A/N All characters belong to the writers and creators of Supernatural. Except those that arose from my own twisted imagination. They belong to me.
Chapter One-After the Fall
"Dean!" Sam called into the motel room, waited two seconds and then entered the room. Dean's bag was on the bed and the bathroom light was on.
"Dean? You in here?" Dean stuck his head out the bathroom door, toothbrush in his mouth.
"Keep your panties on Sammy. I'll be right there." Sam rolled his eyes. They should have been on the road an hour ago. They had to pick up Cas and then head out to try and find the first of the fallen angels. The day after all of Heaven had fallen, the reports all over the world of meteors falling to earth had baffled scientists. Of course, other hunters were looking for the fallen angels. Some, no doubt, to kill them. Others, like the Winchesters, wanted to do what they could to help and save those that were able to be saved.
Cas had volunteered to stay with Crowley and keep an eye on him. The former King of Hell was recovering from his purification at the hands of Sam during the last trial. He wasn't fully a demon but he wasn't yet a human. He was the one who insisted on staying in the Devil's Trap until they knew what to do with him.
"It's not that I don't want to kill you," he had informed the boys, "it's that I don't think I can handle the guilt just yet."
Sam leaned into the bathroom and flicked off the lights. Dean spit the mouthful of toothpaste into the sink and glared at his brother.
"What the hell's your problem Sam?"
"We were supposed to meet Cas an hour ago Dean. We have to figure out what we're doing with Crowley." Dean rolled his eyes.
"Remind me again why we just don't kill him?" Sam stared at him, incredulous.
"Dean, I almost died trying to purify him. We're not just going to kill him without a damn good reason." Dean nodded.
"You're right man. I'm sorry." Dean grabbed the bag off the bed and followed Sam out the door. Outside, Dean looked over at Sam. While some of the color had returned to his face, dark circles remained under his eyes like bruises. He was still a big guy but he appeared to have shrunk. Even after holing up in the hotel for the past few days, Sammy still wasn't 100% Sammy. Whatever he had done in that last trial had scarred him physically.
Twenty minutes later they arrived at the abandoned church where they had kept Crowley since the night the angels fell. Castiel met them on the front steps.
"What's wrong?" asked Dean, immediately suspicious. Castiel walked over to the car.
"Nothing's wrong we're both, well, hungry." He frowned. "Did you bring food?" Sam glanced at Dean.
"What happened to the food I brought over yesterday Cas? That was at least a dozen bacon cheeseburgers!" Dean asked. The former angel shrugged.
"We ate them of course. I assumed more would be coming today." He turned as Crowley yelled from inside the church.
"Did they bring something to eat because I'm bloody well starving!" Cas turned to answer.
"They forgot so you'll have to wait."
"What's the matter? Did they decide to kill me by starving me to death? I've never been so hungry!" Cas rolled his eyes.
"You see what I've had to put up with." Dean nodded.
"I feel your pain." The three men walked into the church. Crowley sat in the wooden chair, chained in place glaring at the Winchesters.
"What? No kiss hello?" Dean shook his head.
"You haven't changed a bit have you?" He walked towards the chair and started to unchain Crowley. Sam ran over and grabbed his brother's arm.
"Dean, what the hell?" Dean looked up at Sam.
"What did you think we were going to do if we didn't kill him? Just leave him here? We've got things we have to get done Sammy and I'm not leaving Cas alone with Crowley, not with all the other hunters out there just itching to kill a former angel." Sam frowned.
"You're actually planning on taking him with us. That's just great Dean." Crowley smirked as he glanced between the brothers.
"Oh this will be fun." He smiled up at Castiel. "I just love road trips, don't you?" Dean tugged harder than necessary on the chains.
"Shut up Crowley." He freed Crowley, pulled out his knife and scraped away the paint and salt from the floor. Crowley stood and stretched.
"Ahhh. It feels great being able to move freely about the cabin again." He looked over at Castiel. "My friend, it was great knowing you. Call me if you're ever in the neighborhood." He turned the smirk back on both Winchesters. "As for you two, well, just forget I exist." He snapped his fingers…and nothing. Stunned, he glanced around and tried it again. He was still rooted to the spot.
"Huh," Crowley said after a moment. "This is a bit embarrassing." Cas shook his head.
"I told you that you lost all of your powers. An ex-angel can still sense a demon and you're just not one anymore." Crowley stared at Cas.
"I know what you said but I didn't believe you. What the bloody hell am I then? I'm not fully human. Moose over there didn't get to give me the last injection." He paused as the realization hit him. "I have a partial soul don't I? Just enough of one to give me a conscience but not enough to actually want to live." Crowley sat back down in the chair and stared into space, stunned at the reality of the situation.
