"Why do you keep showing up here, exactly?" Chuck laughed, glancing over at Kat. "This cannot be your favorite place to be, your best memory. And if it –never mind," he dropped that line of conversation really quickly.

Kat scowled at him. "Wish I knew, I really do."

Chuck sighed. "No word on the next prophet yet?"

"No, nothing." Kat had checked in with Dean, admitting that she had encountered Carver Edlund's series. Dean did tell her about Chuck then, in an aggravated way and she did a little research followed by checking in with Bobby. Not a single thing on prophets.

And then she was gone, once again, trapped in an empty, white room.

"You need to stop Crowley."

"W-what?"

"Go to Evergreen, Missouri. That's where he is."

"What am I stopping him from, exactly?"

"That is irrelevant. Stop him and then stop Alyssa."

Chapter Twenty-Eight, Just Give Me a Reason

"We are not taking on Crowley by ourselves," Dean snapped.

"I wasn't suggesting that," Kat countered. "I just… I think it's worth looking into."

"And your source? Who is your source exactly?" Dean pressed.

"Chuck Shurley! Okay? It's Chuck. He won't see anyone or-or talk to anyone but, it's Chuck alright?"

"And what'd he say exactly?"

"He just said that we need to go and stop Crowley and that we can find him in Evergreen, Missouri," Kat sighed heavily.

She had to come up with some excuse for Dean. It was the best one she could come up with. And on such short notice, it really was the best she had to work with. She would have loved to mess with the bastard who just kept sending her on these stupid missions, but the stakes were a little too high for her liking.

Dean sighed in exasperation. "Sam ain't gonna stop for this."

"I know," Kat replied quietly.

"Can you call Chuck? Get him to be a little more specific. He's easy to intimidate."

Kat smiled at Dean's earnestness and squashed down her feelings of guilt. The further Alyssa was from them, the safer she was anyways. "Chuck did mention something about Alyssa being there too…"

Dean pulled out his phone and called Sam. Whatever consequences they were going to throw at her, she could deal with it then. The further Alyssa was from their knowledge and vicinity, the safer it was going to be for all four of them. Assuming Kat could even follow through with the orders. Which she was having a hard time understanding. The threat of what would happen to Dean and Sam was rather terrifying and unfortunately worthy of motivation.

By the next day they were on the road. Kat didn't find it unusual or painstaking to spend all her time with Dean. In fact, she was rather used to it. Even falling into a routine and organizing a sleeper and driver schedule felt almost natural as they left Indiana behind them.

Kat watched the scenery as they drove by, contemplating her betrayal and where it would leave her. She had broken Dean's heart once before. But she had never lied to him. If Sam had been the one doing all this, Dean would have been suspicious because Sam lied all the time. Kat hated lying, probably as much as Sam did. But until now, there had never a circumstance that required her to lie to either Sam or Dean. And Dean was going to be furious. Sam would be too, only he would be a lot more hurt about the whole thing. He was trying to save Alyssa from the demon she was with, but near as Sam could tell, Alyssa wasn't even trying to fight back. Sam needed to try and get her alone, by getting the demon out of the picture.

And here I am, Kat mused, taking him away from that. Sure, she hadn't been forbidden from telling Sam or Dean about the entity but she had a feeling it wouldn't go over well. Dean would want to kill Alyssa. He would be ready to believe the entity and Kat just wasn't so sure of this. Sam wouldn't believe her, or Dean for that matter and he would fight for Alyssa until he realized the truth. Whether it was the truth Alyssa presented him with or the one Kat did, would be the source of too much conflict. It was better to lie, for now, than to potentially rip the Winchester brothers apart.

If they ditched Kat, she could live with that. It would be down to her versus Alyssa and neither brother would have to know. They put each other before anyone else. Dean would die for Sam; he would die to save Alyssa. At heart, Alyssa was a good person and currently Dean didn't need to know anything to prove his suspicions correct. Likewise, Sam would die for Kat in order to save Dean the heartache. Alyssa would die for any of them –she already had.

If Kat had to kill her, and did end up doing so, she didn't want either brother to think less of Alyssa. Assuming Alyssa truly was a mindless pawn of Crowley's as it was beginning to appear… neither Winchester needed to know the truth. What mattered was the person Alyssa was before she threw herself into Hell for them. Sam's guilt would have him diving after her, desperate to save her from herself. From Crowley, from whatever it was. Alyssa had taken his place and Sam could never let another bad thing happen to that girl.

Kat knew it just as Dean knew it and neither of them were willing to see both of their family go down. The tricky part was going to be finding Alyssa before either brother found her, after they ditched Kat. This was not going to be easy or pleasant, but it had to be done and the less they knew, the better off they were going to be.

They arrived in Evergreen only two hours before Sam showed up. They were in the process of mapping out where Crowley's hideout was and how to break into it when there was a knock on the motel door. Dean looked up, glancing between Kat and Sam.

"You guys didn't invite anyone else did you?"

Kat shook her head.

"Maybe it's Alyssa?" Sam offered weakly, stepping away from the table. "I'll check."

Sam had barely opened the door before Alyssa was marched inside. She appeared far too calm for her situation, considering there was a knife at her throat as Meg followed her inside, three other lackeys backing her up.

"I don't remember inviting you in," Dean growled, reaching for his gun.

Meg smirked, "Funny, I don't remember being asked." She pressed the knife in tighter against Alyssa's throat. "I found this one wandering by herself. Thought maybe you'd be more… welcoming if I brought a friend."

"What about the demon she had with her?" Kat asked, despite herself, watching the four demons expectantly.

"Killed him." Meg shrugged casually. "He was no friend of mine."

"You know, I've really been dying to see you, Meg," Dean growled, glaring at her.

"Well here I am big boy. What should we do next?"

