there are billions of people out there who need us too. If Buffy died tomorrow, I don't know how I'd deal, but this job, it was her life too, and I wouldn't give it up," Dean looked crushed at the very thought, but continued, "because I get it now. This job ain't about vendetta's, about getting revenge on the demon or creature that got you into this game," he looked at his friend imploringly, hoping he'd understand, "it's about protecting people, keeping them safe from the shit they don't know about."

He walked away from Cas, going about packing his bag, "So we keep fighting the good fight. Not for God, but for them." He zipped his bag, and looked at his friend, "What you think? Ready to get to work?"

Castiel smiled for the first time in months, nodded his head, and followed Dean out of the room.

A/N:

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know it's a bit smaller than my usual chapters but this story probably only has a couple of chapters left before it's finished. I think about 3-4 chapters remaining. I want to get into the big battles in the next couple of chapters, so I wanted to get this one out before hand, even if it's a bit shorter than usual.

Also, I have started two new stories. One of them is another Buffy/Supernatural cross, but another is a stand alone Buffy story. I'd love for you guys to check them out and tell me what you think!

That's it from me. As usual, please review, it's always appreciated. I try and PM everyone who reviews, but for those who have PM turned off, thank you for your kind words, they mean the world to me.