Hope y'all enjoy!

CHAPTER 31

"You have such a pretty young face, did you know that?" Crowley was asking across the table. "Someone looks at you and thinks you should be dancing in the ballet or being that sweet innocent little girl at the local coffee shop, y'know? Trying to make a little extra money to pay for school? Something really different from what you actually are. Happy birthday by the way." He lifted his wine glass in a toast to her.

Emma sat across from the demon, her arms crossed over her chest, one leg hooked over the other. She absently tugged at the edges of her gloves. "What do you want, Crowley?" she asked.

"So to-the-point. Loosen up will you?" Crowley grinned. When she didn't, he sighed and leaned forward. "I normally wait say… three hundred years… to call in a favor but, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to cash yours in now."

"What do you want?" She repeated. Her voice was monotone, but there was a hint of curiosity there.

"Don't want to spoil the surprise, do I?" Crowley grinned. "Just be ready when I show up. Sometime this afternoon. I like my mornings to be slow. Oh, and bring the gloves - or don't. I'm going to need those fingertips of yours." Emma watched his grin and wave fade out until he was nothing more than a blur of hazy color.

"Emma! Jesus, Emma, wake up!" Dean's voice was low and frantic. Emma gasped as she came to, the top of the Impala and Dean's face coming into focus. She blinked furiously and pushed herself up. "Emma?"

"Hey handsome." She smiled at him. Dean blinked in surprise and Emma looked down at his chest and stomach. "I like the look – let's make it a regular thing?"

"What happened?" Dean was not amused.

Emma sighed and leaned back down into the backseat of the Impala. "Can't it just wait a couple more hours?" she asked sweetly, "It's not even light yet."

What Dean wanted to do was shake her around, force her to tell him what had happened, but Emma looked simply exhausted. "I got my four hours." Dean replied, still puzzled. "You go back to sleep, though." Emma smiled, content, and curled up against his side.

"Love you," she was mumbling just as she fell back asleep. Dean grinned like a kid and for the next couple hours, he simply watched her.

"How did I know this wasn't going to last?" Dean wondered aloud as his eyes rested on her. He tightened his grip around her shoulders.

-+s+-

"So you're leaving again?" Dean demanded, loud enough for the whole house to hear. Emma flinched and looked away. His yelling she could handle, yelling was never something she was afraid of, but the hurt in his eyes was a different story. "Why don't you say something?"

"Dean, I'm coming back." Emma said pleadingly as she threw a flannel shirt around her waist. "It shouldn't take long to take care of this. I'm not even packing anything!"

"Take care of what?!" Dean roared.

"I have to take care of a debt." She said vaguely, "I owe someone a favor and they're calling on it – okay? I will be back in a couple days tops and I'll have my phone."

Dean's neck was bulging from his tight jaw. He kept his hands on his hips and turned toward the window. "Look," he said, his voice breaking and low, "Please, don't go." There was a pause during which the only sound was Emma tucking her gun into its holster and swinging her strap onto her back. She would have to get shotgun out of her trashed truck. Emma sighed as she slipped a flask of holy water into her back pocket. She walked up behind Dean and put her hand on his arm. He jerked away.

"It's not always gonna be possible for us to be with each other at every moment." She said quietly. Dean let out his breath angrily and turned to look at her.

"I get that." He said gruffly, "but I at least want to know where you're going! Right now at the end of the world I don't want you running off – not really a great time."

"I'm sorry," was all Emma said before turning and walking out the door.

Sam was standing at the bottom of the stairs. "You're not coming with us," it wasn't a question. Emma shook her head. "Maggie left this morning," he said, sadly.

"I know, she told me last night she was leaving." Emma said quietly. "Where's Bobby?"

"Sleeping – he's got a hangover." Emma glanced at her watch. It was twelve.

"You want me to make you some lunch before you go?"

"No thanks, I'm not hungry." Emma didn't want to ask Dean. Sighing, she took off her gloves and washed the dishes in the sink, getting glimpses of the drunken and happy thoughts from the night before. Reaching out and grabbing a mug, a huge surge of need went through her. I need more blood. Wonder if I can get away for a second. There was no mistaking Sam's mind.

