This one is pretty short, but hey! We're getting to the real plot!
Hope y'all enjoy!
"What I really want to know is: Is it possible for Crowley to move Hell?" Buffy asked, finally cutting off Dean's tales of torture, her brows raised, looking between the hunter and Cas, "Spike's demon says they're at the Bronze, correct?" She looked to Spike who nodded, "But Crowley is most likely to be hanging out in his throne room... So is it possible that his throne of Hell is now at the Bronze?"
"This town is a Hellmouth." Castiel said, "It's quite possible that after the merger, his throne room relocated here."
"So he's been hanging out at the Bronze this whole time? How did we not see that?" Dean rubbed the back of his neck.
"Could be in the basement..." Buffy suggested, pouting slightly.
"What are we waiting for?" Spike asked, ready for action-though what he really wanted was to get the whispering out of his head, he didn't like it.
"Should we-" Buffy looked to him with sorrow in her eyes, "Exorcise him?"
"The demon could prove useful..." Castiel began, but exchanged a look with Dean.
"But it could take over at any moment and then we'd be screwed." Dean finished. Buffy breathed deeply and shuffled slightly where she stood.
"So what do we do?" She asked, the stake on her person began growing heavier with the weight of possibility; she could have to stake Spike at any moment, and what would happen if the demon chose that exact moment to vacate Spike's body? Then he'd turn to dust and she'd be left with nothing but a pile of what might have been.
That thought really messed with her, what might have been? With Spike? No, she shook it off, there was nothing at all going on with her and the vampire, the kiss meant nothing. Though it did feel rather good, it wasn't their first after all.
"Uh, Buffy?" Dean asked, waving his hand in front of her face and snapping her out of whatever reverie she was currently in.
"Sorry, huh?" She asked, blinking at the hunter.
"We said that we should set him up in a devil's trap till we return with everyone." Dean repeated the statement that Buffy had missed as she was remembering what Spike's lips felt like against hers.
"Sure." She shrugged, they turned on Spike who scoffed.
"Come on! I could be of help! You might need me more than you'll need him!" He motioned to Dean but instead of agreement like he'd been expecting, he merely incurred more of the angel's wrath. Blue eyes bore into him and next thing he knew he was standing in the middle of a weird looking design as the others left his crypt and slammed the door behind them.
"Bollocks." He groaned.
Sam awoke to the sounds of Willow shouting, it was clear that she was crying as she said expletives he'd never heard come out of her. He tried to sit up but found that he was strapped down to something and could hardly wriggle around at all.
"You're crazy!" Willow screamed, Rowena laughed.
"Oh dear, you have no idea." She said, Sam strained his neck to see them. Willow was tied to a chair to his left and Rowena was standing in front of her, book in hand.
"What do you want with me?" She asked, "You have enough power to do this yourself."
"I know I do." Rowena smiled and blinked her perfectly cat-eyed lids, "But what I don't have, is the potential for darkness that you do."
"What?" Willow blanched, she'd never been told that before in all her time practicing magic, no one had ever told her that she had darkness.
"It's true! Why, there's so much power radiating within you, if you just let it in, you'd be magnificent!" Rowena nearly giggled, Sam scoffed and she looked to him, "Oh look who's awake!"
"Rowena!" Sam shouted and then coughed as he felt a weight pressing against his chest, though he saw nothing on top of him, it must have been a spell.
"It's a hex bag, Sam." Rowena corrected his thought, "You'll be dead within the hour."
"Why make it last that long." He strained.
"I want to hear you suffer." She smiled at him one last time before redirecting her attention back to Willow.
"I won't do it." She muttered, looking sadly at the younger Winchester wishing that she could free him of the spell. Rowena smiled ruefully and pulled her face forward so their eyes met.
"It's cute how you think you have a choice."
"Tell me what I want to know and this will all be over." Crowley shouted at Tara who cried through the pain of being cut again. Dawn had woken up and was screaming at them to let her go.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Tara shouted, she couldn't possibly fathom why Crowley would think that she knew what his mother was planning. She didn't even know who his mother was.
"You're a witch, she's a witch. Surely there's some connection that you've all established with one another!" He shouted, huffing as he slammed back onto his throne. The pain finally stopped however as he waved Hans away. Tara sniffled and tried to straighten up, but the pain in her back was too great, "She killed two of my best when she stole Moose and your girlfriend."
"That's not our fault!" Dawn shouted, "She's your mother, you control her!"
"Quite the mouth you've got, little one!" Crowley shouted, "Shut it, or you'll be next!" Dawn whimpered and pulled her knees into herself.
"You won't wanna do that." A voice echoed through the room, Crowley stood up, exasperated that his security had once again been breached, "You touch her, I'll kill you slowly."
"Ah, slayer!" Crowley shouted into the room, though Buffy was nowhere to be seen, "Come to join us, I see."
"Really, Slayer?" Tara turned, wincing as she did so, to see Buffy burst into the room, holding a demon at knife point. Or a blade. She was holding some sort of long silver blade, "Are you really gonna jump on that bandwagon, now?"
"It's what everyone else shouts, innit?" Crowley raised his brows and laughed, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Oh, y'know, was in the neighborhood, thought-I haven't been to this Hell yet, might as well take a look. And what do you know? I found a Jonathan!" She pressed the blade deeper into the demon's throat, "He was the one you sent to scare us, wasn't he? The one you sent to tell us that you had my sister."
"And he's an imbecile." Crowley sighed, standing from his throne, "Why isn't he just smoking out?"
"Cas taught me this really cool sigil, binds the demon to the vessel. No hope of smoking out."
"Do you think I care about him?" Crowley asked, "Honestly, you could kill him right now, and I wouldn't care. As a matter of fact..." He stepped forward and before Buffy could react he thrust a blade of his own through Jonathan's heart, she stumbled back from the flickering body, blade turned, ready for a fight.
"You took my sister and my friends." She looked around the room and her eyes landed on Tara's bloody back and she sucked in a breath, her rage growing inside of her; she was going to kick Crowley's ass.
"Where's Sam?" Dean and Castiel had finally made it into the room, their blades stained with the blood of demons that were unfortunate enough to get in their way.
"Not here." Crowley growled, not looking away from Buffy, he knew if there was to be a fight, she would be the one to watch, in fact, he was looking forward to fighting the slayer.
"What do you mean, not here?" Dean demanded, heading for Dawn to untie her.
"I mean, my mother has the book of the damned, so she's running amok and screwing up my kingdom!" The king of hell shouted suddenly and Dean stopped in his tracks, remembering Rowena and the damn book, which reminded him of Charlie, which pissed him off all over again.
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.
"Why do you think I've been trying to possess as many vampires as I can, hmm?" Crowley asked, "She's been winning over all the defectors left over from Abaddon, they're trying to revolt."
"Against Hell?" Buffy asked, confused.
"No." Crowley sighed, "Against me."