Everyone had come together for the final showdown against Malphas. The Winchesters, Crowley, Rowena, Jenna, and even Hannah was doing her part to get the angels on board. Today was the day. Today was the day they would save the world, or die trying.

Jenna sat at the edge of her bed, folded over and pulling the laces tight on her boots, when she heard a gentle but firm knock at her door. Tap, tap, tap. It wasn't the obtrusive, hammering knock of Dean, or the more hesitant knock of Sam. The younger brother always reminded her of the way her mother would stand outside her bedroom door when Jenna had been a teenager, unsure if she should disturb her. Except that one day when he'd barged in on her and Crowley because he'd thought she was in trouble, she thought with a snort. This wasn't her mother or her father either. Crowley never knocked. He just showed up. That left Rowena.

"Come in," Jenna beckoned. The interruption took her by surprise. It was game day and she had assumed that everyone would be busy with their last minute preparations. What could the witch possibly want with her, she wondered. Surely there was plenty of preparation to do. The spellwork she had described the night before that she would need to locate Malphas had sounded complicated and required many rare ingredients. It would have been easier, Rowena had lamented with a certain dramatic flare, if they had had a belonging of the Prince, but alas they did not.

The door eased open, and as Jenna had suspected Rowena stepped confidently into the room. "Do you have a moment?" she asked cheerily.

"Sure," Jenna offered, but her eyes fell to the cat cradled in the witch's arm. A black cat with a white circle around it's eye and a white paw. It couldn't be. "Is that-"

"Mmhmm," Rowena smiled widely and placed the cat down gingerly on the floor. Spot immediately hopped up on the bed and began to rub affectionately against Jenna, purring all the while.

"How did you-," Jenna teared up. "I thought he was dead."

"Fergus went back and found him in the rubble of his lair," Rowena explained, earning a snort from Jenna. Crowley didn't even like the cat. Her voice lowered. "He cares about you, you know?"

"Crowley?" Jenna asked incredulously, "Cares about me?" She still couldn't look past their last conversation when he'd admitted what would happen to her soul in Hell. How could he care about her if that is what he would let happen.

"Mmhmm," Rowena affirmed.

Jenna raised an eyebrow. "He told you this?" she asked skeptically.

"Not exactly," Rowena admitted as she sat down on the bed and took Jenna's hands in hers. "But I'm his mother, dear. He doesn't have to tell me. Mothers know these things."

Jenna shook her head in disbelief. Perhaps it was a mother's intuition. Had her own mother not asked her about Crowley just the other night? Even though her and Crowley were barely in the same room for more than a moment here and there, both Anne and Rowena had been able to sense that there was something between them. Something big, and meaningful. Something-

"He told me that he wants to torture me and cut away every bit of my soul that makes me human," Jenna replied bluntly, not allowing her thoughts to wander too far into the territory of hope. She could not let herself forget the truth, no matter how much she wanted to lock it away in some deep dark hole and keep pretending that what her and Crowley had had meant something.

Now it was Rowena's turn to arch her eyebrows and ask the question. "He told you that?"

Jenna sighed. "Well, not exactly," she admitted as she stroked Spot's head and scratched him behind the ears, a slight blush creeping up into her freckled cheeks. "But I signed a contract and he did tell me that is what would happen to my soul if we fail to defeat Malphas."

Rowena nodded stiffly. "I see."

In the dining room, everyone had gathered around as Rowena made the final preparations to cast the spell that would give them Malphas's location. Jenna's parents and Sam milled about eagerly, nervously, wringing their hands and pacing back and forth. Crowley leaned against the wall, arms folded across his chest. Every now and then Jenna stole a glance at him from where she sat, legs folded underneath her, watching the witch work.

"If you all could please try to keep still," Rowena snapped as she drew runes around the edge of a large map that she had laid out. "I need to concentrate."

Dean walked into the room, and deposited another armful of ingredients he had raided from the Men of Letters stores in front of Rowena. "That should be the last of it," he announced. Jenna leaned in and tried to recognize some of the items now laid on on the table. There was an assortment of gems and crystals, a jar labelled blood of an innocent that made her cringe, a picture of the General that Malphas was last known to be possessing, and a large black feather.

