I apologize for the delay in between chapters. The good news is that I have the next chapter alread finished so the wait will not be long for Chapter 27! Thank you again for reading and a special thanks to everyone who reviews! Enjoy!

Sam woke up to the sound of Dean and Bobby talking in the kitchen. He stretched and unwillingly left the warmth of the blankets surrounding him as he stood up. Padding over to the kitchen, Sam saw both Dean and Bobby sitting at the kitchen table, looking over some books.

"What are you guys doing?" Sam asked, he was a little concerned when he saw the serious looks on both of their faces.

"Your brother told me that you got wind that the demons may be planning something else if you two lock up Lucifer. I'm thinking they will probably try and unleash some kind of Hell on Earth, something that Lucifer might have been planning to do."

"And what do you think it might be?" Sam was starting to get worried, what good was locking up Lucifer if horrible stuff was going to happen anyway?

Dean looked up from the book he had been staring at. "Grab a plate of pancakes and sit your ass down first," he demanded.

Sam rolled his eyes but did as his brother told him. After sitting down, Bobby started talking again.

"If Lucifer rises, he's going to unleash a lot of things on Earth. He would unleash the four horsemen, Death, Pestilence, Famine and War. The world would be in chaos. There's lore in these books that he would create a zombie invasion. He would destroy entire cities; he would sit there and mess with humanity until he was bored, and then just kill anyone left. But he would make it as painful as possible, watching the world crumble before him, first."

Sam suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. He probably wouldn't even eat any of his breakfast if it weren't for Dean glaring at him like a hawk.

"Do you think the demons will try to do any of that if we stop Lucifer from rising?"

"That's the thing," Bobby said. "I don't think they're capable of doing any of that without Lucifer. So we're not sure what they're planning. We just know that it will be bad. Not as bad as an actual Apocalypse, but they want to spread world-wide terror."

"Great, so we could be doing this all for nothing," Sam sighed and slouched in his chair.

"Didn't you just hear Bobby?" Dean growled. "No matter what the Hell they're planning, it's still not as bad as an actual Apocalypse. I've got a feeling that no matter what, shit is going down and there may be a war or something. But anything is better than Lucifer being released and possessing you and killing everyone. Do you understand me?"

Sam nodded, although he wasn't happy. Of course nothing could be as easy as they wished. Of course the demons would come back with a vengeance.

"You weren't able to overhear anything in Hell?" Sam asked.

"I didn't know a thing about this until that angel told us. I don't think many demons know about this at all. This isn't like their plan that they have for you that everyone knew about. This seems to be more secret, probably only the big demons know about this. Like Lilith and Alastair."

Sam didn't like the sound of that. Whatever was going on, it was something big that the demons would stop at nothing to keep secret. "You think we have a chance?"

"I think we have the best chance of anyone. Might as well try." Dean closed the book he had been looking at. "Can I take this with me?"

"Go ahead." Bobby suddenly smiled. "At least you're asking this time. Not like how you stole my duffel bag the last time you were here."

Dean paled. "How did you know about that? I'm an expert thief."

Bobby chuckled. "Well, you are. But I noticed missing it about a week later, figured it was you. So think twice before taking anything from me again."

"Maybe I would have asked if you didn't hate me last time."

Bobby's smile turned to a slight frown. "You have a point. I guess we're even. But if you take anything else, there will be no pie for you, understand?"

"I'll never steal anything again, at least not from you," Dean vowed and then looked at Sam's plate. "Hurry up and finish that, then take a shower so we can leave. I want to get my arm working semi-properly, so get your ass in gear."

Sam shook his head in amusement, even though there might be danger coming for them, and they may not be able to keep the world safe…at least Sam would have Dean by his side.

Sam came downstairs with his bags after he showered to see Bobby handing Dean a container.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Gave your brother all of the leftover pie." Bobby smiled as Dean greedily stuffed the container in his duffle bag. "You boys take care of each other, you hear me?"

"You know I'll take care of Sam, Bobby." Dean rolled his eyes.

"I know that, but you better let your brother take care of you too."

"I will Bobby." Sam smiled. "No matter how stubborn he is, I won't back down."

Dean let out an irritated sigh.

"Alright, I'll let you two go, stay safe and if you ever need anything, call or stop by." Bobby walked over to Sam and wrapped him up in a tight hug. "You listen to everything your brother says about this blood drinking thing, alright? As long as you do that, he'll keep you safe."

Sam nodded and smiled. "I will Bobby, I promise."

