35. Chapter 35

Disclaimer: Supernatural belongs to Erik Kripke, Warner Brothers and quite possibly others who are not mentioned here. No money will be made from this fan fiction.

New author's note: Christmas is kicking my butt. Things will be a bit slow chapter wise. It may be mid January before the next one. Sorry.

Summary: When Dean goes to sell his soul at the crossroads to bring Sam back, someone else steps in to negotiate the deal. Cas did get a sign and it sent him off into the past to change things. AU from The Man Who Would be King and All Hell Breaks Loose.

It's All in the Details

By Colleen

Chapter 35

Standing across the street from Niveus' Corporate Headquarters, Crowley watched for a few minutes as the angels took the place apart. He had to congratulate himself on his keen sense of timing, both for being and getting out of there at the most opportune moments. True, once he'd told the boys about Niveus he knew they would hit the place. All he'd had to do was get a meeting with a mid-level demon that was looking to climb the ranks and hang about after it was done.

The timing was less impressive if he acknowledged the fact that he'd been prepared to do this several nights in a row and had just lucked out on the first one.

After leaving the meeting getting to Brady had been relatively easy. The executive lacked his usual bodyguards and hanger-on's. He was in the doghouse for losing the Winchesters and had taken a bump down in corporate standing. Really, the demon was lucky he'd gotten away with only that and a little torture as payment for the mistake.

Crowley hated that kind of luck, at least when it came to demons other than himself. Therefore, he'd been happy to lend a hand and make Brady's worse. Sadly, the demon inside of Brady didn't remember enough of its human life to know just why Crowley had beaten him over the head with an iron crowbar and fed him to the Winchesters, but you couldn't have everything, could you?

Still, if he'd been paying attention, he might have wondered why Crowley called him uncle, just before his lights went out.

Crowley let a small smile grace his lips at the memory and then walked away, not willing to risk the notice of the angels across the street by accessing any of his powers. A block later he hailed a taxi and had it take him to 'anywhere but here'.

As they drove away, Crowley's thoughts turned to the third man, or rather angel, who had come in with the Winchesters. The aura of power and righteousness the being possessed was impossible to mistake. It didn't take much to guess that he was the one that had pulled Dean out of Hell and was probably the one that had been guarding him the day Crowley had come across Dean at the salvage yard.

Which might be why he'd seemed familiar to the crossroads demon. However, Crowley felt like he was missing something, something he'd previously had shoved right in his face and was failing to notice now.

He made an amused noise, aimed at himself and put it aside for the moment. Whatever it was, it would come to him.

Eventually.

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The angels swept through all of Niveus. The main building, the labs, the warehouse and distribution centres were all hit at the same time. Angels in vessels pulled the humans out, depositing them safely away from the buildings, while the other angels left dead demons in their wake. Files were destroyed or sent to one of Bobby's outbuildings, experiments were terminated, samples were fried, bodies disposed of. They were being careful, so it took longer than it usually would for them to purify the places. Even so, it was less than ten minutes before each building was nothing but a hollowed out shell.

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Sam paced the edge of the devil's trap while Dean tied Brady down to a very sturdy chair at the centre of it. Cas leaned against a workbench and watched the both of them.

Demon secured, Dean looked up at his brother and the angel. "Okay then. Cas, you staying for the party?"

Castiel straightened and shook his head. "No, I need to check in with my people and see how the attack went." He hesitated and then continued. "I should also prepare for a reprimand. With this action I have overstepped my bounds somewhat."

Cas was gone before Dean could ask him if he'd be all right.

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Bobby poured everyone except Rufus a glass of whiskey. The other hunter had produced his own flask when Bobby had offered him a drink, knowing that his old friend's taste in liquor was at best mediocre.

Once everyone had a drink in hand, Bobby raised his in a toast.

"To pulling off the job and not dying."

Everyone else in the room raised their glasses and echoed the sentiment.

They downed their drinks, Jo and Henricksen gasping slightly in reaction to Bobby's whiskey.

"So what now, Bobby Singer?" Ellen came up beside him and lightly hip checked him as she asked her question.

Bobby sighed. "Now I spend the next few weeks going through all the paper work the angels lifted from Niveus." He hadn't had the chance to check the contents of the outbuilding he'd put aside to store the stuff, but he expected it to be massive. "If anybody would like to help..?"

Almost everyone looked at him with panicked expressions.

"Ah, I've still got a few more sight to see before my vacation is up and I have to go back to my own paperwork." Henricksen backed up slightly.

Jo backed up with him. "I'm sure that there's a hunt that'll need taking care of while you're busy."

Bobby snorted. "Rufus?"

"I'd like to tell you to stuff it, but there's no way I'm going to pass up that much info. Because knowing you, you'll pass it on, but only if you need to."

"Ellen?"

"Yeah, I'll help. Knowing you two if someone isn't around to kick you in the pants every time you start bickering, nothing 'll get done."

Both men glared at her, but neither of them refuted her statement.

"What about the boys?"

Bobby looked out towards the yard. "I suspect they'll have their hands full with other things.