Thoughtful, Emma pushed closed the faucet and dried her hands before putting them back in her gloves. She didn't know what to think of this newfound problem, and just as she went to heatedly confront Sam about it – there was a voice from behind her.

"Hello dear – ready to go?" Emma narrowed her eyes and turned, glaring at Crowley.

"You have fantastic timing." She said sarcastically. He only shrugged.

"Emma – look you can't just leave, okay? I'm not gonna let you." But when Dean stomped into the kitchen, where he had just heard her, she was gone. "Damn it!" He stood in the kitchen, looking around for a few seconds before running his hands through his hair.

"Let's go check out this brother thing, Sam." he said gruffly and walked out the door, slamming it behind him.

-+s+-

When Emma and Crowley landed back on solid ground, the hunter felt for a moment that she might throw up. Emma leaned her head down between her knees and groaned before taking in their surroundings. They were in a bustling city. A cold breeze blew her hair out of her face, and she heard honks and ambulance sirens.

"Welcome to Pittsburg." Crowley said and immediately turned, walking into an office building. Emma followed.

They walked past the employees hardly noticed, whether by some magic or lack of curiosity, Emma didn't know. Down a set of stairs led them to a dark basement fileroom. "Exactly what are we doing?" Emma asked suspiciously when they were out of earshot.

"You're helping me find someone." Crowley replied. Emma frowned.

"Why?"

Crowley smiled as they rounded a corner into a desk area. "That's not important." He stopped in front of a filing cabinet. "He took something out of here before he disappeared." The demon continued, "I need you to find out where he was going."

"You can't find this man yourself?" Emma asked, pulling her gloves off slowly. "You're a demon – you can find anyone you want."

"This one's somehow found a way to hide." Crowley scowled and sat back in the squeaky rolling chair behind the dimly lit desk. Emma rolled her eyes and tossed her gloves onto the desktop in front of him. Running one hand through her hair, she reached her fingertips out and began brushing them along the filing cabinet. She heard nothing out of the ordinary, just thoughts about upcoming dates and annoying husbands. Closing her eyes, she pressed her fingers harder against the cabinet and moved down the side.

"Jesus I have to go!" a surge of fear so powerful it made Emma's eyes water, and her heart pound against the front of her chest, "He's coming – he's gonna get me. I can't go with him - WHERE IS IT?!" Breathing hard and ignoring Crowley's inquiries, she crouched down to the front of the last drawer and pulled it open, running her fingers along the edges of the drawer and dipping them into the files. Her breathing increased speed as the man's thoughts became more panicked. He was thinking about his daughter – dead. His ex-wife – dead. Someone was coming after him too. A street name! A flash of white light forced Emma's hands off the files, and she stumbled back, an intense ringing in her ear. Angels?

Emma slowly took her hands off the filing cabinet, her hands shaking, and her eyes glazed over.

"What did you hear?" Crowley demanded. Emma took a shaky breath and turned to look at the demon.

"You killed his daughter and wife?" she asked cautiously.

"Ex-wife." Crowley corrected her. "And I didn't do any of that – don't like to get my hands dirty." He sounded so nonchalant and Emma furiously balled her fists before grabbing her gloves and turning around, storming toward the exit.

Crowley appeared in front of her before she could get to the door. "I didn't mean for that to happen. It didn't have to happen. If that makes you feel any better."

"Yeah, makes me feel great." Emma shot back sarcastically. "I'm not helping you with anything, anymore. You want this guy so bad? Find him your damn self." She turned to go around him but before she could even get a step, she felt an immense force around her neck. Choking, she was thrown against the wall, her head smacking against the bricks. Emma saw stars.

"This man has been a consultant of mine for a long time," Crowley growled as he walked over to her. His demeanor had changed instantly. "You're either going to tell me what you heard with those magic fingers of yours – or I'm going to kill you, then Sam, and then Dean." With each new sentence Emma's eyes got wider. "And last, I'm going to kill Maggie." Emma shook her head furiously up and down before Crowley dropped her to the floor.

"Does Pennsylvania Ave. mean anything to you?" Emma asked, breathlessly. Crowley smiled.

