Authors note: Thanks to everyone who has followed and added this bad boy to their favourites. It's truly encouraging. I have diverted quite a bit from the original story lines here, though I guess that's the beauty of fan fics is that you can do that! So don't hate me for it please! and please do comment if you can, it always keeps me motivated and makes me really happy to know that people are enjoying what I'm doing (or equally gives me things to improve on too which is also awesome!).

Thanks for reading.

Chapter 15

Zoe stood quietly watching the two remaining police officers kneeling on the ground. Sasha was still nursing the wound on her head and refusing to look at any of the others despite Tyreese's attempts to help her. Rick and the others had only just walked through the doors when Zoe had explained what had happened, she hadn't had the nerve to shoot the man and even though Rick had told her he didn't blame her, she still felt guilty as hell. It didn't take long before Rick came storming back into the loft, his eyes menacing as he stared at the two kneeling on the floor.

"I take it you heard the gunshot?" he rested his hands on his belt and waited for an answer.

The two officers shared a quick glance before the female spoke, "no idea what you're talking about."

Rick nodded slightly, his eyes still boring into them, "I don't want to start fights here, I want to get my people back and be on our way. One casualty is more than we bargained for, so for everyone's lives, can we agree that your officer was taken by walkers."

There was a long silence as the two shared a lingering look, "that's what we saw. Nothing anyone could have done to stop it."

Rick gave the two a brief nod before turning to face his own group, "we need to get a move on this. We can't waste more time than we already have."

Sam was just putting the last few nails into the board on the door when Crowley appeared on the bench behind him.

"Ah Moose, putting those strong antlers to work I see."

Crowley barely even blinked before Sam was standing over him with Ruby's knife at his throat and the heavy hammer raised above the demon's head.

"Calm down Sam," the younger Winchester balked at Crowley's use of his name, "I'm not here to start fights or cause damage. I'm here to ask your help."

"My help?" Sam had to supress the laugh that rose to the back of his throat, "why do you need my help? You already stole my brother and sentenced him to a fate worse than death."

"He's out of control Sam," there was a sincerity in Crowley's voice that Sam hadn't heard before, "he's made alliances with Zoe's brother and I am… concerned, he'll make the wrong choices."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Sam lowered the hammer, though kept the knife steady where it was.

"I want you to convince him that he can do better," the demon said with a sigh.

"Better? You're better are you?" Sam tried to suppress the annoyance and humour in his voice.

Crowley's eyes narrowed as he stood, "I'm better than that little punk. And your brotherly affections might just be enough to pull him from this little spiral."

Sam shook his head slightly, his thoughts running rampant as he tried to get a handle on what was happening, "no way. He's a demon Crowley. You did this to him, you turned him, and he's your responsibility. You fix this."

The younger Winchester turned to walk away, his heart hammering in his chest as he went to move.

"That's what I am trying to do Sam," Crowley's voice rang out in the church, cracking slightly as he stuffed his hands in his pockets awkwardly, "I'm trying to make this better. Trying to get this boy back to something that resembles the demon I wanted him to be."

"Wanted him to be?"

"Yes."

Sam folded his arms over his broad chest, "and what sort of demon, exactly, was it that you wanted my brother to be."

Crowley let out another long sigh, "the kind that helps me annihilate that little bitch Abaddon and then spends some time in Hell with me, you know, doing all the fun things; torture, maiming, that sort of thing."

Sam's face seemed to fall a little as a slow realisation sunk in, "you wanted a friend?"

"Please Moose," Crowley scoffed, "I wanted a lackey."

Sam raised his eyebrows and nodded, though he didn't believe it for a second, "sure."

"Are you going to help me or not?" Crowley asked impatiently.

Sam took a long moment to consider it. He knew full well if he went there to try and convince Dean that he didn't have to go down that path he wouldn't turn back into a human, he would still be demonic and Crowley would get what he wanted. Though Sam couldn't stand by and willingly let his brother be turned into a heinous monster either. As their Dad had said countless times to him in the past, 'the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing' and he couldn't just sit by and do nothing. It was Dean after all.

"Fine."

Dean's disturbingly bright green eyes watched as the officer went sailing down the elevator chute, the young girl standing beside him looking less traumatised than he had expected as the body hit the ground with a sickening thud and the sound of hungry zombies came floating up to greet them.

"Fantastic work you two," Tobias said with a devilish grin as he came through the double doors at the end of the hallway, "I never would have expected you to pull that off."

Lerner was leaning against the wall breathing hard, her hand resting on her ribs as she stood up straighter and spoke directly to the young man, "did you plan this Sir?"

Tobias rounded on her, his eyes like two black pits as he walked closer to her, "what do you think officer? Would someone like me plan this sort of a stunt?"

The woman's eyes wavered slightly as she tried to match his gaze, "I don't know Sir, it seems a little evil that someone would willingly have another person attack them and then have that person pushed down an elevator chute."

Tobias folded his arms over his chest and gave her a smile, "evil. I like that word. It seems oddly fitting for this situation, don't you think?"

