So glad to be back into writing these lil stories :) Thanks to everyone's who's sent me messages!

CHAPTER 27

"Cas has seen Emma?" Sam was asking as they got out of the car. "What's going on with her? Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's okay. Maggie's with her." Sam ran around the car to stand in front of Dean as he started heading into the hotel.

"Well… when's she coming back?" he demanded. Dean stared at him for a moment before smiling.

"She's not coming back."

The jingling of keys brought Sam and Dean into the dim, dingy hotel room. "Ah," Dean said with a half-smile, "Home crappy home." Sam shook his head and flipped on the lights. What was standing before them neither of the Winchester brothers were ready for or particularly wanted. Castiel and Uriel stood inside the hotel room. Uriel stood front and center, smiling sardonically as the two walked into the room. Castiel leaned against the wall, his face stony.

"Winchester and Winchester." Uriel said, his smile never leaving his face.

"Oh come on!" Dean exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

"You are needed." Uriel continued.

"Needed? We just got back from being needed! Nobody ever told us we're taking the double shift today."

Uriel tilted his head to the side, his smile falling. "Now, mind your tone with me." Dean fumed.

"No, you mind your damn tone with us."

"We just got back from Pamela's funeral-" Sam started.

"Pamela." Dean said forcefully. "You know, psychic Pamela? You remember her. Cas, you remember her! You burned her eyes out. Remember that?" Uriel grinned and Castiel looked away. "Good times. Yeah, then she died saving one of your precious seals. So maybe you can stop pushing us around like chess pieces for five fucking minutes!" Sam just stood there, his hands in his pockets, staring at the angels with a flat face.

"We raised you out of Hell for our purposes." Uriel said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah? What were those again? What exactly did you want from me? Huh?"

"Let's start with gratitude."

Dean only nodded and smiled at them. "Oh."

Castiel stepped forward a couple paces, standing in the shadow or Uriel who stood standing like a rock, the same smile on his face.

"Dean, we know this is difficult to understand."

"And we-" Uriel turned to look at Castiel, giving him a significant look, "don't care. Now, seven angels have been murdered, all of them from our garrison. The last one was killed tonight." This peaked the Winchester brothers' interest.

"Demons?" the angels nodded, "How they doing it?"

"We don't know." Dean felt a tiny surge of pleasure from that, and the twitch in his lips gave that away.

Sam finally spoke up, "I'm sorry, but what do you want us to do about it? I mean, a demon with the juice to ice angels has got to be out of our league, right?" Uriel laughed.

"We can handle the demons, thank you very much."

"Once we find whoever it is." Castiel spent a few moments staring at Uriel.

"So… you need our help… hunting a demon?" Dean asked. Castiel and Uriel exchanged glances.

"Not quite." Castiel said, "We have Alistair. But he won't talk. Alastair's will is very strong. We've reached an impasse." Dean scoffed.

"Well yeah he's like a black belt in torture. I mean, you guys are out of your league."

Uriel smiled wider, "That's why we've come to his student." He said joyfully. Dean stared him down. Sam shifted uncomfortably, "You happen to be the most qualified interrogator we've got."

"Dean," Castiel said pleadingly, "you are our best hope." Dean didn't move for a few moments, shaking his head. As he began to shake his head harder, he looked up at Castiel.

"No." he said forcefully, "No way. You can't ask me to do this, Cas," his voice broke, "Not this."

There was a moment of silence before Uriel walked up to Dean. He cocked his head to one side and smiled wide. "Who said anything about asking?"

And like that they were gone, leaving Sam yelling "Damn it!" behind.

-+s+-

"Hey, Emma… it's Sam… again… Look I know it's been a while since you've been gone, but… I just wanted to tell you something. Dean and I… we finished a case today and he told me something. He's in the bar right now getting really drunk and – heh – I don't know who else to talk to about it. Dean he… he… when he was in Hell he did some things he's not so proud of. Alastair broke him, and… he started torturing souls. He's really beat up about it, Emma. He needs you to come back… I need you to come back… we all do… Please, Emma… Come back. Bye."