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Dean ripped the canvas bag off Brady's head and stepped out of the circle.

Bloody from his introduction to Crowley's crowbar, Brady none the less looked up at them and smirked. "Well, here we go."

Dean took up Cas' previous position against the workbench and watched as Sam paced the edge of the devil's trap like a panther stalking prey.

"Why'd you pick Brady?"

The demon looked at Sam like he had to be kidding. "Come on, Brady here? He was a good kid, straight arrow. Your best friend, really. Perfect point of access."

Sam's hands curled into fists. He glared at the thing in front of him and demon Brady smirked, winding Sam up further.

"Why?" Dean's voice behind him was unexpected and startled both of them.

"What?"

"Why did you need the access?"

Brady's smirk grew larger. "We could tell that we were starting to lose him."

Sam frowned. "We? So, you, Azazel and… Meg, maybe?"

"Nah, She and her brother were working the Hell side of the equation at that time. So it was just me and the boss man, watching you." He shook his head. "You were losing your edge, becoming a mild mannered worthless sack of piss." He smiled again. "We couldn't have that, now could we? You were our favourite."

"So, you introduced me to Jess."

"Yep. I hooked you up with a pure, sweet, innocent piece of tail… and then I toasted her on the ceiling."

That was not a revelation that Dean had been expecting. He felt it, and the truth of it hit him in the gut. And if he felt like that, then Sam…

He looked to his brother, the expression on Sam's face that of a man attempting to swallow a giant ball of pain, guilt, and anger that was far to large for him to consume.

Brady laughed. "That's right, Azazel may have put the hit out on Jessica, but I'm the one that got to have all the fun." The demon hesitated at the look in Sam's eyes.

"Oh, man. You thought that maybe because I'd introduced you, that Jess might have been one of us too." His smile was far too wide. "Sorry." He laughed again. "She was so surprised. So hurt when I started in on her."

Sam would have been on him right then and there, but Dean had moved up beside him and held him back with a hand on his shoulder.

"Dean." Sam's breathing was laboured, as if he were being pressed under an immense weight.

Dean squeezed his brother's shoulder and then fixed his eyes on Brady. "There are some things we need to know. About Meg, about the plan to raise Lucifer, about all of it."

Brady shook his head and sighed. "I think I'm done talking now."

Dean narrowed his eyes at him. "You sure? Might save yourself some pain."

Brady scoffed at the idea. "If I actually told you any of that stuff, there's a good chance that I'd never stop knowing pain. Trust me; you're a lot less scary than they are."

Dean shook his head and went over to pick up a book that was sitting on the workbench. He carried it to his brother and handed it to him.

The demon laughed lightly. "Let me guess. Now you're going to tell me that if I spill everything, then you'll just exorcise me instead of using that knife of yours."

Sam stared at the cover of the book for a moment. "No. If you tell me everything I want to know, then I'll kill you. Lie, or keep your mouth shut and I'll exorcise you."

Brady's eyebrows hit his hairline. "Are hunters generally dyslexic? Because I think you've got that backwards."

Sam opened the book, the pages falling naturally to the section he wanted. "No, I don't have it backwards." And then he started to read.

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Five hours into the exorcism and Dean stepped out of the workshop, needing some air. Sam stayed inside, his eyes still glued to Brady as the demon writhed and screamed and begged to tell them everything. Dean had wanted to stop about half an hour after the pleading had begun, but Sam refused and unfortunately, he was the one who knew how to break the ritual they were using.

"Am I going to have to go in there and kick your brother's ass?" Bobby asked as he walked up to the pile of cars that Dean was leaning against.

Dean sighed, but shook his head. "No, I'm giving him another ten minutes and then I'll go do it myself."

Bobby nodded and took up a position against the stack of crushed cars that was similar to the one Dean was affecting. "Good, 'cause my poor ears can't take much more of it. Besides, I don't think it's real healthy for Sam to cause anyone this much suffering, even if I do think the guy deserves it."

"Preaching to the choir."

Both men jerked slightly as the screams cut off. Dean grimaced and straightened up. "Looks like Sam's ready for round two." He headed towards the workshop.

Bobby called out after him. "Just try 'n keep the rest of it down to a dull roar."

Dean gave him a backwards wave and went into the shop.

Still tied to the chair, Brady was a sweaty, stained and panting mess. Sam didn't look a whole lot better. His face was too pale. His eyes were too shadowed.

As soon as Dean walked in, Sam thrust the book into his hands. Their eyes met and Dean nodded, understanding that no matter what, Sam didn't want to use that ritual again.

It was almost a relief to know that his little brother knew just how much he was damaging himself by keeping another being in pain.

Sam turned to the demon in the circle and quietly started the questioning again.

And Brady told them everything.

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Cas had just finished debriefing the twenty angels he'd sent to raid Niveus. Thankfully, Ozael and Orael had understood his between the lines instructions to protect themselves and their people in case this action blew up in Castiel's face.

A flutter of wings and someone he hadn't expected to see stood beside him.

