Hey guys!
This chapter is the one that answers all the questions Ashton has! It's pretty intense!
Enjoy!
Chapter Six:
666
Ashton woke up, her head throbbing, and soaked with sweat. Her phone was in her pocket vibrating and ringing, when she looked at the caller ID it read '666'. She groaned and accepted the call.
"Hello?"
"Jesus Darling, you sound awful," Crowley greeted, "More memories?"
"More like all," she said, "And don't call me Darling."
"ALL?" his gravelly voice exploded.
"Yeah, all the way 'til I was cured," she rubbed her eyes.
"But that doesn't make sense," he paused, "Is angel boy there?"
"Castiel? Yeah," Ashton checked the time, "Why?"
"Did he help you?"
"Yeah."
She could hear grumbling from the other end of the line, but then there was a heavy sigh, "By the way Darling, why are you hiding out in the boy's bunker?"
"To get away from the Stalker of Hell," she rolled her eyes, "And stop calling me that!"
"It's the King of Hell," he corrected her, "It's really not that difficult Darling."
"I'm not your Darling!"
"Alright, alright, no need to yell."
There was a pause of silence, "How'd you get my number?"
"Really? That's your only concern right now?"
"No, but that's where I'm starting," she scoffed.
"I'm the King of Hell, I could get Queen Elizabeth's number if I wanted to," he scoffed right back.
"I see," she scratched her temple, "You gonna tell me how you know so much about my life?"
"Shouldn't you be asking why your family was so obsessed with that nest and how they became hunters in the first place?"
"Yeah, or that," Ashton yawned.
"The hunter that saved you was John Winchester, Dean and Sam's daddy," he began, "And after you were cured he warned your parents that the vampire would probably come for you again, so he trained your family how to fight vampires. Which led to him teaching them everything he knew about hunting."
"Makes sense," at this point nothing shocked Ashton, "And I'm assuming they were obsessed with the nest because of what happened to me."
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Now back to the real question," Ashton glared at the ceiling, "How do you know all this?"
"I've got to go Darling," Crowley's gravelly voice said over the phone, "I'm a busy man you know."
Before Ashton could say another word the line went dead.
"Stop calling me that you coward," she hissed and got out of bed.
She walked to the library where the three boys sat and chatted. Castiel stood.
"I'm sorry," he said, "Maybe I should not have-"
"It's okay," Ashton smiled, "You were a big help."
"How are you feeling?" Sam asked.
"Good," Ashton shrugged, "Just have a headache."
"Here, I'll help!" Castiel went over and placed his fingers on her forehead.
"Thanks," she smiled as the headache faded away.
"So what was up the memories?" Dean asked.
Ashton sighed and started to tell the story, and when she finished, the group was slightly confused about Crowley's behaviour.
"That's very strange," Castiel stated, "Even for Crowley."
"Have you tried calling him back?" Sam asked.
Ashton shook her head, but pulled out her phone and dialled '666'.
"This is not an emergency number Darling. Don't leave a message at the tone," it went to voicemail.
She hung up and looked at Dean, "You try."
Dean called Crowley and turned on his speakerphone, "This is not an emergency number Darling. Don't leave a message at the tone."
Dean hung up and shook his head, "Prick."
Ashton crossed her arms as he right leg began to bounce, "He's hiding something big."
"How do you know?" Sam asked.
"I can feel it," she looked him in the eye, "Why would he try so hard to avoid talking about how he knows so much?"
"He didn't say some smartass response like," Sam prepared himself for a Crowley impression, "I'm the King of Hell, I know a lot of things."
Ashton laughed, "No! And he sure doesn't sound like that!"
"That is weird," Sam agreed.
For the rest of the morning the trio discussed what Crowley could be hiding and repeatedly tried calling him, but each time they got the same annoying voicemail. Finally Ashton had enough.
"We're summoning him!"
"And then what?" Dean asked, "Trap him?"
