24. The Murray Hotel

"Humor me and take this," I say to Sam as I throw him a cold pack. I sigh heavily as Sam catches it but then puts it on the floor. "Dean told me you looked sore. Don't blame the two of us for trying."

"I'm fine," Sam insists.

That's bait enough, but with a stern look from Dean as he goes to sit by his little brother, I keep silent. I remain standing, but then head over to the couch and sit on one of the arms, the one closest to Dean. The closeness doesn't bother me like it should.

Cas comes into the living room. "The other demon escaped. I bound the one I caught in a Devil's trap. I'm gonna interrogate it now."

"Wait a second. Cas. How about you answer some questions first? Like, where the hell have you been?"

"You heard me, didn't you?" asks Dean.

"You prayed to him?" asks Sam.

"Yes, I heard you," Cas tells Dean. "But that's not why I'm here." He takes a spot on the chair across the room from us, sighing. "I've been hunting demons."

"So this is you. Why?"

"I've been searching for the other half of the Demon Tablet."

"Without us?" Dean sounds a bit offended.

"I've been trying to help, Dean. And in my search, I uncovered that Crowley has sent out demons to find Lucifer's crypts."

"Lucifer had crypts?"

"Dozens of them, apparently."

"But why the storage wars?" I say randomly. "I mean, what the hell are they all looking for?" It sounds strange, even to me, and I'm the least experienced in the room.

"They're looking for a parchment that would allow them to decipher Crowley's half of the Demon Tablet without a Prophet."

"A demonic decoder ring? In Crowley's hands?" says Dean. "Awesome."

"The crypts, were, uh, lost over time. Only those closest to Lucifer knew their whereabouts."

"Then how did Crowley find them?" I wonder aloud.

"His demons have been possessing locals who may have some special knowledge."

"That would explain the crazy room at Ann's house," Sam says. "But how did they know where to start looking in the first place?"

"I don't know," says Cas. "I'm hoping the strange-haired demon in the kitchen is more knowledgeable than the others I interrogated." Cas gets up and heads through the kitchen door.

"He's definitely off," Sam says in a low tone.

"Off?" Dean retorts. "He hasn't been right since he got back from Purgatory. We still don't know how he got out of there."

I'm hearing familiar things and new ones: Crowley (again); Cas (who supposedly is acting off); and now Purgatory (which I have no idea what the hell that is). How can the Winchesters keep up with everything in their lives?

"I don't know, Dean," says Sam. "If he's so sketchy, then why were you praying to him?"

"You know, I can hear you both," comes Cas's voice from the closed door. "I am a celestial being."

"Seems like a joy to be around," I mutter, getting off the arm of the couch. "We better sit in on this, don't you think?"

I'm the first into the kitchen. You have Cas who's off to the side, Demon-Wendy, who's strapped to the kitchen table, and now us. Demon-Wendy chuckles as we take our places in the interrogation.

"Sam and Dean Winchester," it says. "Oh, the thoughts she had about you two. Mostly you, Sam. What can I say? She has a thing for smutton chops."

I feel disgusted inside. Are all demons creeps? Well, the demon in me had seen my thoughts. At least it hadn't exposed everything about my past. Some things are better left buried. And, in this demon's case, some things were better off in Hell.

"All right, you douchebag," Dean says loudly, "listen-"

Demon-Wendy screams as Cas stabs one of its hands with a long, silver blade. I cringe. Once the blade is out, it whimpers and pants. I notice the sparks flying from the weapon.

"Who told you about the crypts?" Cas demands.

"I thought angels were supposed to be the good cops." I flinch as Cas stabs the other hand. Sparks fly from the wound, and a scream is heard. "Wait! Stop! Stop! We have a hostage!" Cas removes the weapon again, and Demon-Wendy is panting once again. "It's one of Crowley's pets. She's at the Murray Hotel, down by the interstate. She knows the towns where all the crypts are buried. She saw them all back in the day."

"And she told you about the parchment?" I ask.

"What parchment?"

"Hey. Hey!" Dean bellows. "Think he's the only bad cop in this room? Stop lying! We know what you're really looking for."

"No. I'm telling you, we're looking for-"

"What the fuck, Cas?!" I screech as Cas ends Demon-Wendy (and unfortunately the real Wendy) with a stab to the chest. I see the sparks, and both hosts die within the body.

"Cas!" Sam yells. "What the hell was that?!"

"It told us what we needed," says Cas.

I stare at him, agape. "No, it didn't! You can't just-"

"I started this hunt without you because I didn't want anything to slow me down. We have to get to the motel now."

"Hold on a second-" Sam tries.

But Cas is gone the second I blink my eyes.

"Cas!" we three scream.

I'm the first to barrel out of the kitchen. "Cas?"

"Cas?" Dean echoes me. He's nowhere to be found. "Damn it." I run out the open door. "Go. Go. Go."

I just barely get the door closed and my feet inside the Impala before Dean kicks it into gear and floors it to the Murray Hotel.

* * *

I'm nearly given whiplash once we get the hotel in sight. Dean slams the brakes, the tires squeal, and if it wasn't for the seatbelt, I would have hit Sam's seat. The engine is cut off, and we all scramble out of the Impala.