-+s+-

"We could really use you here." Dean said tiredly on the other end of the phone. Emma sat on the edge of her hotel bed. Crowley was nowhere to be seen. "I wish you'd tell me why you left."

"Is Cas - I mean Jimmy okay?" she asked, avoiding the other subject, playing with the torn knee of her jeans. Her long blonde hair fell around her as she looked down at the carpet.

"Yeah, he just took off. Sam let him out."

"He let him go?" Emma replied, flabbergasted. "Why?"

"Big bad prison guard was out getting a coke apparently." Emma thought about the frantic thoughts of blood on the coffee mug and narrowed her eyes.

"Give the phone to Sam," she said. Dean frowned and looked at the phone in confusion before handing it over to Sam, who was sitting in the passenger's seat.

"Hey Emma." There was only silence on the other end. "Emma?"

"Next time you feel like you need a blood coke," Emma said, her voice dangerously soft, "Don't." Sam didn't say anything on the other end for a moment.

"Wha-"

"Don't what me," she said, her voice still dangerous. "We're gonna have a little talk about this when I get back. In the meantime, don't slip." She could hear Sam swallow on the other end. "Now laugh like I said something funny."

Sam's uneasy chuckle was heard on the other end. "Alright well, I'll see you when you're done. Be careful."

"You too," Emma said and heard Dean ask him what that was about as he handed over the phone and Sam didn't say anything. "So you're headed to his family?" she asked as she tossed herself onto her back on the bed. Her body shifted as weight was applied to the bed. Crowley was back.

"Yeah – really wish you were here. Could use you." Dean repeated gruffly. Emma sighed and looked at the ceiling. Her eyes flickered over to glare at Crowley who was staring at her with a tilted head.

"I have to go." She said, her voice flat.

Dean didn't explode – or get angry, "Okay." He said quietly.

"Text me where you are, okay?"

"Yeah." Dean sighed, "Love you."

Emma looked at Crowley for a moment, narrowing her eyes at him as she hurriedly replied "love you too" and hung up the phone. "What?" she snapped at him.

"You're so cute, you and the gruff one." Crowley smiled. Emma sat up heavily, and turned to look at him.

"Let me out of here." She demanded, nodding to the hotel door that had been closed for hours. Crowley just smiled at her. "You didn't even bother getting a smoking room. It's been hours. Let me go." The demon just sighed and shrugged, before the two of them walked outside.

"So why are you looking for this guy anyway?" Emma asked as she lit her cigarette. She tilted her head back and blew smoke into the dim fluorescent light. Crowley just watched her.

"You set me up." He said in a dangerously low voice. Emma blinked, shaking her head.

"What?"

"There are angels crawling that apartment building. I can't even climb up there." Crowley growled and stepped forward. Emma stepped back with each step, and ended up against the hotel wall.

"I didn't know there were angels." Emma said. Her hand reached to the back of her jeans to grab her knife. "Listen asshole," she continued, and stepped forward, forcing him to back up. "I'm the one here helping you find some human to do whatever you're going to do to him, against my better judgment, so you can just shut up and let me go now. I gave you what you wanted. This is your problem now." Emma turned to start walking up the road – she had no idea where she was, but she just needed to find a bus. Crowley twisted his hand, staring after her, and she felt a stabbing pain in her stomach. As she cried out, crashing down onto one knee, the strangely quiet demon came to stand in front of her. Emma choked, leaning forward and coughing. Blood splattered the ground. Slowly, she started feeling the walls holding Sara back start to crumble.

"Actually, my dear," Crowley hissed as he leaned down toward Emma. "This is very much your problem. You've got a lot to lose if you don't help me."

-+s+-

The next few hours, Emma tried to endure as quickly as possible. She remembered very few things about what had occurred, and refused to ever tell anyone but Dean about it.

"Jack?" Emma was saying as she knocked on the scratched door in a shabby apartment building. Someone was inside, she could feel it. "Jack? Hey listen, I'm a friend of the angels. My name's Emma. Let me in?"

Slowly, a small man pulled open the door, stopping when the chain was pulled all the way. He stared at her before holding out a glass of water. Emma looked down at the rosary floating inside. "Drink it."

