CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Not So Clear Explanations

"Why the bloody hell are they still with those hunters?" Crowley spat, irritated his prey was at the moment, well protected. He took a sip from his scotch glass, setting it back down on his polished desk.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Ruby quipped from her position sitting sideways in one of the chairs. Meg rolled her eyes as the King's gaze landed on her.

"Meg, since you seem to be the one who doesn't have a stick lodged up your ass, why don't you go try and beat something useful out of the denim-wrapped nightmare?" He nodded at the brunette before he gestured for them to leave, Ruby huffing with frustration as she stormed out of the room.

As Meg's hand landed on the doorknob, Crowley's voice stopped her. "Oh, and Meg darling?" The brunette turned slowly, meeting the King's cruel gaze. "Don't come back with another failure."

…...

Because Sam and Dean were Sam and Dean, the short period of calm after their first hunt didn't last very long.

In fact, it lasted about five hours. Unfortunately for the Winchester brother's, they had decided to stay back with Bobby when offered to go on a case involving haunted planes with Jo, Ellen, and John. Dean was scared shitless of flying and Sam didn't want to leave his brother behind.

Figuring he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep after his nightmare, Dean shuffled over to the bathroom and walked in, making sure to close the door behind him so he didn't wake his brother.

The eldest demon glanced in the mirror, taken a back for a second by the person staring back at him. He couldn't really describe it, but the person just looked better. Because of his demonic nature, he could see black smoke surrounding his form, his dark soul pulsing in his chest. But as he looked closer, everything started to take on a more of a gray shade with specs of darkness scattered sporadically.

Before he had time to really think about it, the demon's gaze caught sight of a familiar brunette in the corner of the mirror. Turning around quickly, he was met with Meg's hand wrapping around his neck, shoving him against the bathroom door.

"Hi Dean-o. Ya miss me?" She quipped, pressing forcefully on his throat. The brunette smirked at Dean's feeble attempts to pry her hand off of him, his strength not quite matching hers. "How's it goin'? Crowley says hi."

Dean's lip twitched in anger as his eyes became enveloped with darkness. "You can tell Crowley, he can kiss my ass-" He said through clenched teeth, getting cut off by Meg's thumb pressing his Adam's apple.

"You know, I'm a little curious why you're still hanging out with these hunters. I mean, how can you even stand them?" Dean could hear genuine wonder in her tone, asking more for herself than the King.

"I'll tell you if you tell me know why you're Crowley's bitch all of a sudden. I thought you were team Azazel." Dean dug what little nails he had into the brunette's hand, trying anything to loosen her grip.

Meg's eyes grew angry as she stepped closer to the eldest Winchester and snaked her arm around his torso, taking the demon killing knife from his waistband.

"I'd watch your tone with me." She purred, running the edge of the knife across Dean's jaw line. "It'd be so easy to kill you."

"True. But you won't." He answered confidently.

Meg scoffed, pressing the blade's tip slightly into his chest directly over his heart. "Is that so?" She tested, her gaze locking with his.

"Crowley wants me alive. You kill me, he kills you." Meg shrugged at this, not acting to threatened by the idea.

"You may be right." She paused, backing up and releasing her grip on the demon, Dean leaning against the door heavily with one hand rubbing his neck gingerly. "But I've got better friends." Dean's eyes switched back to black as Azazel appeared behind her, wearing a smug look.

"Hey, Dean. I'm here to see that brother of yours. Mind fetching him?" The yellow eyed demon insisted, a smirk plastered on his face.

The eldest Winchester stood up straight, his defiant look never wavering from the man responsible for his mother's death. "You'll have to go through me first."

"No need."

Dean barely had time to respond before Meg was snapping and he was in the panic room.

….

Azazel strolled out of the bathroom casually, his eyes instantly landing on Sam's sleeping form. Yellow eyes quickly flicked on the lights, smiling with satisfaction when the younger demon sat up fast, his eyes finding Azazel quickly.

Sam glanced over to see Dean's empty bed, concern consuming his every thought. "Where's my brother?" The youngest Winchester demanded, jumping out of bed with black orbs.

"Easy there Sammy. Big brother's fine. I'm just here to talk." Azazel soothed, putting up his hands in a surrendering gesture.

….

"Dammit!" Dean yelled, banging his fist against the iron walls, wanting nothing more than to destroy them.

Meg rolled her eyes from his position outside the door, a sly grin plastered on her face. "Don't worry your pretty little ass." She paused, meeting the glare Dean shot her. "He just wants to talk to Sam then we'll be on our merry way."

