It took a while to track Anna down now that she was short a human vessel, but Harry was nothing if not creative. He'd offered to make her a recreation of her human vessel for a price and she'd readily agreed as she couldn't make much contact with the physical world as she was. Harry was starting to understand why demons had it so easy in convincing humans to sign away their souls. Everyone wanted something it was just a matter of finding someone with enough conviction to fight for what they wanted.

Harry would happily admit that he hadn't heard from the Winchesters in quite a while. A fact he was cherishing. He had had quite enough of the two with their dopy expressions and constant nagging. He was much happier without them around thank you very much.

It was only a month or two after Harry had made Anna's vessel that some disturbing news started to filter through his information channels. Angels were dying. Left and right humans were finding unexplained corpses with the strangest imprints of wings behind them. It was the sign of an angel killed while in a human vessel and it didn't bode well for Harry.

Angels didn't make up a particularly large portion of his clientele, but they were rarely killed by the weak willed. If there was something out there killing angels that meant he was in danger too. Contrary to popular belief he could die, but the road to a permanent, or perhaps semi permanent was a more apt description, death for him was much more unpleasant and complicated than it was for most others and he wasn't keen on seeing hell again so soon.

"Harry."

The voice sounded out of place in his office. He wasn't used to visitors of the heavenly variety. Well, unless you counted Gabriel, and Harry certainly didn't. Still he put on a charming smile. "Castiel." He said leaning back in his chair. "What brings you here?"

"I'm sure you know." Castiel answered without meeting Harry's eyes.

Harry let his head tilt to the side. "You seem different." He said examining the angel. Castiel still refused to look at him straight.

"The angels." Castiel said moving toward the window, most likely to give himself something to stare at besides Harry.

"I assume you mean the dead ones." Harry said leaning back.

Castiel nodded. "We need information."

"Then you've come to the right place." Harry said gathering his papers with a smile. "What do you want to know?"

"Is it a demon?"

Harry scoffed. "You and I both know the demons don't have the skill set or the know how to start killing off angels." His voice was cynical. "That was a stupid question so I won't charge you for the answer."

Castiel nodded as if he had anticipated, yet feared that answer. "We have Dean getting answers right now."

"Dean?" Harry asked incredulously. "How? Wait…my answers aren't good enough?"

"We captured Alistair." Castiel said ignoring the second part of the statement. "Dean is…"

"Torturing him?" Harry asked filing away his paperwork. His tone was nonchalant but his expression was dark. "I've heard about him you know. I hear a lot of things in my line of work. Hell, if a person of interest so much as sneezes I know about it, and let me tell you Castiel. Dean is most certainly a person of interest."

Castiel looked caught somewhere between shocked and uncaring. Harry knew it was a front.

"Do you really think it's wise?"

"What?" Castiel asked nonplussed.

"Letting him torture Alistair." Harry said plopping back into his chair and pouring out a small bit of scotch. "The souls of men are easily twisted. It's how demons were created in the first place. He, in particular seems weak."

"Weak?" Castiel seemed curious about Harry's assessment.

Harry glanced up. "How long do you think I spent in hell Castiel?"

Castiel didn't answer. Instead he seemed to want to think of anything besides that.

"Hell isn't an easy place to exist. There's fire, hooks, razors. Every horror you could imagine packed into a tiny shoebox of unpleasantness." Harry said knocking back his drink and lining up another. "I don't blame him for cracking."

"Then why call him weak?" Castiel seemed genuinely curious.

"Because all men are weak Castiel. It's the way your beloved God made us." Harry said 'god' with disdain. "But Dean, Dean is the physical embodiment of desperation. The kid sold his soul because his brother couldn't ride around in his car solving mysteries with him. Harsh, I know." Harry added when he saw Castiel open his mouth. "But if you think from a logical standpoint it wasn't Dean's giving into Alistair's offer that led to the first seal breaking. It was his making the deal that sent him to hell in the first place."

Castiel had no counter to that. It was the truth.

"Now, I recommend you go have a little pow-wow with your angel buddies and talk about which one of you is going about offing the others. It's obvious one of you is doing the killing. Stop…" Harry said when Castiel made to argue. "I don't really care about your denial. Start thinking instead of being blind and maybe you'll see the truth before it slaps you in the face. I'm tired. Good night Castiel."