Bobby patted Sam on the back and then turned to Dean. "You gonna let me hug you or are you gonna throw a fit?"

Dean made a disgruntled noise. "I might let you just this time, since you gave me all that pie."

Bobby chuckled. "Yeah, you'll do anything for a damn slice of pie." He walked over to Dean and hugged him just as he had Sam.

Sam was expecting for Dean to just stand there with his arms limp like he had when Sam hugged him all those months back. However, Dean actually reached his good arm up and hugged Bobby quickly.

What the hell? Dean could hug Bobby but not him? Sam knew he was probably acting childish, but he couldn't help but get angry over this fact. Sam had assumed that since Dean was a demon, he didn't want to hug at all. But he had just hugged Bobby. What did Sam have to do, bribe him with a slice of fricken' pie?

Bobby pulled back and Dean started making some joke about Bobby before Sam interrupted him.

"Come on Dean, let's go," he said curtly and walked out the door.

"What the hell?" Sam could hear the confusion in Dean's voice. Typical, Dean didn't even realize what he had done to upset him. "You gonna break this salt line for me or what?"

Sam just kept on walking and nearly pissed his pants when Dean suddenly appeared in front of him. The older brother almost fell over as he struggled to regain his footing and hold onto his duffle bag. Oh yeah, Sam nearly forgot about the teleportation.

Dean straightened himself up, looking proud and grinning at his younger brother. Sam said nothing and just tossed his bags in the backseat before getting in the driver's side.

"What crawled up your ass? You were just fine two minutes ago!" Dean grumbled. Sam watched how his brother used his powers to open the car door and then tossed his bag in the backseat as well. "You gonna tell me what suddenly had gotten you into this pissy mood?"

"It's nothing Dean. Can you just be quiet for five minutes?" Sam sighed and didn't fail to notice the hurt that flashed across his brother's face. Dean either wasn't hiding his emotions as much as he had when he first came back, or he was starting to regain human feelings because Sam was noticing that he could once again read Dean like an open book.

Maybe Sam shouldn't be too hard on his brother. He didn't want Dean to become distant. He didn't want his brother to regress after how far he seemed to be coming since Sam had first been reunited with him. Dean was undeniably still a demon, but he was beginning to relate to humans a bit more, and seemed so much more at ease and much less tense and irritable. Dean didn't purposely hug Bobby back just to make Sam mad. Sam knew that Dean cared about him, he didn't need a hug to show him that.

Sam couldn't even last with the five minutes of awkward silence between them. "Listen, I'm sorry. I don't know what's up with me. I'm just worried about all this, with the demons' back up plan and all." It wasn't fully a lie.

Dean seemed to buy it. "I told you, no matter what happens, I'm gonna make sure you're safe. We're gonna do all that we can and if the demons have something else that we don't know about, well that's not our fault. We can't worry about everything. We can't stop everything."

"Yeah I know…" Sam was quiet for a moment. "So, are we just stopping at some motel and calling Crowley?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah, let's drive for an hour or two though so we're far away from Bobby's place."

When they checked into the motel Dean called Crowley right away.

"Crowley, get your ass over here. I got stabbed with that demon knife and I was told you have some stuff to help me."

A few seconds later Crowley was standing in the room, looking disappointed and holding a vial of rather disgusting looking liquid.

"Dean, Dean, Dean. Walking around with a broken arm when all you had to do this whole time was call me."

"Like I was supposed to know you had a semi-cure. I didn't even know there was a damn cure at all," Dean growled.

Crowley shrugged. "All you had to do was ask. Not that hard, even for a bloke like you."

"Shut up," Sam found himself saying to the demon. He hated when people had the nerve to insult his big brother.

Crowley turned to Sam with a look of surprise. "My, my, my… getting sassy there, I see. You're lucky I need you Gigantor, or you'd be paying for that comment."

"Whatever, just give Dean the vial." Sam sighed and tried to hide his fear over the fact he just insulted a powerful demon.

Crowley looked smug as he smirked. "Maybe I will….maybe I won't."

"You just said you'd give it to me over the phone!" Dean practically yelled, black eyes blazing.

"I will….if…." Crowley's voice trailed off.

"There's always an if!" Dean hissed, trying hard to stop his temper, but failing.

"Don't get your panties in a twist. It's not a big deal. I'll give you this if you two come back to my place. I've got a lead on Alastair and need your help to track him. If you two don't screw up, we could have him cornered in less than a month."