"Yeah and lock him in the dungeon," he added, "You said you had a dungeon, right?"
"Yeah, but we've already done that," he looked at Sam, "He's hard to crack."
"I can do it," Ashton was determined.
Sam gave a small shrug, "It's worth a try."
"Fine!" Dean rolled his eyes and sighed.
They discussed a plan to trap the King of Hell, and even Castiel joined in on the plan. It was Ashton who decided on the plan they would put into action, and it was amazingly simple. It wasn't full proof, but Ashton had a feeling it would work.
The four walked outside and Dean got the summoning ritual prepared, while Ashton sat on the trunk of the Camaro. She gave him a nod as he added his blood to the bowl. Then Dean threw in a matchstick and set the bowl of ingredients aflame.
"Et ad congregandum…eos coram me."
There was a moment of stillness as the two waited.
"Hello Darling."
Ashton turned to the voice with a grin, "Don't call me Darling."
She aimed her gun at the demon's foot and shot him with a devil's trap bullet. She prayed that the bullet would get lodged into his foot instead of passing through. Crowley yelled out in pain and sneered at Ashton.
"These were good shoes!"
"Don't make too much of a fuss, okay?" she chuckled, "Darling."
Castiel wrapped his arms around Crowley to restrain him, while Sam shackled him. Ashton flinched as she felt a twinge in her heart, but she closed her eyes and forced the guilt away. The boys carried the King of Hell into the bunker and got him set up in the dungeon, while the entire time Crowley was running his mouth.
"You can't do this to me again! I'm the King of Hell!"
"See you say that like it means shit," Ashton crossed her arms.
She sat on a chair that was on the opposite side of the table as Crowley as she stared him down.
"Because it does mean shit!" his voice became more gravelly.
"Not right now it doesn't," Ashton said.
"What do you want?" he glared at her.
"Answers," Ashton slammed her fist down on the table, "The ones you've been avoiding!"
"Trust me Darling, you don't want to know," he closed his eyes as he shook his head.
"I don't care!" her voice cracked, "I don't care."
"Ashton," Crowley's voice softened, "The answers you want- they'll break your heart."
"I need to know," she pleaded.
Silence filled the room as Ashton waited for his reply. She could see Crowley's face change with each emotion he went through. She had a feeling that he recently had his fix.
"Your brother cured you," he glanced at her, "By summoning a crossroad's demon."
"How?" she frowned, "He wasn't a hunter yet."
"He stole John's journal and holy water," Crowley shifted in his seat, "He used the journal to set a devil's trap, and summoned the demon."
Ashton stared at Crowley intently, "And then what?"
"And then I appeared," he met her gaze.
Ashton stood from her seat as her chair clattered to the floor, "What did you do Crowley?!"
"In my defense I didn't want to make a deal with him, he was a kid, but he was a clever kid," Crowley sighed, "He had me trapped and started spraying me down with holy water until I finally got annoyed and said I'd make a deal with him."
She slapped her hands down and leaned against the table as she glared at the demon, "He was twelve!"
"If I didn't make the deal, he would have found another demon who would!" Crowley yelled.
"Fine," her jaw clenched, "Continue."
"You know Ashton, this doesn't have a fairy tale ending," he looked her in the eyes.
"Keep going."
"He told me what happened to you," Crowley continued, "And he wanted to make a deal to save you, to make you human again. It was a moving story and I wanted to help the kid, so we made the deal. I made you human again and I gave him fifteen years instead of ten, because I liked him."
Ashton's head hung low.
"He didn't quite make it," he sighed, "He was a year short."
"He-he's in Hell, because of me?" Ashton's voice was quiet.
"He's in Hell because he loved you."
"I want to see him," she lifted her head, tears in her eyes, "I want to see him one last time."
"That's not a great idea Dar-"
"Crowley," Ashton looked him in the eyes, "Please."
"Fine," Crowley closed his eyes and sighed, "You win."