He snapped his fingers and Castiel was gone. He wasn't particularly tired, but talking with the angel was giving him a headache. He had to admit though, the guy was growing on him.

Three weeks passed in which Harry was able to do his usual business. He happily obliged the part of him that liked the repetition of paper work. It wasn't often that he was able to do stuff like this himself. Usually he was jetting all over the country looking for priceless objects or selling information to a broker. Lately he'd been cleaning up messes from the Winchester brothers too, adding to his work load.

At first he hadn't been sure why he found himself drawn to the two idiots. He wouldn't be obligated, under normal circumstances, to respond to a call from one of his business cards. In fact, he usually didn't respond if he found the person particularly distasteful. Once again fate was stepping in, and he meant that literally. One of the three fates had paid him visit a week ago to inform him that she wanted him watching the Winchesters. Why? Well, supposedly they were messing with destiny. Screwing up her time charts in a literal sense.

Harry had all but booted her from his office when she'd demanded he 'march his ass down there and kill them now' like she was his boss or something. He'd proceeded instead to pour himself a scotch and verbally berate her for at least an hour. The 'fates' had royally screwed him in life, even if he was quite content with his current position, it wasn't like he owed them any favors. Besides, even fate couldn't demand action from death. Death was sort of a rule all.

And 'death' was a good title for Harry. No, he wasn't the 'death'. He didn't run the show. He was more like a guide. Think reaper, but visible to humans and with a grudge against the world. There was a reason angels feared him, demons too. Humans…well, they seemed blissfully ignorant to his powers. Which was probably why his best business came from humans, and why it was so easy to get what he wanted from them. They were weak willed and with a few temptations thrown their way they were putty in his hands.

Harry felt a twinge, letting him know someone had activated one of his calling cards. With a sigh he leaned back and stretched. No need to rush after all. Good things came to those with the virtue of patience. He gazed to his paperwork, nearly done, on his desk and shrugged. The call could wait a few hours right?

Harry straightened his suit as he landed just outside of a large skyscraper that marked the skyline of Columbus Ohio. He raised his eyebrows. Who the hell would have called him all the way out here? Eying the tall building he shrugged and stepped inside and eyed the interior. It was nicely decorated, if a bit plain for Harry's taste. He certainly looked the part to be there in his suit. He glanced around for a familiar face.

Sirens wailed outside and then Harry found himself in the middle of rushing paramedics. He stepped to the side allowing them to pass into the elevator. He watched the small numbers light up one by one after the doors had slid closed. When they stopped he smiled. "May as well follow the commotion. I doubt it's unrelated."

He hadn't expected what he found. The body of a nondescript Caucasian male lay drenched in his own blood in a bathroom. A pencil was wedged firmly in his carotid artery. The guy had superb aim if he'd done that himself, but it wasn't the dead man that attracted his attention. It was one of the men stood off to the side talking with the police. His striped shirt and suspenders nearly made Harry laugh. It looked out of place on the normally ruggedly dressed man. No, Dean Winchester certainly didn't pull off suspenders well.

Behind him, in the hall, Harry spotted the gigantic Sam watching with pensive eyes, but something seemed off. Harry watched them closely for a few minutes before the staff started to disperse to their own workrooms again. Harry was sure they were far from done talking about the event, but they couldn't stand around all day if they wanted to keep their jobs. Harry watched Sam leave, then Dean. With a shrug he set out after Sam. Not a single person stopped him either. When you acted like you belonged some place, people usually thought you did. So Harry settled in near the elevator and only when he thought it would suspicious if he lingered any longer with no purpose did he throw up an invisibility spell.

Much to his surprise Sam seemed completely engrossed in his work and some scribbling on a notepad he kept glancing at. Harry frowned. Something was definitely wrong, but he couldn't put a finger on what. Sam's phone rang and a few seconds later the man was grabbing his things and heading in Harry's direction. Harry stepped onto the elevator as the doors slid closed watching as Sam hit the '22' button.