"Uriel." Cas buried his desire to plant a sword in the other angel's chest. As far as he knew, the Uriel of now wasn't killing off angels that disagreed with him…

Cas came close to wincing. The road he'd been going down would have seen him doing the same, even if it had been for better reasons.

"Zachariah asked me to escort you to an audience with him."

Well, that figured. The question was, how bad was it going to be?

Castiel gave the other angel one short nod. "Of course, but I am surprised to see you. I thought you were busy guarding the prophet." He started to move in the direction that would take them to their superior.

Uriel snorted at the idea. "Since he has purchased his new home the man does little more than drink, sleep, write and occasionally, fornicate."

Cas' eyebrows rose. "I believe that is more information than I wanted to know."

Uriel laughed. "I could have done with less myself."

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Dean looked at Brady. The demon stood swaying at one end of the workshop as Dean blocked the only way out of the space with a thick line of salt. They'd broken the demon, broken him hard, but like any denizen of Hell, he'd learned to roll with it. Already a shadow of his former snark was leaking back. Give him a few days and he'd be the complete bastard they'd first dragged in here.

"What is this?" Brady asked.

Sam stepped across the salt line, demon-killing blade in hand.

"You told us everything we wanted to know. I think you didn't even lie." His lips twitched into an almost smile. "And I try to keep my promises. Especially the ones I look forward to."

Brady eyed the knife and backed up a step.

Behind Sam, Dean shook his head. "All these demons…" He laughed. "Hell, angels too, they just don't get it, do they Sammy?"

Sam shook his head. "No they don't, Dean."

Dean smiled grimly at the confused demon. "You see Brady, we're the ones you should be afraid of."

Normally, Brady would have laughed at the man. However, what he'd gone through was evidence in favour of Dean's statement.

Sam raised the knife and started towards Brady. The demon backed up another step and tried to dredge up his usual attitude.

"Big moment for you. Gonna make you feel all better?"

Sam's eyes narrowed. "It's a start."

"Surprised you didn't slap me back into that exorcism. Of course, it takes a while. How many days did you have me in it?"

Both brothers looked at him in surprise. Dean answered him.

"You mean hours."

"What?"

"You were in it for five hours. The whole thing takes about twelve, usually."

Brady backed up until he his back hit a wall, his eyes wide. All the things he been going to say, all the taunts he could have thrown in Sam's face, were lost to a not unreasoning sense of panic.

Panicking and trapped people tend to be dangerous, that goes double for demons.

Brady screamed and leapt at Sam, lashing out. The hunter was ready for him. He used the knife to slash him across his outreached arm and used the force of the demon's jump to turn Brady towards the wall, getting a second slash along his ribs in while he did.

Brady gasped and turned, laughing. "Ever think that maybe, somewhere along the way, you've become worse than a demon?"

"I did briefly." With a quick stride forward, Sam buried the knife in Brady's chest. The demon gave a startled gasp, light flashed in patches beneath his skin. "But if I really were, I'd have spent the rest of my life putting you through the first five hours of that exorcism and enjoying it." He pulled the knife out and Brady slumped to the floor, dead.

Sam turned and walked away from the body, handing the knife over to Dean as he passed him. "I'm going for a walk, alone."

Dean hesitated for a moment. "I'll get this cleaned up while you're gone."

Sam paused at the door for a moment and then nodded. "Thanks." He stepped out of the building, picked a direction, and started walking.

He made sure not to look back.

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Henricksen was back on the road, with Jo sitting in the passenger seat. Bobby had pretty much kicked them out and Victor felt a guilty relief that he hadn't been roped into corpse disposal. He knew the real person had probably been dead long before one of the brothers had stabbed him, but he had a hard time meshing FBI agent with being on the other side of a body dump.

"So." Jo asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Where are we headed?"

Henricksen shrugged. "Don't know. Dean suggested a visit to the largest ball of twine, somewhere in Missouri, but I think I'll give that a pass."

Jo shook her head and pulled out her laptop. "Well then, let's see if we can't find something more our speed.'

"Our?"

She planted her elbow into his side. "Yeah, our."

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Dean helped Bobby wrap Brady's body in a light coloured tarp and load it into the back of an old beater of a van. As Bobby wanted to get started on Niveus' files, Dean drove the van the four hours to Fargo, with Sam following behind in the Impala. Once they got there, Dean passed the van onto an acquaintance of Bobby's that they'd never met before. The guy didn't wait for introductions. Just collected the keys and drove off.

It would be a couple of days before they heard about the body being found in Bakersfield, California.

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Bobby, Ellen and Rufus each took a deep breath and stepped into the Quonset hut that had been set aside for Niveus' paperwork.

Boxes, stacks of paper and whole filing cabinets seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.

Rufus shook his head. "Why do I get the feeling that somewhere in this mess we're going to find the Ark of the Covenant?"

Bobby let out a huff of air that already sounded exhausted. "Wouldn't surprise me at all."

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Author's note: Don't know if it meant anything, but in the show, Crowley does say 'Evening Uncle' before he proceeds to beat the crap out of Brady with a crowbar. I just decided to use it.