"God I'm so depressed." Dean clapped him on the shoulder.
"Welcome to the human race Crowley. Now let's go."
"What are 'smothered' hashed browns?" Cas was studying the menu intently, like a college freshman cramming for finals. Dean glanced over at the picture.
"Looks like cheese, sour cream, bacon and onions. Sounds good." Cas glanced up, still frowning.
"But are they worth the extra dollar?" Crowley slammed his menu down.
"Oh for crying out loud, order the bloody smothered hashed browns! Who cares if it costs more? I only care that they don't have tea in this backwards hell hole." When Crowley had ordered his tea, the perky waitress had politely informed him that they were currently out of tea and would coffee be ok? Crowley had bit his tongue to bite back all the insults and responses and instead had replied that coffee would be just fine. He had added milk and sugar but it wasn't the same. In fact, it tasted like someone had gone out to the nearest mud puddle and scooped out a cup of the brown water to serve to the diner's patrons.
The group ordered their breakfasts without further drama. Both Crowley and Castiel had appetites that rivaled the group of loggers near the front door. Both had ordered omelets, bacon, sausage, pancakes and the smothered hashed browns. After consuming their food, they put in additional orders of eggs benedict for Crowley and waffles for Castiel. Crowley, despite his complaints that the coffee tasted like dirty water, was on his fifth cup. Sam and Dean watched in awe.
"Dean, man, you can put away some food but how can we afford to keep these guys around if they keep eating this way?" Dean took another bite of his pancakes before glancing at the ex-angel and the mostly ex-demon.
"I'm sure this is just some metabolism thing going on now that their meatsuits have to run the show." Crowley glared at him.
"Thank you for that insight Doctor Oz." He took his last bite of eggs benedict and glanced around the restaurant. The waitress walked back over, still grinning though she seemed a bit surprised at the fact that two of table's occupants had consumed two whole breakfasts in the time the other two had barely finished one.
"Can I get you gentlemen anything else?" She had the bill folded between her fingers and was prepared to drop it on the table. Crowley smiled at her.
"I was wondering dear, if you happened to have any pie?" Dean's eyes lit up.
"Oh hell, now you're talking!"
"Nobody told you that you had to eat three pieces Dean." Dean shifted in the driver's seat of the Impala. He was uncomfortably full. He had realized too late that Crowley was baiting him by ordering a selection of pie since Crowley was "unable to choose which one he wanted".
"Just shut up Sammy." At that moment, Sam's phone rang.
"It's Brandon." Brandon Reynolds was another hunter in the area. He and his sister had lost their parents to demons when they were teenagers and had been hunting ever since.
"Hey Brand…" Sam stopped talking and frowned. "Kylie what's…no wait slow down…where's Brandon?" Sam listened, as did the rest of the car. From a brief glance in the rearview mirror, Dean could see that even Crowley looked concerned.
"Kylie you're not making sense…what do you mean…where are you?" Sam began digging through the papers on the seat next to him. Castiel leaned over the seat and handed Sam paper and pen.
"Ok. Ok. I've got it. We're about 50 miles east of there. We're on our way. No…Kylie…don't go anywhere. We're on our way." Sam hung up the phone. Dean glanced over at him.
"So?" Sam swallowed hard.
"Kylie just had to kill Brandon." Dean almost drove off the road.
"What? What the hell?"
"He was possessed. Demon got him. She didn't have a choice." Dean slapped his steering wheel.
"Dammit! Heaven's closed and the demons have a full range smorgasbord here on earth. That's just…" Dean shook his head and looked out the window for a moment. He turned back and snatched the piece of paper away from Sam.
"So I take it we're going to go get her then." Sam shrugged.
"I don't know what else to do Dean. She doesn't have anyone else." Dean laughed.
"Yeah well, she hates me for no reason." Sam looked over at him.
"Dean you called her frigid." Dean thought back.
"Did I?" Sam nodded.
"Yeah, you did." Dean wracked his brain but couldn't remember. He shrugged.
"Oh well. She probably is. Doesn't mean she has to hold it against me for the rest of my life." Sam started to speak when Crowley cleared his throat.
"Maybe it's best if I not go with you right away." Dean looked in the rearview mirror.
"If you think we're just gonna let you go…" Crowley held up his hand for silence.
"I just don't think it would be a good idea for me to just stroll into a room with a hunter who had to kill her own brother because of a demon." Sam glanced at Dean.
"He does have a point." Dean frowned and nodded.
"He does, I'll give him that." Dean looked in the rearview again. "But we're not taking our eyes off of you for a second. You have a partial human soul…fake the rest of it."
Dean floored the Impala and it shot off down the highway.