The ride up was short and silent with Harry still under his invisibility. They stepped off together and Harry trailed along after the giant man as he made a bee line for office 2208. Sam knocked as he walked through the doorway and Harry got a glance at Dean buttoning up a fresh shirt. He smirked. At least the bold blue stripes and the suspenders were gone.

"Come in. Shut the door." Dean said making his way to his desk.

Sam followed his brother's instructions before turning back and looking a tad nervous.

"Who the hell are you?" Dean asked glaring.

Harry nearly choked on his own breath. What the fuck did that mean?

"I'm not sure I know." Sam answered shifting.

"What the hell does that mean?"

Sam moved forward a bit. "Sam Wesson. I started here three weeks ago."

Harry tried to push down the surreal feeling of the scene.

"Alright. You cornered me in the elevator talking about ghosts. And now..."

"Now what?" Sam asked curiously.

A pause on Dean's end as if he was deciding whether or not to admit to something. Clearly he decided not to.

"Now nothing. I, uh...so you started working here three weeks ago, huh?"

Sam nodded with a frown.

"Yeah, me too."

"Alright. That's enough." Harry said dispelling his invisibility. "I've had enough of the surreal 'It's a wonderful life' talk."

"Holy mother of-!" Dean fell back clutching his chest and staring at Harry as if he'd just stabbed a man.

Sam was just staring at Harry wide eyed. "You…you're…"

"I swear to god if you tell me my own name I'm going to take up batting practice with your head. What's going on?"

"You just appeared out of thin air!" Dean said incredulously leaning over his own desk then he flopped back in his chair. "I can't believe it. Ghosts are real."

"I'm not a ghost you twit." Harry spat. "But thank you for the run down on my activity log. I'll get back to you the next time I need help remembering what happened two seconds ago."

"I've seen you before." Sam said, head tilting slightly to the side in recognition.

"Brilliantly observant aren't you."

"In my dreams." Sam added.

"I'm flattered." Harry said flipping a hand haphazardly. "Now then if you don't mind I'd like to figure out why you called me here so I can leave. I don't particularly feel like standing around all day waiting for you two to stop day dreaming. It's a waste of my free time."

Sam's brow furrowed. "I didn't call you." Harry turned his gaze to Dean who waved his hands.

"Don't look at me. I don't even know who you are…or what you are."

Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Fantastic." He muttered. "Someone's tampered with your memories."

"Tampered with…what the hell are you talking about?" Dean asked indignantly. "No one's tampered with my memory. My dad's name is Bob, my mother's name is Ellen, and I have a sister named Jo. I was born in-"

"Wrong." Harry cut off. "You have a father named John. Your mother was Mary and you don't even have a sister."

"Who are you to tell me that my-!"

"I'm your worst nightmare if you don't stop talking Dean Winchester!" Harry spat angrily and the lights flickered a bit.

Silence reigned the room until Sam spoke up.

"That last name…what…did you call him?"

"Winchester?" Harry said eyebrow raised.

Sam nodded hand going to his chin. "I've heard that before…"

"Gee. Might be because it's your last name genius. Now sit down." Harry pushed Sam just hard enough for him to fall into one of the arm chairs in front of Dean's desk. "Don't move."

He pushed two fingers against Sam's forehead and looked him directly in the eye concentrating. He sifted past the altered memories. There weren't many, just enough to make someone buy that they'd lived a sheltered life. If Sam tried to remember things from his early childhood he would have struck the wall separating his new life from the old. Harry touched the wall feeling the energy run through the mental connection and grimaced pulling back.

"Fucking angels." Harry spat moving away from Sam.

"Angels?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Yes. Try to keep up. I don't care to repeat myself."

"Angels did this?" Sam frowned. "Like the one in my dreams? Ca…"

"Castiel? No." Harry supplied. "No, this is beyond Castiel's capabilities. You know, you two have a habit of pissing off extremely powerful people. Maybe you should stop."

"They didn't piss me off." The door to Dean's office was opening to reveal slightly pudgy older man. He had a grin on his face like he'd just won the lotto. "Not yet anyway."

"Zachariah." Harry said eyebrows raised. "I thought I smelt overconfident douchebag when I walked into this building, but I thought 'nah, he's too busy fucking things up in heaven to be here'. Nice vessel by the way. Very age appropriate."

