Emily and Madison arrived at the motel before the boys and checked in under the aliases Ashley McCormick and Celia Fisher. Once they had their room keys, they began unloading their belongings from the Nova and took them into the room. They were soon settled in and had the tv going while they relaxed for the remainder of the night. The program on was Merlin, some British show about a young warlock living in a kingdom where magic had been outlawed. It wasn't either of the girls' ideal television show, but it was entertaining enough.
About fifteen minutes into the episode, the boys arrived and had brought dinner with them. Dean tossed each of the girls a burger while Sam handed them fries and a drink. Castiel, who didn't eat anything as he was an angel and had no need to, stood awkwardly by the door. He remained there for several minutes, his gaze shifting about the room in a manner that quite plainly showed his discomfort.
"Cas, get your feathery ass over here." Dean finally said.
And so Castiel did as he was told and moved to take a seat beside Dean. Unfortunately for Cas, sitting by Dean meant that he would also have to sit by Emily and taking into account their argument earlier that day, that was something he did not want to do. Personally, he felt she had overreacted, granted what he had said was by no means polite or gracious, but she hadn't exactly been mature about it either. He wondered if she was still angry with him. To satisfy his curiosity, he snuck a quick glance at her and was greeted with an ice cold glare. Apparently yes then. He then resolved to avoid looking in her general direction for the rest of the evening. Hopefully she will have gotten over it by then. One could never be certain though, humans were rather curious creatures after all.
"So what's the plan?" Sam asked. "I mean, we are dealing with Crowley here, we can't just waltz in and ask the guy what he knows."
"I don't see why not." Dean answered through a mouthful of burger.
"Are you serious?" Sam said with a hint of disbelief. "We'd be dead in a second, Dean. And either way, we all know he would wouldn't cooperate with us."
"Sam is right." Agreed Castiel. "Crowley would never give us information willingly."
"So what, you want us to kidnap him or something?" Emily cut in, her tone sharp and filled with pent up anger.
"Of course not." Castiel retorted. "But a valid threat on his life might suffice."
"Now we're talking." Madison chimed in. "I'm all for taking that punkass motherfucker down!"
"It's settled then." Dean said, finishing up the last of his dinner, crumbling the wrappers and throwing them in the trash. "We kick his sorry demon ass first thing in the morning."
Sam finished his meal as well and quickly cleaned up his mess. The Winchester brothers said their goodnights and headed for the door. Castiel, despite his earlier resolution, was now staring directly at Emily. Luckily, she was too caught up in what was happening on the television to notice him watching her.
As Cas turned to follow the Winchesters from the room, the last thing he heard was a voice from the tv say, "None of us can choose our destinies, Merlin. And none of us can escape it."
"How ironic." He chuckled bitterly to himself.
As the door shut, he cast Emily a final glance. Ironic indeed.
Night went and morning came all too quickly and soon enough the group was on the road again. Castiel had been able to discover the location of Crowley's hideout rather easily. With any luck, they had only a few minutes drive left before they would arrive.
No one could deny that they felt a little nervous about this endeavor, but Castiel had far more reason to be afraid than the others. He was the only one who knew just how much was at stake, how much risk was involved, the cost if they should fail. And he could tell no one. It was maddening.
They arrived at a large, abandoned warehouse. And if the crumbling exterior was anything to go by, it wouldn't be standing for much longer. Cracks ran along the outer walls of the building and down to it's base. Full, green ivy wound it's way through broken brick and the weather-worn, steel roof. The only part of the structure not in complete ruin was the thick metal door that closed the building's contents off from the rest of the world.
Emily and Madison hopped from the Nova and gathered up their weapons just as the boys were exiting the Impala. They started heading towards the building, with Emily in the lead. Dean, being of the protective nature that he was, reached forth a hand, pulled her back and stepped to the front of the line. When they reached the door, they found that it was open just a crack.
"I don't like this." Emily whispered. "It's too easy."
"I agree." Said Castiel. "Something's not right here."
"So you think this could be a trap?" Sam asked.
"I'm afraid so." Castiel nodded, his expression grave. "And we've walked right into it."
"We didn't come all this way for nothing." Dean glared at the open doorway, "Trap or not, we're going in."
With that statement, he yanked the door open and stepped over the threshold. Madison followed closely behind him. Before they knew what was happening, the door slammed shut with enough force to shake the entire building.
"Dean!" Sam shouted as he tried to pry the door open.
It was no use. The door refused to budge. Madison and Dean were trapped. A rustling in the bushes nearby alerted Sam, Emily, and Cas that they were no longer alone. A group of what must have been at least a dozen and a half demons leapt out at the trio. Their eyes were black as a starless night sky, and their bared teeth were whiter than freshly fallen snow. The two hunters and their angel companion unsheathed their weapons and braced themselves for the fight that was sure to ensue.
