"Alyssa's gone!"

Dean bolted out of the room like it was on fire. Kat numbly followed after them, out to where they could see that all their cars were still in place.

"I have to go after her," Sam admitted, frowning at his car. "She left… a note. But it doesn't make any sense. Something's not right."

"What do you mean it didn't make any sense?"

Sam shoved the note into her hand before turning back to his room to go and pack. Dean glanced over her shoulder at the note.

Dear Sam,

I can stay here no longer. Thank you for your kindness and patience, but there is something I must do now. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'll call you when I can. Please don't follow me. I'm sorry I can't explain, I know this won't make any sense to you but… Trust me, okay? It's gonna be alright.

Love, Alyssa.

"What does she have to do?" Dean asked, staring at the letter intently.

"I don't think we're going to be able to learn," Kat sighed.

Dean didn't stand a chance, as much as he tried to talk Sam down, to get him to leave Alyssa alone. Sam packed up his duffle and left within ten minutes. Kat shared a troubled look with Dean and in twenty minutes, they had both packed up and left. Somehow, Kat knew this was just the start of it. The start of everything. From here on out, it was about to get messy and ugly.

Chapter Twenty-Seven, Red Flag

"We have a small problem," the demon blurted nervously once he got into the car.

"Like what?" Alyssa asked warily, watching him.

She didn't trust him. No matter what Crowley had said about how trustworthy this guy was supposed to be –there was something about him that gave off the wrong impression. Crowley was suave, snarky and darkly humorous. It made it easy to forget that he was the new King of Hell. He came off all-too human at times. Which just made him more effective as a demon and terrifying to witness when he exhibited his demonic presence.

"There's been a slight change in plans," he stuttered, fidgeting nervously.

"Which are?" Alyssa demanded crossly. They were already halfway to Minnesota just like Crowley had told them.

"We have to go to Pennsylvania…"

"What for?!"

"Crowley doesn't tell me that kind of information!" he snapped. "I don't know. We have to go there and we have to get there before the Winchesters do."

"What do you mean –before the Winchesters?!"

"That's all the boss said." He grimaced. "I'd suggest we hurry. I've got the plane tickets covered. Get to the nearest airport, I'll take care of the tickets."

Leaving so abruptly was probably one of the worst things Alyssa could have done to the Winchesters, but she had managed to evade them for the last month or so. With a lot of luck and her demonic-passenger's interference on several occasions. She wasn't positive on whether it was Sam who was tailing her so doggedly or whether it was Dean, and possibly Kat, but she knew that she didn't want to learn who it was that was so relentless. Either brother would likely be willing to kill her for working with Crowley, considering everything that had happened with Crowley, but there was no way she was going to risk going back to Hell.

And Crowley had made sure she understood exactly what he would do to her if she tried to fight back against him or tip the Winchesters off. It wouldn't be pretty. So she couldn't let them know. She'd left her cell phone behind in Nebraska, hoping that would throw off her pursuers. So far, she wasn't sure it was making a big difference. Everything they did was in the demon's host's name –some poor truck driver named Alonzo. Alonzo knew where everything was and how to best get there. It made it easier to get from place to place at least.

She pulled up to the first airport they came across in Minnesota and ditched Alonzo's car. Alonzo pulled out his phone, the payment for their tickets already gone through and approved. Alyssa found it easier to simply not think about the consequences of what she was doing, partly because she didn't know what Crowley's end game was and partly because she couldn't spend every minute afraid of what was going to happen next.

If she was moving, she was progressing. This made sense. To keep going and not look back. Hell had taught her a lot of things. Most importantly, Alyssa learned about everything she hated in her life. How terrible it really was to be trapped by fear, paranoia and old grudges. Lucifer had found it fun to torment her with the regrets she would never see fulfilled. At least now she was doing something. And she couldn't spare the time to think about the consequences. She handed her passport over, the one Alonzo had made back in Utah on their way here. Alonzo might not have been the most legal driver in the United States.

They were waved onto the plane and within a half hour they had left Minnesota behind and were well on their way to Pennsylvania. They had just disembarked when Crowley called Alonzo back.

"Yes? Wh- yes, of course, sir."

Alyssa grabbed their luggage, listening closely to the phone call.

"We'll keep an eye out, sir." Alonzo hung up.

"Well?" Alyssa asked bitterly. "Where to?"

Alonzo recited the address Crowley had given him. "He said we'd find our answers there."

Alyssa sighed, slinging her bag over her shoulder as Alonzo took his. They left, snatched the first rental car they came across and headed to the address. But they were too late by the time they got there. There were a few dead angels and there wasn't a single thing that could have been considered a weapon. Alonzo was the one who got to make the call. Crowley didn't much care for talking to Alyssa unless it was strictly necessary.

"What –he wants us to look for a rock?!" Alonzo snarled.

Alyssa raised an eyebrow at him. The demon did a good job dealing with his temper when it was with Crowley or Alyssa, but he seemed to have an issue with his superiors.

