Author's Note: So, I was watching "Sacrifice", and during Crowley's "I deserve to be loved" scene, I thought he was slipping into and out of an American accent. A couple of rewatches of that particular scene later, and I'm pretty convinced I'm not hallucinating (there are also people noticing the same thing, which helps). Couple it with the fact that Crowley mentions his current meat suit is a literary agent from New York and we have no idea what happened to Canton after "Day of the Moon" (we see him as an old man at The Doctor's funeral, but weebly wobbly timey wimey stuff happens), and I think Canton is Crowley's current meat suit. I know, it's not true at all, but it's what I like to believe.

Anyway, about the story. It's mostly dialogue; I wanted Crowley's telling of the story to be the focus. If that doesn't float your boat, you don't have to read it. I don't know who he's talking to. I like to imagine it's Sam, but it could just as easily be any other character; it's not about who he's telling his story to, it's that he's telling his story. Again, if ambiguity isn't your thing, you're under no obligation to read. Obviously takes place sometime post 8.23, when Crowley's starting to get some humanity back.

Delaware

"So, what do you know about your meat suit?"

It was a simple question, really. Apparently, the priest who invented curing demons had asked how killing the meat suit's children felt. Just to see if the demon was cured. And they did attempt to cure Crowley, however botched. Based on that precedent, he was expecting some sort of questioning; just not something this personal.

"A lot, actually. Not as much as you'd think, or like to think, but I've been using him for a while, since the early '70s, maybe? I remember being in this one when Nixon wanted to make a deal."

"Nixon made a deal? Okay, maybe I should have seen that one coming…"

"No, no. I didn't say Nixon made a deal, I said he wanted to make a deal. Couldn't handle this body. Apparently they had history."

"History meaning…?"

"The meat suit worked for the CIA. Wanted to get married, got fired. CIA takes him back briefly to work a case for Nixon himself. Case goes… smoothly, so Nixon offers to let him get married, thinking that he wanted to marry someone black."

"I don't understand…"

"Well, Nixon was fine with the black thing, but not the boyfriend thing."

"Ah."

"Anyway, speed ahead a couple of years, and Tricky Dick's about to get impeached. But impeachment is so boring, or shameful, or something along those lines; I didn't really care. So, who does he call to for help? And of course, who am I to leave the President of the United States of America hanging? So, I go into the first available body. That I wasn't about to make a deal with, obviously."

"Wait, so…"

"This meat suit was just closest to the crossroads. Could have been anybody. Should have been someone else; you understand that Nixon wasn't too pleased to see this blast from the past? He backed out; thought it wasn't real and, well, didn't want to seal the deal. Couldn't blame him for that one. But still, I didn't get what I came for. This meat suit cost me a deal. I should have killed it and left the body then and there." Crowley looked down, not wanting to continue.

"Except?"

"You should see inside this head. That one case he had worked was at the forefront when I was trying to seal the deal, and I couldn't bear to look away. There were bits and pieces missing, I couldn't put the entire story together, but it was still incredible. Or at least one part of it was. There was this Doctor fellow, and he had this machine that could travel anywhere, space or time. For a demon, I'm limited; I have to travel time and space like a standard human. But if I had that machine? Think of what I could do. So, I decided, hey, maybe this Doctor fellow will come back for his old buddy, and I can get that machine."

"Great story, except you're not answering the question. What do you know about the meat suit?"

Crowley looked down and to the left. "I know that he worked with the CIA for ten or so years before that fiasco that I told you about happened. It was the only thing he knew for a while. He picked up pretty quickly though; convinced the boyfriend to move in with him and then decided to become a literary agent within a year or so of leaving the CIA. He was just getting started when I took the reins. Decided that a nice, quiet, normal life would be best for him and his boyfriend." He paused, a small wave of guilt taking over him. "I guess he'll never get what he wanted now."

"But you said that he met a guy who could travel in time? And you're obviously still fresh…"

"Oh, I hope you're talking about the skin. But you're right, meat suits decaying wouldn't serve our purpose very well; this one's fresh as he was when I picked him up. And the time traveler obviously never came back, or I'd have dominion over the entire universe by now, wouldn't I? And even if that worked out perfectly, you're still set on curing me and locking me in this body." He couldn't help getting more and more angry as he went on; this was probably the first life he felt so strongly about ruining.

A sigh, and a comment. "One last thing." A pause. "Do you know his name?"

Crowley hesitated, having no desire to have part in the chaos that would happen. They'd probably look the name up, see if anything happened after Crowley possessed him, any evidence to show that they helped one last person. Crowley knew it would only end in heartbreak; any searching would turn into a cold case, and the boyfriend's heart would be broken. But finally, he gave in.

"Delaware. Canton Everett Delaware the third."