Zachariah's grin didn't vanish. In fact he seemed even happier at the sight of Harry.

"I'm so confused." Dean said gripping his head and leaning against his desk.

"Dean, Dean, Dean." Zachariah said moving toward the man. When Harry made to move the angel twisted his hand and Harry's neck followed the movement twisting to an odd angle. His body dropped haphazardly to the floor. Sam let out a startled gasp.

Zachariah tapped Dean's head before he could jerk back. Immediately memories flooded back into his head.

"What the hell?" Dean said blinking. "Why am I wearing a tie? My god am I hungry."

Sam stared between the two in confusion.

"Welcome back." Zachariah said perching on the edge of the desk.

Dean took in his surroundings eyes coming to a rest on Harry's body on the floor.

"Don't' worry about him." Zachariah said standing. "He'll be up and about in no time. It's annoying really. I still haven't found a way to kill the bastard."

Dean blinked. "You're an angel?"

"Zachariah at your service."

"Great. Like I needed another one of you guys." Dean tried to catch Sam's eye but his brother seemed preoccupied with the dead body in the room.

"I'm hardly 'another one' Dean. I'm Castiel's superior."

"And what? You've come to have a divine intervention?"

"Well for one I came to fix your attitude problem." Zachariah offered.

"I don't have an attitude problem. I have a people fucking up my life problem." Dean said shaking his head. "And what? This is some sort of lesson?"

"I'm sorry." Sam finally spoke up. "What the hell is going on?"

"Ah, Sam." Zachariah said rounding on the man. "I completely forgot you were there. An unfortunate oversight. Let me correct it." He tapped Sam on the head and the man collapsed. "Calm down Dean. He's just unconscious. Honestly you two get so up in arms about each other."

"Gee maybe it has something to do with the guy you just killed in cold blood not five minutes ago!" Dean countered.

"He's not dead." Zachariah corrected. "Or at least he won't be in a few seconds."

True to his prediction Harry gave violent twitch on the ground before pushing himself up. He glared at the angel before spitting out a large gob of blood and saliva. "Ow." He growled jerking his head to the side and hearing a satisfying crack.

"So what was this test supposed to be about?" Dean turned the conversation back on track. "How much power you have over our lives?"

"On the contrary," Zachariah held up a finger. "It's about your destiny. It's about how you would have become a hunter even without your dad dragging you into it. It's in your blood Dean. No heavenly assistance needed. You and your brother, you'll find your way to hunting every time in the dark. You're miserable without it."

"Fancy speech and all, but if you didn't realize it's a moot point." Dean ground out. "Seeing as you zapped us here in the first place."

Zachariah threw his hands up. "Come on Dean. Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Sorry I must have left it back at the hotel you abducted me from." Dean quipped earning a half amused smile from Harry.

"I think this pleasant chat's just about over, don't you?" Harry said and he flicked his hand. Zachariah was gone instantly as if expelled from the room by the movement.

"What did you do?" Dean asked looking around as if the angel would just shift through the floor or something. "I wasn't done asking questions."

"I'm sure he was done giving answers." Harry said with a glare. "You're not going to get answers from them Dean. I wouldn't even try. Angles may not lie very often but they're perfectly able to twist the truth and exclude facts. Now where did Zachariah steal you from? I'll be nice and drop you off on my way home."

Harry glanced up from his work briefly acknowledging the presence of the angel in the room. "You shouldn't be here Anna."

"I know that." She said shifting feet.

"No, clearly you don't…because you're here." Harry said setting down his pen. "Your vessel is being watched for."

"How haven't they found me yet?" Anna asked looking at him intently.

Harry sighed. "That's a secret Anna."

"I need to know."

"No! You don't!" Harry snapped before he could reign his temper back in. He rubbed his forehead. "I'll look for a new vessel for you. In the mean time I need you to go back to the facility."

"Why? So you can keep me prisoner?" She asked bitterly.

"Really Anna?" Harry's voice turned sour. "Prisoner? Because most watchmen allow their prisoner to walk off unwatched? Take what you can get Anna because it's either this or whatever the angels have planned for you. Personally I'm starting to think you're more trouble than the ring's worth."