Dean glared at Crowley. "Now, you tell us this after we paid for the damn room."

"No big deal." A knife slid from Crowley's suit sleeve and he grasped the handle. "I'll just kill the receptionist and take all his money. I'll give your whiny ass the fifty or so dollars you spent to stay in this hell-hole."

Sam gasped and Dean shook his head. "Enough, no one's killing anyone. Okay, we'll go to your damn mansion and help."

"Good." Crowley put his knife away much to Sam's relief. "Now, roll up your sleeve," he addressed Dean.

Sam took a step forward and got between Crowley and Dean. "No, I'll do it."

Crowley looked offended. "Relax Moose, I'm not going to stab him or anything."

"I don't care. I don't want you touching him, I'll do it."

Dean had to chuckle at Sam's protectiveness and trying to act all bad-ass in front of Crowley. Apparently, Crowley didn't feel like arguing and handed the vial over to Sam.

Dean went to take off his sling, but Sam stopped him.

"Sit down, I'll help you."

"Oh, this is all too sweet, I'm touched," Crowley cooed.

Sam huffed but chose to ignore the demon as Dean sat down on the bed. Sam gently removed Dean's arm from the sling and rolled up his sleeve. After undoing the bandages around Dean's wound, Sam popped open the vial and he and Dean instantly gagged.

It smelled like vomit.

"It's demon-healing ointment," Crowley informed them. "Made for damned souls, what did you expect it to smell like, flowers?"

"What do I do with this, just spread it over the wound and leave it?" Sam asked.

"Yes, Moose. It will dissolve nearly immediately. Can't say the smell will too."

Sam took one last final look at the unhealed gouge in Dean's arm. Hopefully this would stop most of he pain.

He poured the disgusting mixture onto his hand and then began applying it to the wound. Dean flinched as soon as Sam touched it.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Sam mumbled as he worked.

"It's fine, just get it all on there." Dean wouldn't admit it, but he was happy Sammy was doing this. Even though it stung, Sam was careful and gentle and always tried not to cause him pain.

Sam finished applying the rest of the mixture and both brothers watched as the sludgy liquid dissolved into Dean's skin quickly. Soon, it was gone and what was left in the place of the wound was an ugly, raised scar.

Dean was so transfixed in watching his painful wound disappear that he almost didn't hear Sam's voice.

"Try and move your arm, Dean."

He did as he was told and flexed his fingers, huh, that seemed to work just fine. Sam was smiling like a madman watching the movement. Dean then attempted to lift his arm, and felt a bit of a tugging sensation.

"What is it?" Sam asked once he noticed Dean's frown.

Dean tried to lift his arm over his head, but was immediately filled with a sharp, stabbing pain and he clutched his arm to his chest as his eyes watered.

"What the hell?" Sam was asking. "I thought you healed him?"

Crowley sounded extremely annoying. "You two already knew that there was no permanent cure. Be grateful that he can even move the damn thing at all."

"He's right Sam," Dean said as the pain began to fade away. "It works, I can grab things, I can hold it out straight in front of me, shoot a gun…I just have limited movement and it looks like I'll still have some pain, probably can't put too much weight on this arm. It's better than nothing."

"And it will probably still flare up every now and then," Crowley added. "I'd keep that sling with you. Rest that arm whenever you can, I can't have you crying in pain when you have to face Alastair."

"Oh don't worry." Dean's look was dark. "I'm gonna kill that son-of-a-bitch."

"You better," Crowley stated and then clapped his hands. "Now that this party is over, how bout you boys be at my place by tomorrow the latest."

And with that, he was gone.

"Better get driving." Sam sighed and reached for the keys.

His hand stopped in mid air and suddenly the keys went floating across the room into Dean's waiting hand.

"Uh-uh," he smirked. "I just got my arm fixed, I'm driving."

"It's not all the way healed though! Crowley said to rest it."

"Crowley can kiss my ass. I'm not giving up driving. You're insane if you think I'd even consider it. Besides, my arm is perfectly capable of turning the steering wheel."

"Fine, but you better not crash."

"Me? Crash my baby? I think you actually are crazy Sammy."

Sam smiled, yeah; even he could admit that was a stupid comment to make.

It was the day before Christmas Eve when they finally caught up with Alastair's whereabouts.

"He's hiding out in this warehouse." Crowley pointed to the computer monitor. He had been using Google Maps rather than traditional maps to track where Alastair may be heading. Alastair was apparently in Nebraska.

"What's he doing in a warehouse?" Sam questioned.