"It's an angel's wing feather," Dean whispered to Jenna as he walked past and her eyes widened. Somehow though she could see Castiel's soul, his angelic grace, she had never seen his wings. Judging by the size of the feather Rowena now held in her hands, an angel's wings must be impressive.

With the runes finished, the gems laid out in a precise pattern on the map, and the rest of the ingredients placed into a brass goblet, Rowena added the picture of the General.

"Let's just hope he hasn't ditched the meat suit," Dean grumbled. Subconsciously Jenna crossed her fingers and said a silent prayer, though she doubted anyone was actually listening. Everything was up to them now, and if this didn't work-

"Shush," Rowena warned him. "Keep quiet and let me work." The room went dead still as the witch began to cast the spell with the precision and care of a master at her craft. "Ostende illum mihi quem quaero," she chanted, then she tossed a lit match into the goblet and everything went up in a puff of blue flame. The gems on the map began to glow and tremble, slowly ordering themselves until they circled an area of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. "That's where you'll find Malphas," Rowena stated triumphantly, as she pointed to the map.

Dean examined the circled area. "There isn't anything around there for miles. Are you sure the spell worked?" he asked.

There was a look of affront upon Rowena's face. "Yes, I'm sure the spell worked!" she exclaimed angrily.

"That isn't entirely true," Crowley offered, as he pushed himself away from the wall and uncrossed his arms. He took a step towards the others who were all gathered around the table.

"Fergus, I-" Rowena began to protest.

"Not you, mother," Crowley rolled his eyes at the witch. "It isn't entirely true that there isn't anything around there for miles," he corrected, speaking in a slow, calculated manner.

Sam narrowed his eyes and studied the demon intently. "What do you mean? What's there?"

"Site 57. A black ops site," Crowley informed them, tilting his head to the side as he spoke. "One of those places that isn't supposed to exist."

Sam and Dean exchanged a worried glance. "And you know this how?" the younger brother asked.

Crowley shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Information is my business," he replied casually. "Besides, one never knows when they might have need of such… facilities. Bribe a few guards, make a few deals-"

"You use them to torture people," Sam interrupted in disgust. Crowley cast an uncomfortable glance in Jenna's direction.

"Why not just use your lab?" Dean added. "Surely it must be easier."

"Yes well," Crowley shifted his weight as he spoke his eyes flitting anywhere but at the redhead at the end of the table, "sometimes it proves prudent not to use my lab. Demons are rather fickle, untrustworthy creatures as I think has been proven and I don't always wish for them to know who or what I'm questioning," he explained. "Site 57 is secure and off the books. I'm not surprised that Prince Not-So-Charming would choose to take Feathers there. Wearing the General as a meat suit I'm sure he could just waltz right in."

"Great," Dean muttered as he raked a hand through his short, chestnut hair.

Jenna's parents stared at Crowley with a combined look of horror on their faces. The demon sighed and gestured to himself. "King of Hell," he reminded them.

"Former King of Hell," Dean corrected smugly.

Crowley wrinkled his nose and shot a disgusted look at the hunter who was leaned back in his chair. "Besides, it's not like it's anyone who doesn't deserve it," he added almost defensively.

Sam snorted in disbelief, "Right."

Jenna spoke up, her voice a hair on the hesitant side. "Would I deserve it?" she asked quietly. Sure, she had made a deal with a demon but she did not believe that she was a bad person. She did not believe that she deserved what Crowley had told her would happen to her soul in Hell. There was a long, awkward silence.

"Red," Crowley reached out and tried to placate her.

"Don't," Jenna warned, before he could cup her freckled cheek in his hand. If she let him touch her she was sure she would lose her resolve because despite everything Jenna desperately wanted to believe it wasn't true. Her heart ached to be loved by him, to believe that he actually cared about her. "Let's just finish this. Let's save the world and be done."

Unsure of whether or not they would be successful, Jenna had said a tearful goodbye to her parents before Crowley had teleported the rest of them from the Men of Letters bunker to just outside the remote black ops Site 57 hidden away in the Rocky Mountain range in Colorado. Jenna's knees buckled underneath her and she wondered how the others all handled the teleportation so easily with no apparent ill effect. It crossed her mind that it might have to do somehow with what she was that she always reacted so terribly to it. Her body heaved, but thankfully her stomach contents stayed where they belonged. Crowley reached down to help her, but Jenna swatted away his hand. "I'm fine," she insisted as she pulled herself to her feet.