"You know the seals are going to break and you're not going to do anything about it?" Anna spat just as angrily.

"I'm not doing anything because there's nothing I can do you dolt!" Harry shot back. "No matter what I do, no matter how I try to affect the outcome the seals still fall!"

"You could warn Sam and Dean!" Anna said passionately. "You could tell them about the final seal."

Harry shook his head. "What part of 'the seals still fall' aren't you comprehending. If I tell him he still kills her. It's just for a different reason. The way I see it I'm sparing him the guilt of knowing what he was doing. He won't die Anna. The angels won't allow it. You know that. They'll make sure the seals break."

Anna looked properly abashed and a single tear slid down her cheek. "You care don't you?"

Harry gave her a disgusted look.

"I can tell."

Harry didn't glance up but his hands shook as he poured a glass of scotch. "Bloody angels." He muttered and nearly dropped his glass when Anna placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." She said tenderly. "The weight of the world has already rested on your shoulders once. It's unfair of us to ask for that again."

Harry shrugged off her hand. "That was lifetimes ago."

Anna nodded. "Still, I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't seem to cut it kiddo." Harry said knocking back his drink with a grimace. "If it did all of our slates would be wiped clean. Tabula Rasa even after our greatest mistakes. I can't ask for that."

Anna shook her head. "If anyone deserves it you do."

Harry scoffed. "Why? I've been trafficking items in the Americas for nigh on two centuries now, and that's just the tips of the ice burg. Not exactly holy material over here."

"That doesn't matter." She said before sighing resignedly. "I'm going back."

Harry said nothing as the sound of fluttering wings filled his office.

He nearly dropped his glass when his wards went off signifying Anna was in mortal peril. Couldn't he get a moment of peace? He apparated, still holding his glass and frowning intensely. He felt his anger flare when he saw what lay before him. Anna was stood several feet from Castiel an angel on either side of her. Harry stepped forward lightly touching the angels on the back on the neck. Their vessels collapsed.

"Honestly Anna what happened to laying low?" Harry said shaking his head in irritation.

Castiel simply stared at Anna so Harry snapped his fingers and the woman disappeared. Castiel turned his gaze on Harry. "Where did you send her?"

"Somewhere safe." Harry said massaging his temples. "The blithering idiot would probably have a better survival rate if she didn't go about contacting the people who want her dead."

"And them?" Castiel nodded to the downed angels.

"Temporarily incapacitated." Harry said with a shrug.

"I had no ideas your powers had evolved to this point."

Harry frowned. "When you've been around as long as I have you learn a few tricks."

"So I've noticed…You can't keep protecting her."

"A warning or a threat Castiel?" Harry said expression turning dark. "I don't take well to threats."

"A suggestion." Castiel amended. "There are no others like you in this world, but the angels do not seem to care if they have to wipe you out. They've actually encouraged it, and the ones who would see you dead have been trying to find a way to make that happen. It would be a…shame to see you fall."

Harry's face softened a bit. He could sense true emotion hidden just beneath Castiel's gruff exterior. "I believe you are in need of a suggestion more than I am Castiel."

"I am?"

Harry nodded. "Soon, everything will change. Everything you hold dear will crumble. When it does you'll seek solace in places you'd never considered before." Harry's eyes closed seeing flashes before them. He opened them to see a confused angel. "Don't fall to the wayside Castiel. The humans need a protector, not a god. See that you don't forget."

Castiel studied his face and nodded disappearing moments later, but Harry knew his warning was in vain. None of his actions had ever altered the course of a vision before. Castiel would fall, and he would try to drag those he found guilty with him. He would turn his back on humanity eventually. Harry shook his head and snapped his fingers sending the unconscious vessels to a random spot in Michigan. Better to leave them somewhere that they couldn't link to their memories to confuse them.

He turned transporting himself back to his office. Anna was there sitting in a chair and fidgeting.

"I warned you that the angels would do anything to catch you." Harry said with a sigh. "They don't want you to leak valuable information."

She stood and began pacing. "I had to go. Castiel released Sam."

Harry tilted his head. "I'm failing to follow your logic."