"There," says Sam. "There." Our eyes are up on the third floor, where flashes of light are coming from.

I ignore the third floor sight as we race into the motel. There's no time for an elevator if there is one; we tackle the stairs. I'm picking up the rear behind the boys. We slow down as we come to the closed door. At the cry of pain, the door is busted open, revealing to us Cas's handiwork: two demons, both pairs of eyes burned out, stacked.

"Thanks for waiting," I deadpan to the angel.

"The hostage is in there." Cas nods to a bathroom door. We all step deeper into the room while Dean heads for the closed door. I'm rather curious, so I decide to get the door open myself.

It takes me a minute to get a look at her past all the blood and bruises on her face. Her hair is extremely long, blonde, and looks knotty and matted. She's on the bathroom floor, tied up.

She regards Dean with amused brown eyes. "Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?" Her voice is a bit gravelly. Her eyes then find me. "I see we added another member to your band of misfits. Either one of you want to cut me free?"

Dean is the one to do so. She looks a bit stiff to get up, but nothing tells me any bones are broken.

"Don't be so friendly," she jabs. My hands itch for the gun when she exposes her black demon eyes. She's not attacking us, probably because we just saved her life. Still, I can't feel any bit of calm around a demon. "The name's Meg."

"Na-Max," I correct myself. "No point in using an alias."

"Dumb move, but it's your choice." Dean and I step away to let Meg out of the bathroom. She looks around. "So, you boys are founding a stray adoption agency now? This is the second one I've seen you with. Let me guess...she's obviously not yours." She looks at Cas, who's leaning with his back against the window, arms crossed, blue eyes alert. "So, whose bitch is she?" She says it in more of a jeering tone than a hostile one.

I cock my head to the side. "Remind me why she's not dead."

"Believe it or not, I've helped these saps."

"But you're a demon."

"A bit of a racist, I see."

I snort. "I've had bad experiences with your kind. Can you blame me for being defensive?"

"They've got you training?" She chuckles, noticing the gun in my hand. "Just like the last one."

"What are you talking about?" I ask, annoyed.

"The boys had a third wheel with them a while ago. From what they tell me, she managed to live to hide her tales from the rest of the world."

"She did. She made it," Dean says quietly.

"Anybody start a betting pool to see if Max here has the same outcome?" Meg walks to sit cross-legged on the bed. "I would say you don't have a shot in Hell to survive what these boys put you through, but if they're right about the last one-you might have a slim chance."

"I'd rather be here than where I used to be," I say stiffly, flexing my non-gun-handling hand. Sam and Dean have chairs pulled up close to the bed Meg sits on.

"So, I got to ask," Dean cuts off the womanly "bonding." "Um...What's up with the hair?"

"Aww," Meg says sarcastically. "Thanks for noticing, Dean. But this wasn't my idea. It was Crowley's. And it's just another reason I want to stab him in the face."

"Got something against blondes?" I ask.

"I preferred the natural color, not this."

"Wait a second," Sam cuts in. "You've been telling Crowley the location of Lucifer's crypts."

"What can I say? I needed a break from the constant torture. And I did visit them all during my time with Yellow Eyes. But don't worry. I haven't exactly been giving them the Glengarry leads."

"You mean you've been lying to them?" I say.

"I just get them in the ballpark. Enough time's passed and enough's changed that they bought it."

"Why lie?" Dean asks.

"Buy myself some time, dummy. Try to find a way to get free."

"Wait," says Sam, "so...a bunch of innocent people died so you could...buy yourself some time?"

"Hi. I'm Meg. I'm a demon."

"Sounds about right," I whisper. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Oh, as if you wouldn't do anything different if you were me, Max."

"So, what have they found?" Cas enters the conversation. I almost forget he's around.

"Bupkis," Meg reports. "Every crypt's been one Al Capone's vault after another. And on top of that, someone kept picking up the trail and icing demons. I'm guessing that was you, Castiel. But Crowley just keeps sending more. He's hell-bent on finding that Angel Tablet."

"Wait a second," says Sam. "Did you just say 'Angel Tablet'?"

"You know, I get why Crowley calls you 'moose' now. Yes-'Angel Tablet.' Crowley found out Lucifer had it, figures it's stashed in a crypt."

"Well, this is news to me, as well," Cas admits. "Demons I interrogated, they must have been lying about their true intentions."

"Really?" I say wisely. "'Cause we saw you 'Zero Dark Thirty' that demon. You were more than persuasive."

"You're both missing the point," Meg says. "I lied to them, which means they're digging in the wrong place. But not for long. They'll be back here soon. So, who's up for fleeing?"

"She's right," says Sam. "We need to find those crypts before they do. Meg, you're the only one who's been there."

"We need your help," says Cas.

Meg looks at all of us. "Any of your dummies got a map?"

**I'll be honest, I hated Meg in the beginning. Maybe it was the actress herself, I don't know. But this girl who played her, I absolutely love her. And I honestly prefer her as a blonde to brunette.**