"How about I shoot you to bits?"

"Kinky, I like," she drawled, tightening her grasp on Alyssa. "But I believe there are some negotiations to go over first."

Dean scoffed, "What? You got one hostage."

"And back up," Meg smirked as her lackeys stepped forward. "Pretty sure you wouldn't risk this little thing."

"What do you want exactly?" Kat snarled. "I don't think you just came here to flaunt your little captive or to flirt with a taken man."

"Taken?" Meg almost looked surprised, peering at Kat. "He's yours? Honey, you better keep him on a shorter leash." She grinned, all teeth and no mirth.

"Okaaaay! Meg, what do you want exactly?" Sam interjected smoothly.

"I want Crowley. Heard from a little birdie you're headed there now." She glanced at the map spread on the table. "Looks like my source was right."

"Yeah, well we need him too."

"You get us what we need from Crowley, he's all yours," Sam cut across. "You let Alyssa go, we've got a deal."

Meg scoffed. "Soon as I let her go, Dean's going to shoot me and then the four of you will turn on us."

"You want the same thing as we do. We all want Crowley. The bastard kidnapped me and sold me out to Lucifer, we all want a piece of him," Alyssa offered carefully. "You let me go, they won't touch a hair on your head."

Alyssa glanced between the three of them. Kat reluctantly nodded. She would rather see Meg dead. And from the looks of it, so would Dean and Sam. But Sam nodded cautiously and Dean begrudgingly gave his nod of approval. The minute Meg let go of Alyssa, Alyssa grabbed the demon's arm, wrenched it back and yanked the blade from her. In the next second, she had driven the blade hilt deep into the nearest demon lackey Meg had brought along.

"Thought you said you wouldn't hurt a hair on my head," Meg ground out through clenched teeth.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't realize that hurt," Alyssa offered icily as she yanked the blade from the dead lackey's stomach. "He killed Alonzo. Fair's fair. Now either you agree and we take you to Crowley, or we kill you here and now."

"Fine, fine. Keep the thing." Meg put her arms up. "Just lead the way."

The weird thing was that it took until then before Kat processed what had just happened. Alyssa had just killed a man in cold blood without flinching. Granted, it was a demon, but still. Dean shared a glance with Kat and in that moment she knew that whatever it was he was worried about had just been proven a little more true. Sam still looked kind of shell-shocked, standing by the door, his eyes glued to Alyssa.

"So where is it we're heading?" she asked innocently, pivoting on her heel to check out their map.

"We're not sure just yet," Sam offered quietly.

Alyssa scanned the blueprints, following the lines with her eyes. She placed her finger down on the middle sheet of paper. "It's gotta be here. This looks like a compound –see the shape?" She traced along the outlines. "My grandfather was an architect and while this may say it's a factory, I guarantee you this is where Crowley's going to be holed up."

Alyssa paused, looking around all of them.

"That's really good to know," Kat exhaled reluctantly.

"We can enter here the easiest," Alyssa added, pointing to a side door on the outline.

Sam had wanted to be prepared, so they got the blueprints for the buildings in the area. There weren't many, two or three and they had been taking bets on which one would have most likely housed Crowley. Alyssa was right though, Kat realized as she looked over the blueprints. It had the right shape and size, it seemed like just the place Crowley would hole up. The other two buildings were smaller and too far apart from the asylum. This one had the perfect distance to it, keeping it separate and private for whatever nefarious purposes Crowley was getting into.

He must have been doing something pretty heinous to attract heaven's attention. Whatever her mysterious entity was, he was clearly not demonic at all. Considering to get to the guy, she had to cross through Chuck's heaven every single time he summoned her for a little dream, he was definitely located upwards and not downwards.

"Well let's go then," Alyssa stated, stepping back. "Surprise is our best weapon, right?" She smiled at Sam as she said it.

"Cute," Meg taunted them.

Also weird, Kat noted to herself. Alyssa had just killed a demon bare-handedly and was only now stopping to credit Sam with some form of strategy? It made no sense. Interestingly, Alyssa also didn't seem to be bothered or concerned about the fact that she had just killed a man. What the hell happened to her when she was in Hell?

Meg and her lackeys went first, made sure the entranceway was clear enough for Sam, Dean, Kat and Alyssa to follow. Alyssa kept the demon killing knife with her. When the snarling started, no one hesitated to run. Rather reluctantly, but heroically, Meg was the one who offered to stay behind and deal with the problem. Her lackeys too, stayed at her side.

As they raced down a flight of stairs, they stumbled onto the man of the hour. And in the next instant, four demons grabbed them from behind, pinning their arms behind their backs.

"I'd say it was nice to see you, but… it really isn't," Crowley shrugged. "Now's actually a bad time, honestly."

"The hell are you up to Crowley?" Dean demanded gruffly, glowering at him.

Crowley chuckled, "Sorry to disappoint, but I won't be giving any monologues today." He waved his hand at the demon guards and walked the other way.

They struggled and they fought the guards, but their guards had the upper hand. Surprise and strength didn't make for an easy escape attempt, in any capacity. Alyssa was the only one who wasn't fighting, like she had already accepted her fate. Dean was tossed into the first room the guards came across. Sam fought harder, throwing his weight around as he tried to unbalance his guard only to have the other guard with free hands grab ahold of him as they hauled him down another corridor, away from Kat. Alyssa shot Kat a worried glance, even as her guard carried Alyssa in the same direction as Sam.

So one chapter to go after this one, and it'll go up next week.

It's a bit of a cliffhanger, so sorry about that.

School's getting busier. Four assignments due in the next week not to mention that I'm getting field experience 8:30 to 4 every day, which means less time to type and all that.

I really hope you guys like the direction this is going. Tell me what you think?

:) See you next week.