She hesitated. "Dean locked Sam in a panic room. He's been drinking demon blood."

"So I've heard." Harry said a tinge of regret coloring his voice.

"Dean put him in the panic room to break his addiction. Castiel released him."

Harry leaned forward kneading his temples.

"He was following orders, but that's-"

"Anna." Harry said calmly and she stopped talking. "He was following orders."

She opened her mouth to argue but he cut her off.

"It's quite obvious how you feel about taking orders, but Castiel hasn't realized the things you did yet. He's trying desperately to believe that he is following the word of God."

"That doesn't make it right!"

"No, but it was necessary."

"Necessary?"

Harry tapped his head. "The final seal will fall tomorrow Anna. Sam had to be out of the panic room for that to happen."

Anna sent him a loath filled glare. "You want the apocalypse to start."

Harry shrugged. "It will whether I want it to or not. I may as well get what I want from the mix."

Anna glared shaking her head and then she was gone in a rush of wings. He sighed.

Harry stood watching the convent in Maryland. He was just close enough to see the light flickering through the tinted windows. Just close enough that if he wanted to he could pop in and say hello before the world went to hell.

He snapped his fingers conjuring a chair for him to sit in. His mind was torn on the subject, and the constant mental debate was driving him mad.

"You're here?"

Harry didn't turn to the sound of Anna's surprised question. "And you're not captured by the angel patrol squad yet. I think we're both surprised."

"Why are you here?"

"Honestly?" Harry said raising an eyebrow and letting the question hang there for a moment. "I don't know."

"You feel guilt." She said.

He was surprised that the word seemed to fit with the emotion he was feeling. He hadn't felt guilty about anything in a long time.

"You want to help them." Anna said.

Harry sighed staring at the convent in the distance.

"There's still time. You should go."

"I've never been able to change the course of a vision before Anna."

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't try."

He turned weary green eyes on her. He studied her there for a moment. "Why aren't you trying to help?"

"Something is keeping me away." Anna said bitterly. "I thought it was you at first."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll keep that in mind."

The halls of the convent were lined with corpses and broken glass. Harry suppressed a shiver. The place just felt evil. He would never understand why someone had thought it a good place to build a church. Morons.

Pounding echoed through the halls and Harry followed it. It wasn't long before he came upon a frantic Dean Winchester trying his hardest to open a set of wooden double doors.

"Sam!" Dean cried out running at the door with his shoulder. Needless to say the door didn't budge. Dean then tried kicking it before a hand caught his arm dragging him back. "You?!" Harry gave him a small eye roll before flicking his fingers at the doors. They parted quickly slamming against the walls inside with enough force to make them rattle. Dean rushed past him calling for his brother. Harry strode calmly into the room a sense of foreboding overtaking him.

"Sam!" Dean called again stopped by some unseen force though Harry had a good guess that it was the demon standing next to Sam who was keeping the older brother at bay. Sam had a hand out, body turned away from the two new arrivals, but at his brother's entrance he had turned, confused.

"Sam!" the demon Ruby called panicking. "What are you waiting for?!"

"You turned yourself into a monster…and now you're not going to bite?" Lilith's voice rose over all else in the room somehow drawing Sam's attention back to her. "I'm sorry, but that's honestly adorable."

Harry watched Sam's hand raise. He could let this happen. He could let Sam kill Lilith and start the apocalypse. The bitch certainly deserved no less than death, but something in him wouldn't let him take a back seat to this. He ran forward shoving Sam and breaking his concentration just as Lilith had started to spark in that all too familiar way that signified a demon was dying.

He hit Sam and the two went sprawling across the floor. He caught sight of Sam's eyes and reeled back. Solid black looked at him. What the fuck had Sam done to himself? He didn't have time to think about it as a piercing pain hit his back and then he was finding it rather hard to breath. He twirled as fast as his rapidly diminishing senses would let him and saw Ruby just inches behind him, hands bloodied and poised in such a way that let him know that she'd just stabbed him with something. He made to hit her with something, anything but his mind locked on his lack of oxygen and he found himself spluttering as blood forced its way up his throat.

