The reason Haze was so good at hiding? He wasn't human, never had been. Haze, was a Wizard, and a half-blood at that. His mother had been a Pureblood from a near extinct line, his father had been a half-blood himself, half Sidhe, and half Cnn Annwnn (Cold/Hell Hound). And while Hae could pass every creature test thrown at him with flying colors, he was much more his father's child than his mother's.
He was raised by his mother's maids, a trio of young voodoo priestesses in the Louisiana Bayou where he'd been raised. The three had known he was different the first time they'd laid eyes on him, and constantly encouraged him both to learn more about himself, and to hide any signs that he was different to his full WIzard-born half-siblings. He spent a lot of time learning to hide those few distinct signs, and it only got harder as he'd gotten older. Finally, at 14 years of age he'd had enough and ran away. He didn't know how long he'd been running, living like an animal in the deeper, forgotten places of the Bayou. He only knew that when he came back out, the world was different, and he wasn't the same child who'd gone in.
His family were long since gone, not having near the same unending lifespan as himself. It had taken time, but he'd adjusted to this new world he'd stumbled into and learned to hide again. It was harder than he'd thought, fighting his own instincts so that he could hide. Sidhe were social beings, living in close knit communities hidden away from the world. Cnn Annwnn were pack animals, needing at least one other being to be happy and healthy. Haze wasn't exactly happy, and he knew by his own thin stature and frequent need of rest, blamed on a long term illness to those who knew him, but he survived, and would probably keep surviving for years to come.
Haze was only just coming back into conciousness when he felt himself being dragged into a vaguely familiar bunker. It took him longer than he would have liked to recognize where he was and why. It was the Winchester boys' bunker, and he'd been blind sided by some nasty black witch during the fight with a rogue pack of werewolves. Apparently the wolves had had friends in danker places. A mental check to catalogue what he could feel was wrong informed him that he would probably need some stitches, and possibly some alcohol. His body was killing him, and just the thought of moving under his own power anytime soon caused phantom pains to shoot through his limbs. He let out a ragged sigh and felt whomever was pulling him pause to look back.
"You good to move? Your fucking heavier than you look."
Haze gave a vague nod in Dean's direction and let the male set him against a wall before struggling to his feet with a pained hiss. Dean gave an annoyed huff before grabbing an arm to drag over his shoulder and tug him along until they reached the living area. Haze was dropped uncereminiously onto a couch before Dean was stomping off to get something. Sam carried in the bags behind them and set about putting things away for cleaning. Haze gave a slow blink, too tired to argue when Dean returned with a medical kit and peeled his shirt off his torso and began wrapping him up, ignoring the multitude of celtic and gaelic sigels and designs scrawled across his body in delicate, intricate patterns that the older Winchester had no hope of deciphering, and the younger didn't care to after recognizing protective symbols. With a last slow blink, Haze dropped off to sleep.
It was the snout sniffing along the bandages on his chest that woke him, that and the unusual warmth radiating from nearby. The heat was a comfort in some long buried part of his mind, but it was much higher than most people were comfortable being around. It was like standing by a furnace, or just too close to a bonfire, the heat pouring over him. He blinked open groggy blue with a hint of amethyst eyes. He nearly recoiled at the ember bright eyes staring back at him from the monstrously sized dogs face. He couldn't, however, prevent his eyes from widening in shock. He let out a choked gasp of air as the dog nudged its face right up against his and gave a pleased growl.
"Dude, what are you staring at?"
Haze forced himself to sit up, ignoring the pain spiking through him at the motion, at hearing Dean's voice. He looked away from the dog and to the older Winchester to find him standing near the table. Sam was sitting behind him, looking something up on his laptop. Across from them was an older male, staring at him like he was contemplating taking him apart to see what made him tick. Haze turned his eyes back to Dean and gave a short shake of his head, a 'nevermind' sort of motion that Dean as accustomed to getting when the odd, red-haired younger (or so he thought) male spoke to him. Dean huffed and turned back to the unknown male.
"Are you going to take the deal or what, Crowley?"
The male made a non-commital sound without looking away from Haze before giving a short nod and rising to his feet. He made a tapping motion with his foot on the floor and the dog glanced back at him before getting up as well. It nuzzled Haze's stomach, driving the breath out of him in the process, before moving back over to its master. Haze ignored the male's stare. It was too much later that the man finally left.
Haze nearly screamed as he yanked the piece of some building or other from his side, it was a long piece of metal, a couple inches wide, and it had been piercing his right kidney. The wound bled sluggishly for several minutes before slowing. It didn't stop completely, and wouldn't heal for another few hours, but it was better than it had been. He looked at the desolate city around him. It had been struck by some kind of freak storm, the entire town was silent of human noises. The air probably contended with that as it was much too hot for a normal person to be breathing in, let alone moving. With a huff of pain he forced himself up and began the long trek to the woods he knew weren't too far out of town, maybe it was time to disappear again.
He'd only gone a few blocks when he heard the soft sound of paws on torn up asphalt. He turned his head slightly to see the Hellhound come up beside him. It stared back, moving over just slightly to allow Haze to lean on it as he walked. Haze just gave a tired sigh before letting some of his weight fall against the large dog. The dog gave a pleased sounding grumble and Haze returned the sentiment with a near sub-vocal croon. He didn't even bother startling when footsteps started up on his other side. The trio walked in silence for awhile.
"You're a very hard man to track down, it's not often that even my pets have issues finding someone for me."