Dean grinned behind Tobias, his face almost distorting into something sinister looking as Lerner remained silent, her eyes glancing between the two men. Beth remained stock still, her expression blank as she watched the situation unfolding before her. Something was wrong with what was going on, it wasn't the same as when people did bad things, this felt bigger, darker and no matter which way Beth looked at it, she couldn't shake the feeling that this was going to get way out of hand.

"I think this is probably more messed up than I care to realise, but you do run this compound so who am I to question Sir," Lerner said in a clipped tone.

Tobias's eyes shone with a menace that sent a cold shiver down the woman's spine. He casually walked right up to her, his hands coming to rest on the wall on either side of her head as he leaned forwards.

Lerner kept her eyes downcast, not daring to meet his gaze as he spoke, "I think what you care to realise and what you understand a very different things. Do not make me do something I'm going to regret."

Dean found his eyes going to the words etched into Tobias's arm, his stomach knotting again as he watched the clear show of dominance playing out before him. Beth remained where she was, unwavering and seemingly unperturbed by the whole thing, until she turned to Dean and whispered, almost totally inaudibly, "you have no idea the kind of evil in this place. Don't let him do this to us. Don't let him win."

Dean was about to reply when Tobias's voice rang out in the hallway and brought him back to the situation at hand.

"Now," Tobias pushed off of the wall and came to stand straight once more, "everyone get out of here, we have work to be done."

Without even a backwards glance the two women walked out through the double doors and back into the hospital wing.

"Got to keep them in line right?" Tobias said turning to face Dean with a grin.

"Nice trick getting them to get rid of that idiot though."

"People are gullible, that's how I got to this point. Trust me Dean, the things we will be able to accomplish once I get this world under my control, nothing is beyond us now. We have the entire world at our feet," the younger man clapped his hand down on Dean's shoulder with a fearsome smile. Dean returned the smile though something wasn't sitting right with him Beth's words rang out in his head like gunfire and yet for some reason he didn't bother telling Tobias.

"You coming or what?" Tobias was already standing at the doors, his hand poised on the handle as Dean shook himself from his little day dream.

"Yeah," and without a second thought he wandered out of the hallway after the other man.

"I've got two of your people and you have two of mine, it's simple, I want them back, and I'm willing to make a trade for them," Rick was standing out in the open, his hands on his belt and his gun at his feet as he waited for the two new officers to make a move.

The two men shared a fleeting glance before looking back to Rick, "we can't afford to lose more people. How do we know you haven't killed those two officers?"

"You're just going to have to trust me, Licari and Shepherd are safe and I'll bring them to your hospital to make the trade, if that's what it takes," Rick replied icily.

The two exchanged another look before one of them shrugged and nodded in an almost defeated sort of manner, "fine, bring them to the hospital and we will make a trade. If this turns out to be even in the slightest bit off though, trust me, we will kill you and your band of brothers too."

Rick met their gazes, his eyes unwavering and filled with a primal sort of rage, "you can try."

And without another word he gave a nod to the team positioned up on the buildings before bending down to pick up his gun and holstering it once more.
"We'll follow you there."

Sam took a few more shuddering breaths to try and stop the rather vacant contents of his stomach from coming back up.

"You Winchester's aren't good with travel are you?" Crowley was leaning against the wall next to Sam as he hesitantly straightened up.

"Shut up Crowley," though there was no real venom in Sam's retort, "where's Dean?"

"Right this way baby Winchester," Crowley nodded down the hallway, pushing off from the wall and falling into step with Sam as he started towards the doors at the very end of the corridor.

The two had barely gotten halfway down the hall when they were met with the sight of Zoe and the others walking towards them, two police officers they had never seen before following behind them.

"Sammy?" Zoe's eyes practically lit up as she broke into a half jog towards the younger Winchester, stopping almost instantly when she saw Crowley, "what's going on?"

Sam was about to reply when Dean's voice echoed down the hallway behind him, "he's here to try and save me."

Sam turned to face his brother standing barely even five metres away, "Dean."

"I told you if I got you here unharmed I'd get to cut your little heart out," Dean gave Zoe a heart wrenching smile, his eyes going the scarily familiar pitch black as before, "and look at that, here you are."

Zoe went to speak though found her voice getting caught in the back of her throat, her eyes going wide as Tobias stepped out from one of the rooms, coming to stand beside Dean. In amongst the brief exchange Crowley seemed to have completely disappeared leaving Sam to fend for himself with the rest of the group.

"Ah Zoe," his voice was as smooth and cold as polished steel, "it's good to see you again sister."

She felt her hands tremble slightly at her sides, the hospital staff coming out into the hallway with Carol in a wheelchair and Beth standing behind her. Zoe's shoulders slumped forwards a little as the full weight of the situation hit her, her eyes going from the scared faces of those hospital workers behind the boys and back to her brother then to Dean.

"Now what?" she whispered, a cold line of fear trailing down her spine.

Dean's usually handsome face twisted into a menacing, twisted grin as he slid the first blade from his belt, Tobias speaking for him "now," her brother's eyes flared a demonic red, "you get to be my sacrifice."