Chapter 32

From the Journal of Bobby Winchester

I know I'm lingering for too long on the distant past and this journal can only hold a finite number of pages and I still have many thousands of years left to tell. But our return to Hell has always been one of my fondest memories. It always made me think of you, Dad, I think you'll be especially fond of it.

When I slunk through the doorway into Hell, Crowley followed me closely. Nearly right behind me. The palace towered over us, oddly bustling with life. A fierce fire was blazing in the towers and the grand doorway was haphazardly barred. Handpainted flags flew from windows seemingly at random and waved high at the peak of every roof. All the flags were the same, a golden flower on a white field.

Looking over my shoulder I raised an eyebrow at Crowley, "Do some redecorating while I was gone?"

He glowered menacingly at me laughed, "Crowley?" I asked, trying not to giggle, "Those flags are for me. Is this why you turned up in a forest to save me in leathers that were already dirty? Did they drive you out?"

"I left of my own accord."

I rolled my eyes, "You gonna tell me why or do I have to ask one of them?"

He barked at me harshly, his anger worn thin, "They thought it was my fault you left! They accused me of banishing you to take a new queen. Did you think you could - "

I cut him off, a growl low in my throat, "That is why I left, King Hades."

He snarled a ravaging demonic snarl, his eyes blazing red, "My fault?! You left of your own accord. I made a necessary deal with Aphrodite."

"That you never asked me about! You went behind my back with some other broad!"

He laughed cruelly, "Behind your back? I never made you any promises, sweetheart."

I straightened my back and smiled thinly at him and let my voice drop soft and low, "I'm going to return to my palace, Crowley."

He barked at order, "You'll tell the guards your leaving had nothing to do with me."

I laughed sweetly, "I'll do no such thing, but I will tell them to let you back in."

"How generous of you, why wouldn't you rule alone if you're so angry."

I leaned forward and breathed my reply into his face, my eyes shaking in anger but my voice was clear, "Becuase, Crow, what better king could I ask for than one who knows that in a pinch Hell will fly my banner and throw you out the door?" Before he could reply, and he looked nearly too taken aback to form any sort of response, I turned my back to him and marched to the door.

I knocked hard and called, "I like the flags!"

At once they began to hastily remove the blockade and flung the door wide. The hall was packed with my soldiers and guards, most of them giving me unrestrained smiles and deep bows. Cheers and yells of , "My lady is returned!" followed me up the grand hall, at the doors to the throne room I greeted my captains with soldierly hugs.

Gilgash beamed at me, "My lady, when you fled we feared the worst. What shall we do with...King Hades?"

I raised and eyebrow and gave Crowley a long imperious look, "He made a crucial misjudgment, but he is the king still."

The soldiers stepped back, imposing less upon him. But the warmth they with which they had greeted my return died in a tight circle around him where the soldiers turned cold and stoic.

I turned back to Gilagash and Enkid, "I have a task for the two of you. The most important task I could ever ask."

They leaned forward, eyebrows furrowed, "There is an enemy rising more fierce than even Zeus and his legions. They are small, for now, in number, and we must keep them so. Gather your finest and meet me in the Throne Room in an hour."

They nodded at me brusquely and clipped off, leaving me to be led to my throne in a flurry of excited soldiers.

My feminine golden throne stood in the center of the room, my crown waiting atop it. Crowley's larger throne of dark metal was entirely destroyed. The metal twisted away in an inglorious heap. I stepped over it on my way up the dias to my seat, I placed the elegant crown softly upon my head and retook my throne. Crowley left standing, glaring darkly.

XXXXX

Crowley was flummoxed. He was loathe to admit a mistake but it may have been more effective if he had waited a bit to plan what he would do in the past before he rushed off with a bound up angel in tow. The trick was how damn involved he was in her time. He could stop the Winchesters from helping her and, in the future, the world would end, he would crawl barely alive out of Hell, find his new young lover and run off to the past to craft Hell in his image. This wasn't a bad option.

It, of course, had a wrinkle. When she saw him in the coffee shop she had looked like she had seen a ghost. He had a suspicion that the two of them had an adventure that he did not survive. He furrowed his brow. Stopping the Winchesters would restore what was written in the journal, but it wouldn't buy him any extra time with her. What was it to him if she died after he was already gone?

He could also, of course, go to nearly his own time, steal her black knife and kill the Hellion himself. This wasn't his favorite option. It would require a large risk on his part, after all, if the Hellion had killed her he wasn't a fan of his own odds. He also suspected that although she had seemed shakily taken with him, being with the younger past version of someone you had been with for centuries might become tedious and awkward.

He was leaning toward his third option. If he were to kill Castiel before he could become the first Hellion, he would prevent the world from ending. Then, he could get rid of Dean to keep him from filling her head with hunter ideas and pick her up after a few years of maturing.

Unhappy with his choices, he gave his angel vehicle a kick for good measure and settled down to think.

