Sam woke up in the middle of the night and heard Alex and Morgan talking to each other quietly. They were on the opposite side of the fire, so he kept his eyes closed and his breathing even.
"You left Cas?" Morgan was shocked.
"Yes. He doesn't deserve to be in this and it's going to get ugly. Might as well let him go now." Alex cleared her throat.
"Have you met Sam before?" Morgan asked Alex as the demonic brunette took a drink from her flask.
"No, I haven't." Alex glanced at the Winchester in question.
"You like him." Morgan smiled knowingly at her.
"No, I don't." Alex finished the contents of her flask, capping it angrily.
"Yes, you do. I can tell." Morgan nudged Alex with her elbow. "Let's talk about it."
"How about we talk about your crush on Dean?"
Morgan blushed and bit her lip. "Is it that obvious?"
"Just to me." Alex chuckled, tossing the flask on the fire. "A piece of advice? Don't get involved with someone in this business."
"We're best friends." Morgan reminded Alex.
"Yeah, but I'd still kill you in a hot second." There was a uneasy pause. "It's my nature."
"I know." Morgan toyed with the hem of her sleeve before speaking again. "Do you think that maybe you could fight being a demon? Can't you push it down or something? There has to be a way."
"Nope. At least, not a way I'm willing to take." Alex watched as the metal of her flask started to soften, liquidating itself to the whims of the fire. She smiled warmly at her friend. "You should get some sleep. We have a long walk tomorrow and you have to try to seduce Dean. It's gonna be a busy day."
"We can find a way, Lexi. We'll figure something out." Alex used her demon powers to conjure a sleeping bag for Morgan, smiling stiffly at her.
Morgan's breath deepened and Alex held her gaze with the fire as she said, "Don't you know it's rude to eavesdrop?"
Sam grunted as he sat up, brushing the dirt off his jacket. "How'd you know?"
"Demon." She said, as though it explained everything. John stirred when he heard Sam's voice but was snoring again a moment later. "There's not a lot that I don't know."
Sam brought his legs up and rested his forearms on his knees, clasping one hand in the other. "Do you know this is going to work? Closing the gates of Hell?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because it has to." Alex shrugged, finally making eye contact with Sam.
Sam held her gaze for a long moment then took a deep breath. "Can I ask something?"
"Will you keep it to yourself if I say no?"
He chuckled. "No."
"Then ask away." Alex sighed and pulled her hair loose from the thick braid.
"Why close the gates now?"
"Why not?" She replied simply.
"There has to be a reason."
"Maybe this is all a trap and I'm going to leave you all to the mercy of Alistair." She smirked at what seemed to be an inside joke. "Maybe I'm doing it for personal reasons."
"Sounds like you're doing it to get revenge on your dad." Sam gestured to her stomach which had healed already. "I know he was brutal but it doesn't come close to what he did to my mom or Jess."
"Then you should want him locked up as much as I do." Alex snapped, jerking to her feet and stalking away, several yards from the group. Sam couldn't explain the pull he felt to get up and follow her.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Sam apologized. "But I just wanted to try to understand why-"
"If you don't want to help me, then get lost." Alex had her fist closed over the chain of her necklace, the charm hidden. Her voice was thick and rough and with the full moon, Sam could see that her eyes were red. "If you want to be the good little soldier that your daddy wants you to be, then go back on your crusade of anything that's not human." She dropped her necklace and closed the space between them, glaring up at him. "But don't you dare pretend that you know anything about me or my motives, got it?"
The moonlight fell on her necklace, which was an oval shaped locket, and the picture of the grinning blonde girl inside. Sam carefully closed it after a brief examination of the girl. "Who is she?"
"My sister." Alex yanked her locket free, tucking it into her shirt.
"Is she-"
"A demon?"
Sam only nodded.
"No. She's all human and has no idea about me, either." Alex licked her lips and took a deep breath. "Sam, you need to get out of this life. You need to get a-a beer gut and six kids and never look back."
"Why?"
"You just need to."
-0-
The Hellgate was impressive. A giant, wrought iron gate with a large, muscular man guarding it. "How ya doin', Lexi?"
"Perfect now that you're here." Alex purred to him. "Maxie, can you let me and my friends through?"
"Those are the-"
"There's a bonus in it for you if you don't mention them." Alex raised her eyebrows, running a finger down his chest and pausing at his belt buckle. Looking up at him through her eyelashes she said, "Do we have a deal?"
Max glanced from the group to Alex. "Fine, but I have an idea for the bonus."
"Anything you want, babe." Alex winked at him, showing the others through. When they were out of sight of Max, she made Morgan walk ahead of them. There was a large group of Alex's subordinates not far ahead. "Move it, human."
"Good goin', Lexi." A lecherous demon by the name of Tommy leered at her. "What's this one done?"
"Please, don't do this." Morgan begged convincingly. Alex glared at her, causing her to cough blood.
"What the hell are you doin?" Dean barked, moving to help Morgan. When he reached her, Alex released her hold on Morgan.
"Take them both to the dungeons. Keep them together. They might as well have some fun before they die." Alex ordered, catching the glare that Dean gave her as the pair were hustled away.
"This was not the plan." John yanked on Alex's arm, growling in her ear.
"Morgan was bait. Dean got antsy five minutes in." Alex countered. "He's good but headstrong. We need to be smart. Do you want to join him?" John didn't reply and Alex snapped, "That's what I thought."
John let out a breath with a huff and Alex added, "I know what you want from me and if you want it, then you will listen to me or you go with Dean. Now, if all the tantrums are over, we can get a move on."
A/N: Hello all! I hope you all are enjoying this story. The only way to know for sure is to leave a review so please do so! It lets me know that people are still reading and that I should finish the story. I love you guys!