"What is she doing?" Tony wondered aloud. Steve paused behind Tony, who was leaning against the kitchen doorway through to the living room on the top floor of Stark Tower.
"Who's what doing?" He asked, peering over Tony's shoulder. There the Super-soldier saw Echo giggling and playing on the floor with some invisible being.
"Echo, she's been doing that for the last 20 minutes." Tony replied. "Go ask what she's up to."
Steve objected and struggled as he was pushed forward into the living room, towards the 18 year old girl with telekinesis powers. Before he got the chance to move, Natasha came jogging towards him.
"Hey Steve, do you want to spar in the training room before I leave for the mission?"
"In a second ma'am, I have to ask Echo what she's doing, for Tony." Natasha followed Steve's gaze to where the black haired teenager was playing with something invisible.
"Huh. That's weird." Natasha announced as the violet eyed girl fell backwards and started swatting the air around her face. "Go on then, I'm going to talk to Clint."
Steve nodded and walked towards his ridiculous friend. Echo looked up as Steve approached, straight faced but obviously confused and worried.
"Hey, Steve. What's up?" Echo smiled, fixing the black-rimmed glasses on her rosy red face.
"Tony wanted to know what you are doing-" He trailed off as a low, deep growl came from in front of his feet. Steve looked down confusedly.
"Diesel, heel now." Echo ordered, clicking her fingers.
"Who's Diesel?" Steve asked as Echo petted the air happily.
"My new Hellhound puppy." Echo smiled, handing Steve her glasses.
Tony came through out of the kitchen and walked toward the pair, who were both sitting on the sofa.
"Before you ask, Tony, I have a Hellhound." Echo informed him. Tony stopped in the middle of the room and looked around.
"What the hell is a Hellhound?" Tony squinted and stepped closer towards Echo. He went to ask something else but was knocked sideways to the floor by something invisible.
"That's a Hellhound, Tony." Steve replied with a brilliant bitchface which soon turned into sniggering as Tony's face was being licked.
Echo managed to lift her puppy up and free Tony from being licked to death. Tony sat up, breathing heavily and covered in a shiny substance.
"What the fuck, Winchester?!" Tony almost yelled, wiping his face. Echo took the glasses from Steve and handed them to Tony who put them on cautiously.
"It seems Diesel likes you." Echo smiled as she rubbed her dog's tummy. Tony could see the animal now.
It looked like a crossbreed. Maybe a pug x panther? Likely. He, Diesel, had matted black fur, a short stubby tail, small pointy ears and orange eyes. His mouth hung open, pink tongue hanging out and sharp teeth bared in a smile.
"Wow..." Tony trailed off as Echo slipped on a spare pair of glasses from her back pocket. "Where'd you get it?"
"I got him," She stared coldly at the billionaire. "From a good friend of mine."
"There's nothing like it though! Can you only see it through glasses or what?"
"You can only see him because I burn those glasses in Holy Fire (Holy Oil), which can hurt these dogs so don't even try experimenting on him." Echo ordered, hugging Diesel close with a frown. "Crowley won't be happy, huh? Will he? No, I don't think so, nu uh."
"Who's Crowley?" Steve asked as he watched Tony watching the dog.
"Demon, King of the Crossroads, King of Hell, my best friend." Echo listed off. Tony looked up, startled.
"What? I mean, I've heard you have Demon affiliations but… King of Hell? That's a myth."
"Oh really?" Echo smirked, standing to her feet. "Crow Crow, get your fiery ass up here."
A couple seconds passed before a whoosh came from behind Echo and a low, gravely, British accent rang through the air.
"Hello darling, who're these two muffin baskets?"
Echo laughed and spun around to find a fat, short-ish man dressed in a business suit to fit his figure and a signature smile on his face. His chin was covered in a dark stubble which matched his eyes and balding head.
"Crow Crow, ma bae. How goes it?" She grinned as he glared at her sternly.
"I told you to stop calling me by that ridiculous nickname." The man shuffled awkwardly and glanced wearily around the floor before casting his gaze to Echo. "And everything's fine. Well, my definition of fine."
"How're Sam and Dean, Crowley?"
"The denim-wrapped nightmares in plaid? Wallowing in self-pity, drowning in mass amounts of alcohol and bimbos from bars." Crowley chuckled slightly. "Although Squirrel's boyfriend seems to be having a little problem with his loyalty. Moose's pint-sized boy toy is either dead or in hiding. That British bastard, Balthazar, could be following his brother. Hell is still, well, Hell. Lucifer's in the cage with Adam and his angelic goodie two shoes. Everything's fine for now."
"First of all; Balthazar isn't a British bastard, he's a French one, and second; if anything goes down, I want to know." Echo warned him, Crowley nodded and then looked over at the two grown men playing with his Hellhound.
"So, who are these two?" He asked as Diesel came running up to his heels.
Steve and Tony both stood up, hands extended to the man who looked disdainfully down at the gesture. The pair both awkwardly dropped their hands and introduced themselves.
"Steve Rogers, sir." Steve said, standing like a soldier; buff and proud.
"Tony Stark, you may have heard of me." Tony winked at Crowley who raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" Crowley glanced at Echo. "You live with these do-gooders?"
"Mm, unfortunately. It's required." She joked. "Hey, what do Hellhounds eat?"
"Human flesh." Crowley said simply. Steve choked.
"You're not going to feed him people, are you?"
"No, I'm not. That's horrible." Echo threw a stern glare at Crowley.
"Pig, cow, sheep. Human substitutes, even kibble if you don't want him ripping you apart." Crowley listed off.
"Thank you." She answered gratefully, listing down the things she would have Tony – Pepper – order. "What should I keep away from Diesel?"
"Diesel? That's what you named my dog?" Crowley looked as him he'd just been slapped.
"Technically, he's my dog now so I can call him whatever the fuck I want." She smiled tightly. "What should I stop Diesel from touching?"
"Iron, salt, the usual. Angel Blades are one. Goofer Dust, err… Devil's Shoe String, Holy Water, Holy Oil."
"Devil's Shoe String, what's that?" Tony inquired, stepping forward. Crowley rolled his eyes exasperatedly.
"It's a plant." Said Echo, quickly cutting in before Crowley could insult him. Tony just nodded, handing Echo her glasses, before walking to the elevator.
"Well, I have work to do. Nice meeting you Crowley." He said politely, as the elevator opened.
"Yeah, and you." Crowley replied, looking him up and down with mischievous eyes. Steve was the last one there, apart from Echo and Crowley.
"Uh, well, I have to meet Natasha in the Training Room." Steve announced, nodding to the pair before running off down the corridor.
"Well, they were nice." Crowley said blankly.
"Yeah, there are a couple others but they're busy." Echo shrugged as Diesel came barking up. "Hey boy, you hungry? I think we've got some meat in the fridge."
"I better be off then. People to do; places to burn and all that jazz." He said, grazing his teeth against his top lip.
"Oh, alright. I'll, uh, see you later then?"
"Of course, I'll even bring Moose and Squirrel next time. Maybe even Castiel." He smirked. "Don't kill my dog."
With that, Crowley disappeared in a blink of an eye. Echo just sighed and ran off to feed Diesel before training him to defend and kill.
"So, human souls or kibble?"
"WOOF!"
"Kibble, it is."