"Probably trying to stay out of our radar and failing." Crowley shrugged. "I don't give a damn what he's doing over there. I just want him dead. Grab whatever you think you'll be needing and I'll zap you over there. I expect him to be dead within the hour."

The brothers walked back to their bedroom and began packing in silence before Sam spoke up.

"It's not going to be as easy as going in there and stabbing him."

"Of course it's not. And as much as I want to…we can't kill him right away. We have to try and get information out of him on what this plan B is."

Sam wasn't expecting this and he doubted Crowley knew about it. "And how's that going to happen?"

"Torture. He did teach me and he was known as the best Hell had to offer. I bet if I turn his own techniques over on him, he might cave."

Sam didn't like the sound of that at all. "Dean, I don't think you should do that."

"Why not? I'm a demon, that's what we were made to do."

"Yeah, but you don't. You're not like him. I don't want this to affect you in a negative way, remind you of Hell or…"

"I'm always reminded of Hell Sam," Dean said flatly. "It's what turned me into this. It's where I spent most of my life."

"But it doesn't define you." Sam shook his head; Dean wasn't seeing it from his point-of-view. "You're my brother before you're a demon. I don't want this to change you, Dean."

"It won't. I know what I'm doing and I'm getting back at him, after all the shit he put me through." Sam didn't look convinced so Dean continued. "I'll be fine Sam, I promise. I have you."

Sam sighed, he didn't like the idea of this at all, but he didn't know how to convince his brother that this wasn't a great idea. "I know you have me Dean, but what if you go too far and I'm too late to pull you back? Remember what happened when you tortured that ghoul..."

"Yeah and I came back just fine from that," Dean stated sharply, trying to leave no room for more discussion.

"Yeah but it took you a little bit. It was like you were somewhere else Dean, unconnected from everything. You had to take your time to come back from that. After how you got with that ghoul, do you realize how hard it could be to come back from torturing Alastair? The one that did all that shit to you in hell?"

Dean was getting impatient as he clutched his fists and glared at Sam. "I told you I'll be fine. Like I already said, I'm a demon, torturing is what I'm supposed to do, it's what made what I am now. Do you have any idea how many souls I tortured in Hell? Thousands Sam."

Sam wasn't about to back down. If he could only get Dean to see the danger in this situation… "But this is different and you know it. You haven't tortured anyone since you came back. You've got to admit that you've changed since you've been back, you're adapting and you're more human. I know you see that. I don't want you to lose that Dean. I don't want to lose my brother."

That last sentence got Dean to stop. He was quiet for a few moments before he spoke. "You're not going to lose me. As long as you're there I can fight my way back if he pulls me too far. But I don't think it will get that bad. I'm going to do this as carefully as possible; I need you to trust me Sam." With Sam's reluctant nod, Dean grabbed the weapons and headed back to Crowley.

Sam wasn't sure that Dean was going to be fine, but if anything happened, he'd be there to pull his brother back. He could only trust his brother, but he had a feeling that Dean had no idea what he was getting in to.

When they were done grabbing the weapons they believed they'd need, Crowley teleported them to the location of Alastair with one final order: "Contact that angel of yours".

The brothers had been trying to call Castiel with the cell phone they'd given him, but it had always gone straight to voicemail. Crowley and the brothers all knew that killing Alastair would go much easier if Castiel was around to help. However, they had a feeling that the angel had lost his phone.

Dean tried calling, this time the phone actually rang, but no one picked up. Leaving one final voice message with the location that they were at, Dean pocketed his phone and the brothers headed towards the outside of the warehouse.

As the brothers quietly made their way closer, a loud scream was heard and there was the sound of commotion and struggling.

"What the hell is going on, is he still in there?" Sam whispered, referring to Alastair.

Dean concentrated, seeming to tap into his powers. "Yeah, I can still tell he's in there. But something's not…"

"Hello Sam and Dean."

The brothers jumped and spun around to see Castiel standing behind them.

"Can you quit that man?" Dean growled. "What the hell are you doing here now? We've been trying to contact you for weeks!"

Castiel frowned. "I was unaware that my phone's battery had fully diminished. I could not discover how to replenish the power until recently."

Sam would have laughed if they weren't in a serious situation and Dean just looked confused, as if he didn't understand a word the angel had just said.

"Okay, sure. So you must have gotten my voicemail."

"Yes, I was just inside the building. I have captured Alastair in order for us to interrogate him."

Well, that was convenient.