XXXXX

From the Journal of Bobby Winchester

Enkit and Gilgash had brought the very best soldiers, there were ten of them, five under the direct command of each captain. They stood before my throne at attention. With a click of his fingers Crowley had repaired his throne and sat by my side, although the Captains and soldiers seemed to be doing their best not to acknowledge him.

I told them of the Hellions, how hard they are to kill, how devastating their attacks, how ruinous their breeding. I left out that I was a human girl thrown from the future into a time in which she did not belong. I left out the power grab I had made and the accident that had landed my excuse for godly powers. But I did tell them that the Hellions harvested the power of a child to take them into whatever time they wanted to go and how important it was to find them the moment they arrived. I did not tell them that I had murdered that child and devoured his heart to come here myself.

They listened in silence, only occasionally glancing at each other. Finally, when I had given them all I would, Gilgash addressed me, "My lady, you task us with hunting the earth for these creatures, finding them at all costs, but you say only you and...King Hades...have the weapons to defeat them?"

I nodded, "You'll be given a team of Hellhounds for the purpose and anything you need."

Enkit looked uncertain, "And you believe a few dogs and twelve soldiers will be enough?"

I laughed, "No, Captain, I asked you to choose the best so that I could make them commanders of legions. All of the armies of Hell will be hunting them. It will be your task from now into perpetuity." I leaned forward to press home my point, "These creatures destroy the underworld. They will devour the heavens and lay waste to the Earth. Compared to them, all other enemies are mites to be swatted. This is the only important thing."

They looked at me solemnly and nodded.

I stood suddenly, a fire in my eyes, "Swear it. All of you. Swear that you will not fail me. Swear that you will fight these beasts until you draw your last breath."

They did not waiver. They did not hesitate. Each of them swore that they would follow me even after my death. They swore that they would not abandon their post even if Hell abandoned them. They swore they would not forgo it, even if they had not seen a Hellion or heard my breath in ten thousand years. And when asked, the rest of the legions of Hell swore it too. To a one. Without reserve.

I remember their names, I wrote them down.

XXXXX

Crowley's heart grew colder as he perused the list. He had begun to read his copied pages in lieu of making his decision, in hopes that something would become clear as he read.

He knew some of these names.

And none of them were demons with any remarkable loyalty.

Of the ones familiar, they were unambitious and flaky. Unreliable. They disappeared while carrying out orders and he had always suspected more than one of them of never calling him 'King' without at least a shadow of sarcasm. He wondered if they had recognized him. Of course they had recognized him.

Obviously what he had taken to be abandonment of duties was them remaining loyal to their old vow. They had been hunting Hellions. He knew the duty was important but he also felt that as the rightful King of Hell he should have been told about it. He burned that thousands of years later, her throne abandoned, they were still more loyal to her memory than to him. He had earned his throne.

What about the damned girl had made them so loyal? He had not had a day pass in his reign that he was not quashing rebellions and uprisings and she had soldiers willing to die for her, he was counting abandoning a task set by him as being willing to die, long after any threat she posed was gone.

XXXXX

Dean peaked up over the edge of the road, peering at the bunker door some twenty yards away. He looked back at Cas who was in the ditch, looking up at him, "We could just go and tell us."

"I am not sure that is wise, Dean."

"Its not like this is our first rodeo, Cas, we've been time travelling on angel mojo before."

"Did it work when you tried to save your mother?"

"Your confidence is inspiring, Cas."

Dean dropped back down and sat in the ditch, "So we can pick her up when I die, or we can keep my from dying. But anyway, we gotta take care of the Hellions."

"We should not do anything until Gabriel and Sam get back."

Dean leaned back against the grassy ditch and closed his eyes, "I screw up my kid's life Cas."

"Dean. I have been by your side through the apocalypse. I dragged you from Hell."

"What's your point, ,Cas?"

"I know you, Dean." Cas said, demanding his attention, "Whatever happened to your child, you gave it everything that you had to help her. You are doing it right now. Even before she is your daughter you won't abandon her to her fate."

Dean's mouth tipped downward, "I screwed up, Cas. She grew up alone in the bunker. She married Crowley."

Cas took Dean's chin and forced him to look at him, "Dean. You were murdered by me. If it is anyone's fault that your daughter's childhood was destroyed it is mine. If being killed is a crime against your child then why are you not angry at your mother?"

Dean blinked at him, "Well, Cassy, I guess I can't argue with that one."

"And about marrying Crowley," he continued, "You were killed when she was no older than eight, it is my understanding that humans consider that too young to talk to their children about boys."

Dean laughed at that and Castiel released his face.

"Doesn't matter," Dean said shorty, "I'm fixing it."

AN: A little shorter than normal but YEY rescue mission. Will Dean save her from the hardships she has faced? Or will Crowley restore her as his Queen of Hell?!

Don't forget to review. Because I love them and they make me go all smiley.

Thanks for reading! I've been having so much fun making something that other people seem to also think isn't terrible!