Emma deleted the months old message with a swipe of her finger. "Deleted," said the pleasant female voice on the other end. As Maggie climbed into the passenger's seat of the truck, Emma tucked away her phone. "I got two things of French fries! I got two hamburgers! I got three shakes!" Maggie said as she hopped to sit sideways into the seat.

Emma smiled, "And what did you get for me?" she teased. Maggie stuck her tongue out at her, throwing a French fry her friend's way. Emma caught it and chewed on it, tossing her hair to one side as she took the burger from her friend's hand.

"Okay so," Maggie said, wiping ketchup from her lip and pulling out a map. She balanced it on her leg. "Bobby was saying that our best bet to find out how to get rid of Sara is to ask someone high up. Some demon that matters, y'know?" Emma nodded, glancing over at the map.

"That demon in the bathroom didn't have any idea of what I was talking about – I could tell."

"So my first thought was Alastair, but we're going for the no torture route here, to keep our souls clean and everything," Emma rolled her eyes and smiled, taking off her gloves to open the wrapper of her food, "and he won't tell us simply because we ask him nicely or anything. So I thought of the next best one, who happens to owe me a favor."

"Who's that?"

"Crowley."

-+s+-

"I really carved a new animal, didn't I Dean?" Alastair was snarling as Dean dug the knife deep into Alastair's gut. When he lifted his head, blood running down his chin, he laughed. "It's your professionalism that I respect." Dean simply glared at him and walked the other way, back to his table of instruments. He stood there and stared at the tools for a moment – holy water, salt, knives and sticks. Everything he would need to make Alastair hurt like no one had ever hurt before. And he was gonna enjoy it. "What do you think Emma would say, Dean?" he heard Alastair ask from behind him, "if she saw you like this?" Dean froze, and his muscles tensed. Alastair giggled and continued casually. "Y'know… Sara and me, we used to date. And here she's got a brand new body – all blonde and … tight. Wouldn't you agree, Dean? Isn't that a damn good body? Tell me how she handles, Dean. Tell me how she is." Dean looked down at his hands on the cup of holy water, and saw that they were shaking with rage.

"Shut up."

-+s+-

"Crowley? Really?" Emma asked as she drove down the highway. They had just passed into Illinois. "You think he's gonna give up any information for us? I've met the guy. What could we possibly have that would make him change his mind?"

"I told you," Maggie said casually, "He owes me a favor."

"It's Crowley, Maggie." Emma shook her head as they pulled into the parking lot for a small Italian restaurant. The light inside was dim, shining through the windows, and Emma and Maggie could see a man sitting in the window, a glass of dark red wine in his hand, wearing a smart black suit. He turned toward the two girls, his eyes black as night and, with a smile on his face, beckoned with a finger for them to come inside.

-+s+-

"You know," Alastair was saying as he breathed heavily. Dean watched as he coughed salt out of his throat, choking and gagging. "It was supposed to be your dad. He was the one that was supposed to do it."

"Do what?" Dean asked casually.

"When you first climbed off the rack, and sunk that blade into that whining bitch," Alastair chuckled, "You broke the first seal." Dean tried not to show any emotion, but he felt his eyes widen. He smiled, trickling salt onto a bloodstained knife, and turned back to Alastair.

"You're lying."

"'And it is written, that the first seal shall be broken when a righteous man sheds blood in hell. As his breaks, so shall it break.'" Alastair and Dean stared each other down as the demon smiled. "Top of the one at the front of the line," Alastair continued, before looking up at the ceiling. "When we win, when we bring on the apocalypse and burn this earth down, we'll owe it all to you Dean Winchester. And right next to me is where your girlfriend will be standing. Her hand in mine. And you know, even if she didn't serve some kind of bigger purpose down there in Hell… the thought of me with my tongue all over her is good enough to kill you." Dean tensed, his eyes shut as he looked the other way. "Son," Alastair smiled, "I wouldn't lie about this sort of thing – it's kind of religious with me."

"No," Dean choked, "I don't think you are lying. But even if the demons do win, you won't be there to see it." He turned around, and jumped back a step as he saw Alastair standing right in front of him, blood running down his face, smiling.