"Suit yourself," Crowley retorted, shrugging off the rejection with an air of casual indifference.

"There's nothing here," Dean accused as he looked around the barren wilderness. Crowley nodded with a knowing smile to a small hatch hidden in the mountainside. "Well, okay then," Dean replied. "As soon as the angels get their feathery asses down here, we'll do this."

As if on queue there was a fluttering of wings and everyone spun around in unison. Hannah stood alone dressed smartly in a blue and grey power suit, her brown hair tied back in a pony tail. "Where's the rest of you?" Dean demanded as he looked around for any sign of the other angels. "I thought I said to bring the cavalry."

Hannah stared at him a serious expression on her face. "The other angels would not come," she told him plainly. "After Castiel's betrayal they will have no part in this."

"This isn't just about Cas," Sam huffed.

"They say that this war is not ours to fight," Hannah explained. "I'm only here because Castiel is a friend and despite our differences one thing I learned from him is that sometimes you have to break the rules to do what is right. I think that is why God brought me back. So I could do the right thing and be there for him now."

Dean let out an exasperated huff and shook his head. "That's just great," he muttered. "Hell's gone. Earth is pooched. Malphas, he's coming," Dean warned. "Now, you lot can sit up there on your cloud and hope that you're safe, but you'd be wrong. This is absolutely your war too. What's it going to take to get that through your thick angel skulls?"

"Heaven is protected," Hannah insisted.

Dean threw his hands in the air. "Is that so?" he asked, the raw anger and frustration palpable in his voice. "Tell me, these safeguards that Heaven has, does Cas know about them?"

The angel regarded him wearily, her brown eyes narrowed. "Yes, of course."

Dean shook his head and exhaled sharply. "So you're willing to bet that Prince Douche hasn't, or won't, find a way to break Cas and make him spill the beans."

"I-" Hannah stammered. "I- I tried."

"Yeah, well you should have tried harder," Dean grumbled. By the look of hurt on Hannah's face it was clear to Jenna that the angel cared deeply about her friend.

Rowena cleared her throat. Once she had everyone's attention she gestured to the hatch in the mountainside. "In case you all forgot, the clock is ticking," she reminded them.

Dean turned to Hannah. "Can you open it?"

The angel looked at the hatch and nodded. "Yes."

This time Dean turned to the rest of them. "Everyone ready?"

Jenna's heart leapt into her throat, the last time she had faced off with the Prince of Hell she'd spent eight days in a coma, but still she forced herself to nod. They were two humans, a witch, a single angel, The Thing That Should Not Be, and the former King of Hell. They were all that stood between Malphas, the most powerful demon they had ever encountered, and the complete fall of the cosmos to his will. It was one hell of a burden to bear and her chest felt like it might cave in under the weight of it.

A warm hand wrapped around hers and squeezed it gently. Jenna looked up and turned her head to find Crowley. He offered her a reassuring smile. Instead of pulling away this time she squeezed his hand back and as he entwined his fingers with hers it just felt right. In a moment it could all be over, and right now she just didn't have it in her to keep fighting with him. "You've got this, Red" he told her. It didn't feel like it, but she hoped to God he was right.

Crowley, intimately familiar with the black ops site from his own dealings, lead the rest of the group to a maintenance room far enough from where the prisoners were interrogated that they would not draw any attention. It wasn't a large room, but it was ample enough for what they had planned.

"You half-wits better have everything ready by the time I get back," Crowley told them. "Or we'll all be squashed like bugs."

"We'll be ready," Dean assured him confidently.

Rowena smiled and ushered her son towards the door. "Don't worry Fergus, despite what you'd like to believe we're not all as incapable as you make us out to be." That only earned a callous snort from the demon, but none the less he turned to leave.

Jenna bit her lip. God how she wanted to call out to him. To tell him to be careful. To tell him to come back in one piece. But she just stood there and watched him go, the words caught in her throat.

"Well, you heard the man," Rowena said, clapping her hands loudly after Crowley was gone. "We don't have much time."

Everyone busied themselves with their own part in the master plan. Sam and Dean set traps. Rowena prepared her spell with the ingredients she'd brought with her in her bag from the Men of Letters bunker. Hannah kept watch with her highly acute angel senses. And Jenna stood back and waited. And waited. And waited.