Haze gave a non-commital grunt before deciding that a break may be in order, his side was paining him, and the various other injuries were making themselves known. He directed the Hound to a nearby, half-standing wall and managedto set himself down against it without too much trouble. Crowley remained standing, but the Hound laid down before him, curling its body half around him to help support him. Haze leaned into the heat gratefully, it had been too long since he'd really been warm enough to be comfortable. He stared up at the demon with a half-lidded gaze, near catatonic with the need for sleep.
Crowley was staring at him with a curious face, crouching down to reach out towards him. Haze didn't bother struggling as the demon brushed away his already failing glamories. The male sucked in a sharp breath when the last of them faded.
Haze's true form, at least the humanoid one, wasn't too different from a mortals, or it hadn't been anyway. At some point in his life, he'd truely come into what he was. His hair was not longer just red, it was a patchy color mixture of blood, hell fire, and ash. His eyes were now triple rings of blue, amethyst, and glowing ember. His skin had gone from slightly tanned, to moonlight pale with an ashy shading like smoke swirling in places. His tattoos shimmered slightly, no longer ink but something else. He was thinner, shorter, and elvish in appearance. It was only his basic shape that was human.
Crowley brushed a strand of errant, shoulder-length hair behind a pointed ear with an expression somewhere between amusement and delight. Haze couldn't help but lean into the overly hot touch. He didn't usually like being touched, but he'd put up with it for this one. The heat was divine after being cold for so long.
"Such a pretty thing you are, love." Haze looked up into blood red eyes, and found that maybe he had been alone too long, if he was contemplating what he thought he was. It was silent between to two for some interminable amount of time before Haze finally spoke, his voice somewhere between the howl's of a Hellhound and the whisper of bells through snowy pines.
"I want to make a deal."
Crowley smirked.
"What kind of a Deal, love?"
"A Pack. I'm tired of running, of hiding. I want a Pack."
"A Pack? And what will you trade for it? I can't take an immortal soul, dear, doesn't work like that."
Haze contemplated that, unsure what he could offer if his soul wasn't tradable. He looked back down at the dog beside him.
"Join your Pack, you could always use a new Hound."
Crowley gave a small amused huff.
"Sorry to break it to you love, but my Hounds don't run on two feet."
Haze gave a snort through his nose before closing his eyes. There was a brief swirl of ash, smoke, and power in the place where he was sitting before it cleared. In his place was a sleek, dark red Hellhound with tricolored eyes. It was about half the size of his largest Hellhound, Fluffy, and obviously much younger then the rest of his hounds by the mere fact it still looked like an adolescent, very much in the same way Haze looked in his more humanoid form. The Hound gave a pained whine before lying down on the cracked asphalt. Fluffy, his larger Hellhound, scooted over to the smaller Hound and began inspecting it curiously before setting about cleaning the obviously wounded young male. Crowley let the large Hound finish its self appointed task before inspecting the smaller one himself.
He was malnourished, obviously having been on his own for quite some time, and slightly darker in color than any of his other Hounds. The size of the paws told him that he wouldn't grow too much more, but he'd still be a decent sized Hound, and from his build probably a quick little thing. He ran his hands along the fur abesntmindedly for a moment as he considered before giving a sharp nod. No self-respecting demon would turn down a Fae-Hound williningly binding to them after all.
Haze watched curiously from his place in an oddly designed pentagram, ears perked forward, as Crowley finished the designs on another one nearby. The demon turned back to his curious gaze with an amused eye roll before he stepped into his own circle. Immediately the candles already situated lit up with dark gold glames. Crowley closed his eyes as latin began spilling from his lips, a ceremonial dagger poised in one hand. Haze watched in fascination as the symbols on the demons circle slowly lit before the glowing trail followed the runes connecting it to his. When both circles were completely lit Crowley slashed his own palm and placed the bloody limb on one of the runes. Both circles burned with black fire for a moment before two lights shot out from the connecting chain and the candles went out.
The first light struck Crowley flaring against his chest as his eyes bled crimson and his veins turned black and purple for a brief moment before fading, his eyes remaining the dark red. The second light struck Haze, startling a yelp from the male as he was forced from his Hound form to his humanoid one, eyes spinning in a brilliant flare of tri-colored light. He turned to Crowley when the male sighed.
"Of course it couldn't be that easy."
The demon stalked over to Haze's crouched form before dragging him to the place between the two circles. The smaller male was too surprised to fight and found that his instincts wouldn't allow him to once the thought crossed his mind. It was when the demon had stripped him with a snap of his fingers that adrenaline allowed him to react. He spun around with a snap of teeth at the red eyed demons reaching hand. The next few minutes were a blur of motion before Haze found himself pinned beneath the male, who was suddenly also naked.
"I'd apologize, but it's necessary."
That was the only warning Haze got before the demon mounted him with a harsh thrust, forcing the younger male to remain in place as he was almost literally fucked into the hardwood floor of the ceremonial room. Haze was shocked to find his body reacting to the brutal domination, shifting instinctually to give the larger male better access and arching back into each thrust. Eventually the thrusts became more erratic, slamming harder into the smaller male who bared his neck submissively when the demon growled against the back of his neck. Seconds later Crowley sunk teeth gum deep into the side of his neck, forcing a submissive whine from his throat as the demon gave a last harsh thrust and came, tugging his newest Hound along for the ride.
Haze blinked open sleep blurred eyes to find himself curled up against a superheated chest. He made a content grumble before his eyes slid back shut. An amused rumbled beneath his chest had him looking up into amused hazel eyes. He was curled up against Crowley where the male was half reclined against the headboard of a very large bed. Haze could feel the metaphysical bindings stretching between them, pulled taut as Crowley had apparently been exploring the connection.