Emma didn't say anything as she reached out and took a large swallow of the water in the glass. Nothing happened. Satisfied, Jack Logan opened the door and let her inside. "What do you want?" he got right to the quick. Emma saw that he was tired. Under his eyes were nothing but dark circles and his eyes were bloodshot red.

"I wanna help you," Emma lied, smiling at him, "Like I said, I'm a friend of the angels. I'm here to transport you to a better location." She watched as Jack looked around the room, before he nodded. The fight was gone from him. It had been a long week.

"I'll just get my stuff." He said quietly and turned toward his duffel bag. Emma took a second to put her hands in her pockets and look around the apartment building. Demon repellent and traps were just inside the door. There were some on the bottom of the chairs. The place smelled musty – like no one had opened a window in a long time. Emma walked over to a single shelf on the wall and saw a wrinkled picture of a small blonde girl, and a beautiful brunette woman. They were standing next to a much healthier, much cleaner, much happier Jack Logan. She sighed and looked down at the ground before turning back to the man.

What she hadn't expected was the knife that flew out of nowhere and slashed her across her cheek. With a cry of surprise and pain, Emma stumbled backward a couple steps and threw out her foot, connecting with Jack's ankles and sending him to the ground. It was easy to take the man down, and once she had climbed on top of him, she threw the knife out of his reach and punched him in the jaw. He wasn't going down that easily though, and his fist connected with her cheekbone. Emma was thrown off of the strong man, landing on the ground with a huff. Before she could gather her bearings, he jumped on top of her. The two of them wrestled around, grunting and yelling before he finally had her arms down to her sides. Emma had almost never been beaten in a fight before – but this man's will to live and her reluctance were what she contributed it to later.

"You think I'm gonna go with you?" Jack asked, smirking. He spit off to the side. Emma stared up at him, her cheek throbbing. "You think I trust the angels any more than I trust the demons? They only sent you because they knew I wouldn't talk to them anymore. They want information from me they're gonna have to pry it from my cold, dead hands." Emma threw out her arm from his grasp quickly, grabbing the knife. Jack's eyes widened in surprise but instead of stabbing him, Emma shoved it into the ground, and severed the demon trap.

"That can be arranged," Crowley said from beside her as he lifted Jack off her body easily and crashed him into the wall. Emma painfully got to her feet, her whole body aching. "You've been running for a long time, Jack. I need my souls, and nobody gets out of a deal with the King of the Crossroads." Emma watched, leaning against the wall, her eyes wide as the man stared from Crowley to her with wide eyes.

"Get him, boys."

"I'm sorry," Emma choked out, and turned, pressing her face against her hands as Jack began to scream. She felt the splatter of blood on her clothes, hands, and hair before he finally went silent, and Emma heard his body slump to the ground.

"Don't feel so bad," Crowley was saying as they walked out of the apartment building to the side of the street. "He was a piece of scum anyways. Did a lot of digging for me to find the purest souls for my collection." Emma felt sick, but she held back her nausea as she limped down the street. Pulling out her phone, she saw a text from Dean. "Cas OK. Back at Bobby's." She only had to say the word to the crossroads demon before they were standing outside of Bobby's house.

This time Emma did throw up, behind one of the old cars in Bobby's front area. Crowley waited patiently as she wretched, wiping the side of her mouth off as she stood back up. She still had said nothing to Crowley. The demon could see the tears prickling the sides of her eyes, but he only sighed and sipped from the wine that had appeared in his hand.

"Y'know, you're quite useful." Crowley said as he tilted his head and looked at her, "For the small price of another favor, I could get you some of Lilith's blood." Emma sniffed, and turned to glare at him, fire and hate in her eyes. She shook her head and turned toward Bobby's house. "Ms. Gordon it's a serious offer." Crowley called after her.

As she got to the porch, Emma turned around. "Don't ever come near me again. Don't ever help me again. Don't ever offer… again." Crowley simply shrugged, his eyes glowing red.

"Nice working with you, my dear."

Emma didn't know how she was going to face Dean or Sam. She didn't know how she was going to be able to even look at Bobby. She was still covered in blood, her cheek was still sliced, and a nice black eye was beginning to form. Most of all, she just wanted to take a shower and sleep.

As Emma pushed open the door to Bobby's house, the tears began to fall.