It felt like forever passed as they waited for Crowley to return. Jenna chewed her lip and fidgeted nervously with the hem of her shirt. Her resolve, her confidence in their plan slowly slipping away like sand through her fingers. What if Malphas had killed Crowley? What if it was already over before it had even started?

"They're coming," Hannah alerted the others. Jenna's heart skipped a beat and her stomach tied itself in knots. Sam and Dean nodded to each other and got into position at the far end of the room between the door and where Rowena was set up to cast her spell. The door flew open and Crowley burst through, a limp and lifeless Castiel draped in his arms.

"Is he-," Dean choked up.

"No Squirrel, he's not dead," Crowley assured him as he set Castiel's body on the ground, leaning him up against one of the side walls. Hannah rushed over to her fellow angel and knelt at his side.

"Can you heal him?" Dean asked with urgency in his voice.

Hannah nodded. "Yes, I can heal him. But it will take time."

"We don't have time," Sam said with a grimace as he heard their target approaching the door.

Dean pointed at Hannah. "You just fix him," he told her. "You fix him, and we'll handle the rest."

Malphas stepped casually through the door and surveyed the room with an amused grin on his face. "Look at you little ants," he rasped. "All scurrying around in the shadow of a giant. You have no hope of winning this fight, so what are you doing here?"

Dean set his jaw in a hard line and held his ground opposite the Prince of Hell. "We'll see about that," he threatened.

Malphas took a step forwards. He was so close. Just one more step, Jenna willed. But he stood there at the edge of their trap. "What are you to stand against me?" he mocked. "A broken angel and another too weak from trying to heal him? Two human hunters who already failed to kill me once? A witch without a coven? And you," he turned to Crowley who still stood at the side of the room. "A former king without a crown or a throne to sit on, your power fading with every passing day."

Everyone turned to Crowley. "You could have mentioned that," Dean shot.

Crowley shrugged his shoulders. "Would it have made any difference?" The truth was it wouldn't have. It didn't matter what they had, or how high the odds were stacked against them, they had to try.

Malphas took another step towards Crowley. A step away from their trap. No. No. No. Jenna stepped out of the corner and fell in line with Sam and Dean. It wasn't part of the plan, but she had to do something. "They have me," she stated with a confidence she didn't really feel.

It felt like Jenna's heart didn't beat for the entire long pause that followed. Then Malphas turned away from Crowley and took a step towards her. She raised her chin and took a deep breath. "You?" Malphas chuckled. "The Thing That Should Not Be. The thing that can not use her powers on me or risk destroying all of creation?"

How could he know that? Jenna glanced nervously at Dean who shrugged her shoulders. It didn't matter. If they could get him into the trap she might not be able to erase him from existence, but she could do enough. "That's right," Jenna challenged. "Me."

Malphas laughed again. "Oh I am so going to enjoy crushing all of you pathetic, tiny little nothings." Then he lifted his foot and took that step towards them that they had all been waiting for.

"Now!" Sam called and Dean quickly tossed a lit match to the floor. The devil's trap they'd laid out in holy oil engulfed in flames with Malphas trapped in the middle of it. The Prince of Hell screeched angrily.

"What's the matter?" Dean taunted. "I thought we were nothings?"

"These flames won't hold me forever," Malphas warned.

"They don't have to," Crowley said confidently as he stepped up to the edge of the devil's trap and sneered at his opponent caught inside. "You're up, Red."

Jenna gulped nervously. She knew what her part was, but that didn't make getting into that circle with the Prince of Hell any easier. You've got this, Crowley's words echoed in her head and she took a deep breath and gave one final glance behind her at the others who waited anxiously, knowing as well as her that the clock was ticking.

"Foolish woman," Malphas laughed as Jenna stepped through the flames. "I don't need my powers to destroy you. I'll just do it the good, old-fashioned way," he said as his hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck. Even without his demonic strength, Malphas's meat suit was nearly twice her size and easily able to physically overpower her. Jenna clawed helplessly at his hands as he brought her to her knees.

"Let her go," Crowley growled from where he stood on the other side of the flames.

"Or you'll what?" Malphas sneered back.