They first became acquainted with each other a month ago. Alonzo tried to intimidate Alyssa only to learn that she didn't intimidate so easily. And that she had learned a lot from her time in Lucifer's cage. It wasn't a surprise to learn that demons needed sleep. Alyssa didn't sleep very well or very much and she was surprised to learn that her body was unnervingly acclimated to this, but it had it's advantages. She waited until she knew Alonzo was asleep before she grabbed one of the silver knives she'd borrowed from Sam, dipped it in some holy water she had borrowed from the local church four hours earlier and made her point.

It wasn't that bad of a way to wake up, with a knife driven clean through the palm of his hand. There was worse that she could have done. Alyssa knew the timing too and had her hand clamped over his mouth before his agonized scream could alert anyone. She smiled down menacingly at Alonzo as he writhed underneath her. It was a little too easy to forget that he was still in a human body. Either way, the wound wouldn't kill him. It would leave an impressive scar though. Since then, Alonzo listened to her and didn't put up much of a fuss when she made any decisions.

"What is it now?" Alyssa asked warily, watching Alonzo distrustfully as he got off the phone.

She would have preferred to be doing this whole errand business for Crowley on her own, but he wanted to make sure that she wasn't collaborating with the Winchesters so she was stuck with Alonzo. He hadn't come to the house when Crowley had dropped her off, but that was because Crowley had slipped her a coin so he could hear what was going on at all times. She'd returned the coin when she met up with Alonzo and left the Winchester house behind.

"We're supposed to be looking for a rock," he sneered. "No idea what it's going to look like or anything. It's supposed to be some slab that was kept around here."

They searched the house. Every nook and cranny. Stepping over and around dead angels, they searched every square inch of the place to no avail. Alyssa was walking around, testing the walls to make sure there were no hidden rooms in the mansion when Alonzo decided to call it in to his superior. Near as Alyssa could tell, Alonzo was third in command in some chain that stretched a long ways out. Crowley was too busy to be handling everything himself as he was dealing with the souls and accumulating power for his purposes, but he had a second in command he apparently trusted enough to deal with the little things. Such as Alonzo and his dutiful phone calls once a day that he thought Alyssa wouldn't notice.

Alyssa couldn't help it though. She noticed every time he grabbed his phone and she was attuned to every move he made. She hated crowds with a passion and tracked every movement someone close to her made, instinctively preparing to be wounded. But no one and nothing had ever attacked her, even as they cornered the pitiful humans and Alonzo sealed their deal with a kiss. Alyssa's purpose was to attract the human, to convince or push them towards making the deal for ten years. Alonzo just had to seal it. Crowley called them a promising pair of business partners whenever he felt like it.

Alyssa knew that a hundred years ago –a year ago, up here –that she would have felt guilty over this. She knew that she was supposed to be feeling guilty even now over all of this. But honestly? She didn't know how. The people, when they were reaped and their years were up, they would go to the racks. Or they would wait in Crowley's line and go back to the start. It depended on what Crowley wanted to do with the souls and whether or not Hell needed more demons. The rack wasn't so bad. It was nothing compared to the cage. She had watched too many times, she knew what happened there. She knew what Dean had done.

And she knew what Dean would do if he ever learned about what she was doing now. That she felt no guilt over this. But she didn't know how to anymore. It was her or them. The Cage had no mercy. Lucifer and Michael would want their plaything back. Alyssa suppressed a shudder. She wasn't who she had been and it was better for everyone if they never saw her again. Sam especially. He was so human, so soft and emotional and Alyssa didn't know how to be that other person. The one he was expecting. The one he wanted.

Alyssa did not deserve Sam and his kindness. His tenderness. The way he never pushed when she pulled away. She didn't deserve any of it. She wanted it, still, a part of her sorely did and missed him. But he wanted to talk to her, to make sure she was okay with every hesitant touch and Alyssa flinched every time, remembering the blood splattered walls and Sam's lifeless green eyes. There wasn't enough she could give him and she knew it. He never pushed for more, respected her boundaries so absolutely that she could have sworn she was suffocating herself. She couldn't handle it. Leaving wasn't so bad even if it wasn't what she had initially planned to do. It was, however, exactly what she needed to do.

"Alonzo!" she called, as she rapped her knuckles against the wall and listened to the echo.

He waited for her to move out of the way, waving one hand that sent the panel slamming out of the way. A small alcove was exposed and tucked away in a glass case was a solid hunk of rock. It looked ridiculous. Unless that chunk of rock was made out of diamond or some other precious stone, what kind of idiot would place it on a velvet cushion under a fluorescent light like some valuable museum piece.

"Found it," Alonzo drawled into the phone.

In the next instant, Crowley was at their side. "Brilliant," he uttered, walking into the alcove.

He shattered the glass with his fist, grabbing the stone and gliding back out into the study. He set the rock onto the table, brushing his hand over it almost reverently.

"What is it?" Alyssa asked warily, eyeing the stone warily.

"The answer," Crowley chuckled. "Well, darlings, thank you for this opportunity. See you back in Minnesota. Little Abigail still needs dealt with, nice and quick if you would. Go on now."

Just like that, he was gone again. And so was the rock.