Emily was the first of the three to land a blow. Using the angel blade that she had obtained on a case a few years back, she tore through the flesh of a tall raven-haired demon with ease. She moved to strike a second of the black-eyed creatures and ended his miserable life just as quickly. Sam thrust his own blade forward, into the gut of an unsuspecting blond male demon. Castiel however, had been the only one of the three to notice that their little battle was being watched from the foliage by none other than Crowley himself. A quick glance at the mess of fallen vessels strewn about the ground was all he needed to assure himself that Emily and Sam could manage on their own. And so he made the decision to go after the King of Hell, alone.
The inside of the warehouse was pitch black and ice cold. The air smelled mostly of sulfur and blood, a rather sickening combination if truth be told. A couple minutes of banging and shouting at the door told Dean and Madison that they were indeed trapped inside this awful place. They resolved to move further inside, seeing as escaping wasn't really an option.
"Take my hand." Madison said quietly.
"Aw, is somebody scared?" Dean teased.
"No way, asshat." She retorted. "I just don't want you to get lost."
"So you do care. Really, I'm touched."
"Yes, I do care." Madison snapped. "I care that you have a shitty sense of direction and that Sam would kick my ass if I let you get lost. Now shut the hell up."
Dean couldn't help but smile as he took up her hand in his. God, she was an awful liar. Hand in hand, the pair crawled cautiously along the dank floor, using the grime covered wall as their guide. Slowly, their eyes began to adjust to the darkness. The inky black was almost preferable to the gruesome site that lay before them.
The remains of heavily mutilated bodies lay scattered across the stone floor. Both dried and fresh blood seeped through cracks in the ground. Here and there a mouse or rat sat nibbling contently on some of the more recent corpses.
"Well, shit." Madison muttered under her breath.
"You can say that again." Dean breathed.
"Well, shit."
"Shut up!"
Madison was about to protest before Dean pulled her into one of the larger holes in the ground. He pressed a finger against her lips, signaling for her to be silent. It took a moment for her to realize why.
The pitter patter of footsteps echoed throughout the dark room. They moved closer and closer, stopping once they stood almost directly over where the two hunters were hiding.
"I could'a swore I 'eard voices down 'ere!" A crude, shrill voice said.
"You was just imagining it, Duncan." A second, deeper voice responded. "There's no one 'ere."
"There was too someone 'ere, I 'eard 'em with m'own ears, I swears!" The one called Duncan insisted.
"Well I don't see anyone." The second voice said.
"They was 'ere, Shep, we just gots to find 'em." Duncan assured. "Jus' think what the boss would do if we was the ones to find those two buffoons."
Madison and Dean froze, they both knew that they were the "buffoons" these two beings were searching for. And if by "boss" those two meant Crowley, they were in trouble. Whatever that he wanted with them, they could be sure that it wasn't anything pleasant.
"He'd give us a right nice reward for sure." The one called Shep pipped. "What does 'e want with those two anyway?"
"I dunno." Duncan answered. "The important thing is we find 'em. Come on, mate, they can't 'ave got far!"
The footsteps began again and continued until they had faded into the distance entirely. Dean pulled himself from the hole and then proceeded to help Madison out.
"We have to get out of here." Dean said in hushed voice. "Cuz whatever Crowley wants with us, it ain't good."
Madison nodded and took his hand again. Dean shot her an encouraging smile and the two then continued their trek through the warehouse. Meanwhile those outside had other problems.
Castiel raced after Crowley, angel blade in hand. He chased him through a thick forest, bounding over small boulders and fallen logs as he went. He would have simply used his angel powers to catch up, but they had been warded somehow. The chase continued on for what must been miles until they came to a large clearing. Crowley stood in the center, a smug expression on his face.
"Well." He smirked. "If it isn't my favorite ball of feathers. Hello, Cassie."
"Crowley." Castiel said through gritted teeth.
"I take it you haven't come all this just way to chat." The demon king said, taking a step towards the angel. "So, tell me. What can I do for you?"
"For starters you can tell me where you found that tablet."
"Tablet?" Crowley pretended to look briefly confused before putting on a sudden look of recollection. "Ah, yes. The one about the Aestus wasn't it? A gift from a friend. Anything else I tell you?"
"How much do you know?"
"About the Aestus? Oh, I know plenty. Enough in fact, to know that it was worth risking my own life to get you away from that girl."
Castiel froze, "What did you say?"
"You heard me, feathers. The jig is up. I know what she is. And once I've got the key, all I need to do is find the lock and the Aestus is mine."
"This... This was a distraction." Castiel couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before.
Crowley would never put himself in any immediate danger, he was too much of a coward for that. Unless of course it meant getting ahold of the most powerful object in the entire universe. His only hope now was to get back to Emily before it was too late. He turned and sprinted from the scene, silently cursing whatever spell that damn demon had used to block his angel powers. Behind him, Crowley stood watching, a smug grin on his face.
"Off you go, little Cas." He said, amusement painting his tone. "Run and save your precious female before it's too late."