The eldest demon scoffed, not buying into the statement. "Why the hell should I believe a word that's comin' out of your mouth?" He spat, venom lacing his words. He paced the panic room anxiously as he waited for some sign of distress come from a few floors above him.

"Dean-o, we use to be best of friends. Would I do anything to harm you or your brother?" She asked innocently.

The eldest Winchester son looked at her in disbelief before narrowing his eyes at her. "Lighting me on fire doesn't ring a bell?"

The brunette waved her hand dismissively, her tone filled with amusement. "That was Ruby. We knew Samantha was on his way." She paused, eyeing him curiously. "You never answered my question on why you're here."

Dean shrugged casually right when they heard the door opening and closing, Bobby greeting the Harvelles upstairs.

"Ellen! Jo!" Dean yelled right before Meg tackled him to the floor of the panic room, placing a firm hand over his mouth.

The brunette's eyes widened when she looked up in recognition of the devil's trap above her. Removing her hand, she rubbed a hand down her face, still straddling Dean's shaking form. But he wasn't shaking from fear, but from laughter.

"I'd watch it!" She hissed, standing up with a huff of frustration.

Still chuckling, the eldest demon hauled himself up, wiping the dust from his butt. "What's your plan here sweetheart? Now we're both stuck." His tone was teasing, enjoying how her plan had back-fired because of her impulse.

Sending him a harsh glare with black eyes, she crossed her arms in annoyance.

….

"I don't want to talk to you!" Sam whispered roughly, not wanting to wake Bobby up.

Azazel smirked before he took a step towards the distressed demon. "It can only be you, Sammy. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Sure, I'll leave this house. But I'll be back. Plus, you want that brother of yours home safe and sound, right? Hear me out." Just the sound of the yellow-eyed demon's voice made Sam's skin crawl. The utter confidence and cruelty that tainted his voice was enough to cause a pit to form in the tall demon's stomach.

"What do you mean, it can only be me?" He asked softly. Sam wasn't really listening to the monster in front of him because of the worst-case scenarios running through his head about what happened to Dean. At the moment, the demon wanted nothing more than to charge forward and kill the man responsible for him growing up without a mother but something was keeping Sam rooted in one spot.

"You're the only one who can lead my army of course." Azazel paused as he watched the horror overcome Sam's face. "That mother of yours, she promised me more than just her soul when she made that deal so long ago."

The youngest Winchester's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as the yellow-eyed demons words sunk in. "Mom was five when she made that deal. What the hell did you make a five-year old promise?" Sam said through clenched teeth, a sick feeling deep in his gut.

"You're the one Sam. The one whose gonna lead us to victory. I made sure of it when you were born. I told Mary I would be paying you a visit when you were six months old. And I did." Azazel looked smug as he remembered how Mary almost refused him.

"I'm coming!" Mary yelled as he hurried down their stairs, someone's insistent buzzing of the doorbell getting on her last nerve. She hadn't even noticed the young Dean that was peaking around the corner of the stairs, watching to see who was here.

Looking out the small peephole of their front door of their small suburban home, Mary's breath caught. Piercing yellow eyes greeted her, the young mother turning around quickly and resting heavily against the door. Her eyes looked around quickly, looking for any sign of her four-year old, missing the small form who had curled up underneath her kitchen table.

Taking a deep breath, Mary opened the door with a smile to welcome the now green-eyed stranger. "Hi, can I help you?" She questioned, trying to keep her voice level.

"Yes, I was wondering if I could go pay a visit to your youngest son." Azazel's eyes switched to yellow, a malicious grin twisting his lips as he barged into the house.

"What are you going to do?" Mary's voice was filled with panic as Azazel started making his way up the stairs.

"Please! I'll do anything!"

"I'll keep in touch, Sam." Without any further explanation, the yellow-eyed demon disappeared.

….

"Meg." Azazel began as he eyed the pair, his lips tugging up at the corners. "Ready to go?"

"Been ready." The brunette answered as she sent a glare towards Dean, approaching the edge of the trap closest to the door.

The eldest Winchester stared defiantly at the yellow-eyed man in front of him, fuming with anger at the thought of him laying a filthy hand on his brother.

"Dean, really enjoyed seeing you. Hope to do it again sometime." Azazel didn't even give Dean time to respond before he snapped his fingers and the eldest Winchester son was back up in his bedroom.

….

TBC

Please continue to read and review. They mean a lot and motivate me to sit my butt down and write. Thanks again!