Jenna could see the muscles twitch in Crowley's face as the Prince of Hell choked the life out of her. As she struggled desperately her limbs began to feel heavy and her vision blurred. It felt like her eyes were bulging out of her skull.

"You've got this Red. You're more than capable. You know what you need to do." Jenna wasn't sure if she actually heard Crowley's voice or if it was just a memory. "Red, now. You have to do it now."

Jenna stopped clawing at Malphas's hands. She stopped fighting and let go. There was nothing but blackness as her oxygen-starved brain began to shut down her senses. Reaching out she felt for Malphas's chest and placed her hands over where his heart would be, where she knew his soul, his demonic essence, would be found. It was by feel alone that she sought a hold on the energy that swirled at his core.

"What are you doing?" Malphas hissed as she found it and wrapped her tiny hands around it. Jenna tugged at it and tried to work it free, but Malphas's grip tightened around her neck and her other sense began to fade until the world all but ceased to exist.

"Red-"

This was it. This was what death felt like.

"Red!"

Even Jenna's thoughts faded. Her pain and her fear disappeared. And when she opened her eyes again it took her a moment to realize that she was still alive, and a moment more to put together what was happening. Crowley? Crowley! He was in the devil's trap with her, trapped and powerless too. But that didn't stop him from pummelling the other demon until his grip loosened and Jenna was able to pull some much needed air into her lungs.

"You're like a cancer that just won't go away," Malphas complained, his attention now split between Jenna and Crowley.

Jenna took advantage of the distraction and drew in another shaky breath and her senses began to clear. Placing her hands against Malphas's chest once more she focused drawing his essence from the body he wore and leaving it exposed. In the background she could hear Rowena chanting something in latin, then suddenly there was a bright flash and the black fog from Malphas's core plummeted towards the center of the earth, towards Hell, towards the cage where he would be bound for the rest of eternity.

It was done, Jenna realized somewhat in shock as she heard the hoots and hollers that echoed around her. She collapsed to her knees and looked up at Crowley. He stood there in the devil's trap with a black eye and split lip smiling down at her. Jenna closed her eyes and sighed in relief. They had really done it. Malphas was gone. They had won.

As the celebration died down and everyone began to regroup and gather their things, they heard a fluttering of wings. Suddenly five angels stood before them. The seraph Jehoel was there, and Joshua too.

"Oh, now you show up," Dean grumbled. The angels paid him no mind.

"You disobeyed orders, Hannah," Joshua stated simply.

Hannah looked up, from where she knelt on the ground cradling Castiel's weak but recovering body. "I-"

"You disobeyed orders, but you were right. You were both right," Joshua continued. "Castiel, I am sorry. We misjudged you and you paid the consequences of that judgement. Still you did not betray us. Heaven would be honoured to have you return."

Castiel lifted his head slowly as if it weighed a ton. Though Hannah had healed the bulk of his injuries, it would take some time for his strength to return. "Does that mean-"

"You get your wings back," Hannah replied with a smile and Joshua nodded. She stood and helped Cas to his feet. The angel dipped his head and shrugged his shoulders several times. Jenna tried to picture the magnificent black wings stretching out behind him.

Castiel looked from one member of their rag tag group to another. "Thank you," he told them earnestly.

"Yeah well, don't you forget about us now that you're back in with Heaven," Dean joked, but Jenna could sense the worry in the hunter's voice. She knew he'd miss having Cas around the bunker all of the time, but she also knew that the angel would be back, and he would be there for them whenever they needed him.

"I would never forget you," Castiel assured him before returning with the other angels to Heaven, his tone serious. "You're my friends. My family."

That only left one little matter. Jenna glanced across the room at Crowley. His wounds had healed as soon as the Winchesters had released him from the devil's trap. Yet he did not seem to share their enthusiasm. The joy that was infecting everyone else at their victory was absent. She walked up to him, and though her gut reaction was to throw her arms around his neck she stopped short. "We did it," she exclaimed. "It worked."

Crowley merely nodded and grunted. Despite their victory the demon seemed miserable and lost in thought.