"You should get your plumber to check the pipes." He grinned and with a swing of his hand, Dean hit the ground.

-+s+-

"Maggie and Emma! The dynamic duo, look at the both of you – so grown up and… Emma you look more sullen than you did last time I saw you. What's happened to you, girl?" Emma said nothing as she took a seat across from the demon, who was sitting there smiling pleasantly at them. Maggie scooted in next to her, and folded her hands on the table. "Are you two hungry? My cook would be glad to make you something." The girls looked up to see a man in a white uniform, smiling at them with his black eyes.

"We already ate, thanks." Maggie said. Emma just continued to sit there.

"Oh but you must try the calamari. Cook! Bring us some calamari. Extra cocktail sauce." He leaned forward and smiled, "I do love a good cocktail sauce."

"Can we just get down to business?" Emma asked. She looked away from the window and made eyes with Crowley.

"Manners, little lady." He said. Emma fumed. "We haven't even started eating yet. No business before dessert I always say." The King of Hell smiled as he looked at the small rings of squid that were being placed in front of them. Crowley reached forward and ate one, smiling as the juices dripped onto his lip. "Please, you must try one." Maggie reached forward tentatively, picking a small round up and popping it into her mouth. She looked at Emma and nodded appreciatively. Emma simply reached forward and picked one up before dropping it into the cocktail sauce, her face still impassive, splashing it onto his arm.

Crowley laughed under his breath. "What are we gonna do with her?" he asked Maggie. "Alright," he finally said and leaned back in the chair, "What is it you two want?"

"We want you to help us."

"Ah yes, with your little Sarah problem, right?" Crowley tilted his head to the side and took a sip of his wine, offering some to Emma across the table. Emma only stared at him.

"Maggie said you owe her a favor." She said, "So come on. Cut to the chase we don't have all night." She put her hand in her lap, slipping her glove off her hand.

"No, you don't do you?" Crowley said, "With Dean lying on some basement floor bleeding out, I'd say you've got next to no time." And with a laugh, he leaned back in his chair. Emma's eyes widened, and her breathing increased.

"Sara is Lilith's sister - from before the grave." He said matter-of-factly, "The only way to get her out of you is not only to kill Lilith, but to drink her demon blood." One of his eyebrows raised as he smiled at them. "Family blood will expel her from you, and hey, might even kill her. Though I've never known Sara to turn down a challenge like that. Still, it'll work - shit like love is a bit of a weakness for us in some arenas." In a flash, Emma reached her hand across the table and grabbed onto Crowley's wine glass, her fingertips making contact with where his were. A surge of pain was sent through her mind, a flash of light, but she found what she wanted.

"He's telling the truth." She said in a shaky voice as she looked at Maggie. "About Dean too," she thought for a few moments, "We gotta go." The two girls scrambled from the restaurant table, dragging loose the tablecloth as Emma pulled her way out. Crowley gracefully stood and held his hands out in front of him.

"But we haven't even gotten to the entrée yet." He said with a smile, and with a snap of his fingers, the girls disappeared from the restaurant. In a whirl of light and a faint 'Now you owe me…' in Emma's ear, the girls were spinning across the state, before landing hard on concrete floors.

"You okay?" Emma asked as she pulled Maggie to her feet.

"Yeah… where are we?" As Emma took in their surroundings, her thoughts were interrupted by a scream in the next room. The two looked at each other and, each with their hand on their gun, took off toward the sound.

What they found was shocking. Castiel stood against the wall, watching as Sam Winchester held out his hand at who Emma figured was Alastair against the wall. "I'm stronger now," Sam said, "I can kill." Maggie rushed forward and Emma held her arm, dragging her back a couple steps. The demon on the wall looked over to see the two women staring, openmouthed at him, and he smiled, before his choking began. Flashes of light came from his eyes and his mouth, and he screamed, over and over again until it was all over and Alastair's vessel dropped to the floor, open mouthed and wide eyed – dead.

Emma dragged her eyes away from the scene in front of her to see Dean lying on the ground. His eyes were closed and his face covered in blood. Emma ran forward, not stopping when she heard Sam call out her name, not thinking about how worried she was about what she had just seen, not thinking about what Sam would have to say to explain himself. Maggie grabbed his arm and shook her head at him as Emma dropped to her knees besides Dean Winchester.