He hacked, acutely aware of what was going on around him. Lilith was free of whatever hold Sam had had her under and she and Dean were struggling with something that Harry couldn't quite make out. Sam was first at Harry's side in confusion and then he was rushing to help his brother. Harry let out another cough feeling like his lungs were on fire. It wasn't a feeling he was unfamiliar with. He could feel Ruby rushing at him preparing to take what she thought would be his death blow. She was probably more startled than she let on when he caught her foot and twisted causing a sickening crunch. "I'm not….dead yet… you fucking… bitch." He hacked out.

But he'd recovered too late and he knew it. He heard the scream but didn't want to turn and see his failure with his own eyes. Still, he had to.

Lilith was laying on the floor looking more shocked than she probably should have given the circumstances. She'd known her death was coming after all.

"You did it." Harry heard Ruby say behind him and suddenly he couldn't keep his balance any more. He hit the floor on all fours. Was it just him or was the air in this room made of jello? Why the hell couldn't he breath? "I mean…it was a little touch and go there for a minute, but you did it."

Harry wanted nothing more than for her to shut up right then. He hacked again and was both surprised and unsurprised to the fine spray of blood hit the floor. "Fuck." He forced out.

"Ruby, what's going on?" Sam said his voice laced with panic. Hell Harry started to panic when he saw blood staring to worm its way across the floor in his direction, but it only passed him and kept going. "What…what did I do?"

"You opened the door." Ruby said ecstatic. "And now he's free at last! He's free at last!"

"No, no, no, no, no." Sam pleaded. "I stopped her. I killed her."

"And so it is written that the first demon shall be the last seal. And you busted her open Sammy." Ruby said a bit too smugly. Harry swore if he were capable he'd stand up and stab her through the chest right now.

"You don't even know how hard this was! All the demons out for my head. No one knew. I was the best of those sons of bitches! The most loyal! Not even Alistair knew! Only Lilith! Yeah, I'm sure you're a little angry right now, but, I mean, come on, Sam! Even you have to admit-"

Harry forced himself to his feet in the middle of her little monologue and grabbed whatever it was she'd stabbed into his back earlier. It dislodged and he saw a short dagger very similar to the demon killing one Dean had in his possession but none of the same enchantments. Without a forethought he reached around plunged the knife through Ruby's chest and into her heart.

She let out a startled little cry and he could feel her body shake a bit. "That won't work." she choked out.

"Want to bet?" he replied just as unevenly. He poured power into the blade, reveling in her screams as she started to spark. She became dead weight suddenly and Harry couldn't hold her up. He stumbled falling onto his side. He opened his eyes and suddenly he realized where he was laying. He was still in the circle Lilith's blood had been forming. Dean was making his way over, for what Harry was unsure. Harry forced himself to his knees blood dripping from his chin. "Stop!" he yelled at Dean just before he could put a foot inside the nearly complete circle. Something inside his head told him that would be a bad idea.

Harry shakily stood up even as Dean halted. Harry worked his way over, but wasn't fast enough. The circle completed itself and the blood began to slowly swirl inward to the center. He made to put his foot over the line to no effect. Something invisible held him inside. He focused on Dean who had noticed his inability to cross. "Leave." He said in as commanding a voice as he could manage while injured.

"How do we get you out?" Dean said looking around as if there was some clue.

"You don't Winchester." Harry said coughing and his knees gave out. "Leave. Now."

Sam was stood slightly to the side seeming a bit overwhelmed by everything. "There has to be some way!" Dean countered.

"There isn't!" Harry yelled and immediately regretted it when he saw black spots. He was sure he wasn't a pleasant sight covered in both his own blod and Ruby's. "Get out of here now." Harry voice was getting weaker and was it just him or was the room becoming hotter? "Now!"

Dean nodded once grabbing Sam's arm as the man looked a bit lost. "Let's go Sammy!" Dean yelled over the sound of the wind picking up around them. A bright light had begun to glow right behind Harry but the man seemed oblivious to it.

Sam seemed finally to snap out of his daze and his eyes settled on Harry kneeling there at the edge of the circle. "Dean!" Sam yelled gesturing at Harry.

"Let's go Sam!" Dean said forcing the weakened man towards the door. They didn't get very far before the light overtook everything.