A/N: Spoilers through Season 5, AU after that. As I have done before, flashbacks are in italics.
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters.
As soon as the adults heard Abby scream, Gabriel disappeared, followed closely by Cas. Annie, Dean and Sam ran through the house, out the front door and into the yard. Annie saw Cas holding her crying daughter, and Gabe threatening a man in a black.
"Crowley," snarled Dean from behind her. Annie had of heard of the crossroads demon from Sam and Dean before. But she had no idea what he was doing in front yard with her daughter. Annie ran up to Cas and took Abby from him, Dean and Sam right behind her.
"Mommy, that monster wanted me to give him a kiss so he could make me a friend," the little girl whimpered.
"Monster?" Crowley pouted. "Little harsh don't you think?"
"Abigail must be able to see your true face, as Gabriel and I do," Cas stated.
"You tried to make a deal with a kid?" Dean snapped. "You are even more of a sick, twisted freak than I thought."
"Annie, take Abby in the house," demanded Gabriel. "She doesn't need to see this."
"No," Annie said. "Sam, you do it. You owe her after this morning. Play with her, let her braid your hair if she wants. But I am staying here. I want to see what this creep is doing here trying to con my little girl into some sort of deal. And I don't want the sugar-coated version I will get later." Sam took Abby and went into the house, neither one pleased with the idea.
"I like this one," Crowley said, motioning to Annie. "She's got spunk."
"Keep your trap shut about my family," Gabriel growled, as he moved to stand in front of Annie. "You are about two seconds from being annihilated as it is."
"So what are you doing here, Crowley?" asked Dean. "No one summoned you here to make a deal, I can almost guarantee that."
"You sure about that?" Crowley purred. "How do you know I don't have something you need?"
"So spill, you dick, or I send you packing," Gabriel sneered.
"A soul. Bobby Singer's to be precise."
While Annie had heard of the older hunter, she had not met him until a few years ago. Dean and Sam had kept her hidden from all things supernatural at their father's request in an effort to protect her. It wasn't until they found out she was their priest and Gabriel had come back into her life as her guardian, and eventually more, that she had begun to meet others from the hunting world. Bobby Singer had been a welcome addition to their strange little family. While Sam, Dean and Cas all filled the role of uncle to Abby, Bobby had been like a surrogate grandfather to her little girl.
"You were supposed to give that back!" Dean yelled.
"I did. Or most of it anyway. I kept control of a portion of it, as well as the ability to make his legs work… or not. A good businessman always keeps his options open."
"You son of bitch!" Dean grabbed Crowley. "You're giving it back now!"
"Perhaps," Crowley responded as he brushed Dean away. "If I get the help I need."
"What possible help could you need from us?" Annie asked.
"It seems that some of my best crossroads demons have gotten ill."
"Demons don't get sick," Dean said. "And even if they do, why are you here for a few sniffles?"
"It is more than a few sniffles, otherwise I wouldn't be here. Coughing, fever, fatigue. Then after a few days to week, they fall into what I believe you humans would call a coma. None of them have woken up. So far, nothing I have tried has worked to make them better. I have three demons in comas right now."
"What do expect us to do?" Castiel asked. "Angels are not allowed to work with demons. I am not sure we could heal them even if we were allowed to."
"Not that I think that it is a great idea or anything," Dean said, "but you did work with him before."
"Yes," replied Cas, "but that was when I was cut off from Heaven, and the Apocalypse was on the horizon. I would not be allowed to intervene now."
"Not you, them," Crowley responded pointing at Annie and Gabriel. "The glorified messenger boy and his pretty little side kick is who I came to call on."
isisisisis
Bobby Singer just shook his head as he listened to Sam and Dean. He had heard them tell a lot of tales over the years, but this one had to be up there. So not only had John Winchester hidden this girl while she was growing up, but he had somehow convinced the two of them to go along with this cockamamie idea to hide this girl her whole life from the rest of the hunting world when they could still go traipsing in whenever they felt like it. Now this girl turned out to be a priest of God, for them? Only a Winchester could get away with something like that. And the girl had gone and hooked up with Gabriel.
"I thought that fool was dead?" grumbled Bobby.
"Who around here stays dead?" replied Dean. "How many of us have managed to come back from the dead?"
"Um, Bobby," Sam said. "That's not all. They need a safe place to stay for awhile."
"Whadaya mean, they need a place to stay? I thought she had her own place in Kansas?"
It turned out, that once the barrier that Gabriel had in place around New Salem, KS came down, demons still kept coming after Annie almost non-stop, even after the defeat of Moloch. It seemed that the prospect of leaving the Winchesters without a priest was too tempting for most demons to pass up. After one too many close calls, Annie and Gabriel decided they needed to find a place to make a fresh start, especially once Annie realized she was pregnant.
"Pregnant?" Bobby scowled. "She got knocked up by an angel? This is becoming As the World Turns."
But Bobby's grumbling was minimized as soon as he met Annie. She quickly ingratiated herself with the older hunter by helping out around the house, without having to be asked. She assisted with the cooking and cleaning and of course, there was always some sort of baked good in the house now, and it was usually pie. She also would spend time talking to the hunter and he was pleasantly surprised about her extensive knowledge about supernatural things.
"You can thank Sam and Dean," she said. "I have heard about all of their adventures over the years."
Gabriel, on the other hand, brought balance to the situation by being a thorn in Bobby's side. While Gabriel did not do anything in particular to set the man off, it was clear that their personalities were complete opposites. Bobby Singer was a no-nonsense, by the book, curmudgeon, and Gabriel, well, he was at best a toss-the-book out, pure nonsense for the heck of it angel. Bobby wasn't sure what the nurse saw in him, but she was clearly happy. Gabriel usually tried to limit himself to popping in and out at all times of the day and night, since he was searching for a new permanent home for him and Annie to occupy that would keep her safe and well-hidden. On occasion, his sudden appearance would scare the living daylights out of Bobby, who wasn't used to have daily house guests, let alone ones who would appear without notice. But sometimes Gabriel would try to "help" and he would do things like grocery shop or laundry, the human way. And those things would never end well, at least from Bobby's view point.
But, shortly before the baby was due, Gabriel found a place near Lone Jack, Missouri that would serve as a home for the little family. Annie also wanted to be able to have a clinic for hunters who needed a place to heal, that would be hidden from supernatural eyes, and Gabriel felt the place would serve those needs as well. Gabriel went to work at placing protective barriers around the home, while Sam and Dean made sure the new home was ready for the family to live in. Bobby, however, insisted that Annie stay at his home at least until the baby was born, saying she didn't need to be moved until the new arrival came. That, however, would be sooner than anyone expected.