Jenna dragged a toe along the ground and frowned. As much as this was a conversation she would have preferred they could have in private, she needed it to be dealt with. "So, my contract," she asked hesitantly, "now that Malphas is-"

"About that," Crowley cut her off. When he turned to face her, Jenna could see the red in his eyes and the elation from their victory drained instantly away and was replaced with a growing ball of dread in the pit of her stomach. She was already shaking her head as Crowley continued to speak. "According to Paragraph 12 subsection 2 the contract required the defeat of Malphas."

"Dude, he's in a fucking cage," Dean growled angrily. "He ain't ever getting out."

Crowley remained unphased. "Nonetheless," he replied as he fixed his tie. "While Malphas may be caged and out of our way for the time being, he remains undefeated in the strictest sense of the word."

"You sonuvabitch!" Dean shouted as he lunged at Crowley. The demon once again at full power flicked his wrist and sent Dean flying backwards.

Sam took a step towards the demon, but one sharp look stopped him in his tracks. "This isn't right, Crowley," he protested. "You know it isn't."

The brothers had some choice words for the restored King of Hell, but Jenna barely heard them. Their shouting was no more than a dull hum in the back of her head as the realization hit her. Everything else faded into the background. Crowley had no intentions of letting her go. Not ever. "So my soul?" Jenna asked as she stumbled backwards, away from the demon.

"Belongs to me," Crowley informed her.

Jenna shook her head as she continued to back away from him. No. No. No. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. This wasn't what was supposed to happen at all, she thought panicked.

"I won't lose you," Crowley growled as he took a step towards her.

Jenna's head was spinning and it was all that she could do to stay standing as her knees threatened to buckle beneath her. "Yet you would torture me until there was none of me that was human left, until there was none of me left," she retorted.

"Red," Crowley closed the distance between them and stroked a thumb across her freckled cheek. Jenna turned her head away from his touch. Sniffing back her tears she reached into the inside pocket of Crowley's suit jacket where he kept his angel blade. "If you kill me, who knows who will take my place and own your soul," he warned.

"I'm not going to kill you," Jenna told him. Instead she took the blade and pressed its handle into his hand.

"Jenna!" Dean shouted as he rushed towards them. "What are you doing?"

Crowley rolled his eyes and sent the brothers flying backwards again. This time he used his power to put up a temporary barrier. Dean pounded furiously against the invisible wall until Sam placed a hand on his shoulder and convinced him to stop. There was nothing that they could do.

Jenna took Crowley's hand in hers and guided the blade to her throat. "If this is what you want, then just do it. If you want to hurt me..."

Crowley's eyes narrowed and he stared at her, a torn expression on his face. "Red-"

"Please, Crowley!" Jenna begged, tears brimming in her glacial blue eyes. "I can't live like this. Not with this hanging over me. I loved you. I still love you, but I can't do this. So if this is what you really want then, please, just do it."

Jenna closed her eyes and waited for the biting pain of the blade digging into her flesh. Instead she heard it clatter to the ground, and in a heartbeat Crowley's lips were on hers. She tried to push him away, but he held her tight and would not let her go. Jenna beat on his chest with her fist, tears streaming down her face. Then she felt it. It had been so long since she had signed that contract and sealed it with a kiss, but she would never forget what it had felt like. She would never forget the energy that passed between them. She stopped fighting and as Crowley released her she felt her bonds break. The contract that had burned beneath her skin was no more. She was free.

"It was never what I wanted for you, Red," Crowley admitted. "I just-"

"Then what do you want?" Jenna stopped him. Inside her chest her heart pounded. She was free. She could leave. She could never look back. But that wasn't what she really wanted.

Crowley stared at her. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked.

Through her tears Jenna choked back a laugh. "Can't you just say it?" she asked him. "Just this once?"

"I want you, love," Crowley told her. "I want you."

With a heavy sigh Jenna leaned her forehead against Crowley's chest and let him take her in his arms. His warmth enveloped her and as he leaned down and placed a kiss on top of her head all of the weight of the world lifted from her shoulders. Malphas was gone, the world was safe for the time being, and she was free to choose. And she chose him. She chose Crowley because she wanted him too.

A/N: Aaaannnnndddd that's a wrap! Thank you so much for reading. I have really appreciated all your feedback. Now that this story is finished, I would love to hear your thoughts. I'll be starting another Supernatural Crowley/OC fic and hope to have the first chapter up in the next week or two. So, what did you like? What can I do better next time around? What would you like to see?