"Dean?" she called out to him, reaching her hands down in front of her to cradle his head in her lap. "Dean? Baby?" Before she knew it, tears were running down her face and she was sobbing, "Dean I'm so sorry. Please, please baby wake up. I won't ever leave again, Dean. Please, if you just wake up. Dean!"

-+s+-

The quiet beep of a heart monitor, and the push of a breathing machine was what lulled Emma to finally fall asleep the next night. She had her head on Dean's leg, her hand in his. She sat leaned over in an uncomfortable hospital chair, dozing as she heard Maggie and Sam leave the other side of the room and go out into the hallway.

"Miracle," Sam was saying to Castiel. Maggie, bags under her eyes, was nodding. "Now."

"I can't." Castiel said, a hint of emotion in his voice.

"You and Uriel were the ones that had him there in the first place!" Maggie said in a loud whisper. "This whole thing was pointless. It wasn't the demons killing the angels."

"And now Dean is in that hospital room. Something else is killing your soldiers."

"Perhaps Alastair was lying." Castiel said, his voice again flat.

Sam just shook his head and Maggie closed her eyes for a moment, "No. He wasn't." And with Maggie's hand on his arm, the two of them walked down the hallway, as Maggie's faint "let's get you some coffee" followed them down the hall. Castiel was left there to think.

Emma didn't know how long she slept there. And Dean couldn't believe his eyes when he woke up and laid his eyes on the blonde hair that was spread across his lap, and the small gloved hand in his. Dean reached out one of his hands and began to stroke the blonde waves, watching her shoulders move up and down as she breathed softly.

A flutter of wings brought his eyes away from her as Castiel landed, sitting beside the hospital bed. "Are you alright?" the angel asked. Dean nodded his head as far as he could.

"No thanks to you." He replied.

"You need to be more careful."

Cautious so as not to wake up Emma, Dean laughed. "You need to learn how to make a damn devil's trap."

Castiel shook his head, "That's not what I'm talking about." He said. "Uriel is dead."

"The demons?"

"Disobedience. He was working against us." Emma's tired eyes fluttered open, but she didn't move, her face hidden by her hair.

"Is it true?" Dean finally asked after a long time. "Did I break the first seal? Did I start the apocalypse? All this?" There was a long pause.

"Yes. We were too late." Castiel said quietly.

"Why didn't you just leave me there, then?" Dean asked, his voice breaking. Castiel leaned his head back. Emma stayed quiet.

"It's not blame that falls on you, Dean." Castiel said firmly, "It's fate. 'The righteous man who begins it is the only one who can finish it.' You have to stop it."

"Lucifer?" Dean asked, "The apocalypse? What does that mean? You son of a bitch, what does that mean?"

"I don't know."

"Bull!"

"I don't know. Not all the information is shared with me. All I do know is that our fate rests with you." Emma closed her eyes again and let her breath out. She felt Dean's hand move to the top of her head, stroking her hair quietly. There was a pause that felt like years.

"Well then you guys are screwed. I can't do it, Cas. It's too big. Alastair was right, I'm not all here. I'm not strong enough." Emma heard him sniff, and felt his hand leave her head. "I guess I'm not the man either of our dads wanted me to be. Find someone else. It's not me. I'm no savior."

With a flutter of wings Castiel was gone.

It was a long time before Emma lifted her head. She blinked, rubbing her eyes before she looked up and saw that Dean was awake. The two of them stared at each other, before Emma felt tears run out of the corners of her eyes and down her cheeks. Dean lifted his thumb and wiped them away from her face.

"Emma…" he choked out, and she broke into quiet sobs, holding his hand in both of hers, holding his arm against her.

"Dean," she said, and when she looked up at him she knew that he knew. He knew how sorry she was and how much she blamed herself for all of it. She knew that he understood how scared she was, and how much she had missed him. "Dean, I-"

"I know, angel." He said in a hoarse voice. "I know."

And Dean Winchester leaned forward with bruising strength to kiss her, their tears mixing against their lips.