"I will show you the way, follow me," Castiel ordered and the brothers really had no other choice but to do so.

After walking for a few minutes, Castiel led the brothers into a large room where a middle aged man was hanging with his arms and legs tied to a giant iron devil's trap symbol. Sam tapped into his powers to see the demon's cloud and it was unlike any other demon he had seen before. This smoke cloud was extremely violent, sparking with vicious energy and looked to be extremely powerful.

The demon looked up; its eyes white like Lilith's and started to cackle evilly.

Sam stared at the thing…at Alastair with pure hatred. "So you're the thing that tortured my brother."

Alastair laughed and Sam noticed Dean go tense and still beside him. "Don't you mean I'm the thing that turned your precious brother into a worthless demon? Then yes, that would be me." Alastair then turned his eyes to Dean. "Why, hello there Dean. Haven't you missed me? I have to say that I do miss my star pupil….although I'm quite disappointed in you. You haven't exactly lived up to my expectations since you graduated."

Sam took a step forward. "You shut up, you son of a bitch."

"Oh, and what are you going to do about it, hmm? You won't kill me; you want something from me, don't you? That's why I'm hanging here enjoying this lovely view."

Dean grabbed Sam's arm and roughly pulled him away from Alastair before he turned to Castiel. "Cas, I'm gonna need some torture equipment. Anything that you can think of that will put a demon through hell."

Castiel nodded. "Yes, I will return shortly."

With a flutter of wings, and a barking laugh from Alastair, Castiel vanished.

Alastair began whistling in the creepiest way Sam had ever heard and Dean walked right up to the demon.

"Dean…," Sam began, not wanting his brother near the creature.

"I'm fine Sam, don't worry," Dean stated tersely as he continued to walk until he was standing in front of Alastair.

"You might not be so disappointed once I'm finished with you," he addressed the demon, his voice short and cold.

"Dean, Dean...I'm not afraid of you," Alastair replied in a sing-songy voice that made Dean cringe. "Sure you had a lot of talent, but you're rusty now. You wasted all that skill...for what? For that piece of shit brother..."

Dean practically pounced on Alastair, his teeth bared as he choked the demon with one hand and held Ruby's knife up to his eye.

"Don't you dare talk about him, you scumbag. You leave him out of this!"

Alastair just smiled evilly. "Nice try Dean-o but you're not fooling me. You don't care about that kid; you can't. I erased any feelings you had for him when I carved you into a demon, into a monster."

Now it was Dean's turn to smile as he slid the blade down Alastair's face, cutting into his skin and causing the wounds to spark.

"You're so damn confident in yourself aren't you? Well let me tell you something, asshole. You failed. You failed at turning me into your perfect creation. Want to know why? Because I love that damn kid right there. I know you can see it but you'll never admit to it….because that would mean admitting to the fact that you couldn't completely break me. I see right through you and you're terrified of me."

Sam always knew hat Dean had still loved him, it was plain obvious. But hearing Dean admit to it right then even though he was a demon, with no hesitation, only confidence, filled Sam with happiness. Just hearing Dean say those few words meant the world to Sam, and if they weren't in a serious situation, he might have just hugged his brother right then. The comment didn't have the same effect on the white eyed demon, however.

"The last thing I am is scared of you, you're a pathetic excuse if a demon," Alastair hissed but it was obvious to both brothers hat he was struggling to find a nasty retort.

"Maybe I am," Dean admitted. "But I'm different from any other demon and that fucking freaks you out. You know how to deal with the common demon, but you don't know how to deal with me. I'm a demon that can still love and that makes me all the more motivated."

Sam could tell that his brother was keeping his word and being careful of not going too far. But when the torture tools arrived, Sam feared that Dean might get too carried away. Alastair's comments were also only bound to get worse, and Sam didn't know how much Dean could take before he snapped.

Alastair chuckled. "That so called love that you speak of makes you vulnerable, Dean. It makes you weak, just like I always knew you were...breaking so easily in hell..."

Sam couldn't take it any longer as he interrupted the hated demon. "Really? Because I think...I know it makes him more powerful. And you can call him weak for breaking but he turned demon for me...and he never lost what makes him my brother. I don't see anything weak about that. What I see is you trying to make excuses for failing so bad."

Luckily, Sam was saved from Alastair's probably wicked remark when Castiel reappeared….with a table full of tools that looked like they would come from a horror film.

Dean glanced over at the table and then coldly smirked back at Alastair. "Well then, let's get started."