Chapter 9: To Hell In A Hand Basket

I woke up to see Castiel staring at me. "JESUS, CASTIEL!" I yelled in shock, jumping backwards.

"Morning." He said in way of greeting.

"Why are you staring at me like Edward freaking Cullen!" I asked, my heart was thumping painfully in my chest.

"I do not understand that reference." He said confused. "I did not mean to frighten you. My apologies."

"It's okay," I said, "Just don't do it again, it's creepy." I closed my eyes and snuggled back into the blankets.

Castiel cleared his throat. "I'm hungry."

"Hello hungry, I'm Bethany." I said not opening my eyes.

"No my name is Castiel, I am feeling hungry." He amended.

"I'm busy sleeping, eat some toast." I complained.

"I do not know how to make 'toast'." He said.

I groaned cutting him off, "I'm up, I'm up!" I said yawning. I stumbled towards the bathroom; I flicked the lights on and groaned again, shielding my eyes from the sudden light. I felt Castiel's gaze on my back and I spun around to see him laughing at me. "What are you laughing at?" I demanded grumpily.

"You." He said and grinned shyly

"Whatever bird-boy, you go set the table." I replied and shut the door on him.

He knocked lightly. "How do I set the table?" He asked.

I sighed and opened the door again. "Five plates, five knives, five forks, five cups. Like when I made French toast."

I shut the door and turned the shower on. I waited until I heard my bedroom door close and then stepped into the shower. Letting the warm water wake me up. After ten blissful minutes I hopped out, got dressed and headed towards the kitchen.

I rounded the corner to find a perfectly laid table. Castiel turned from his seat to look at me. "Good job." I complimented.

He smiled, "I had help." he said, pointing at Kevin who was sitting beside him.

Kevin shrugged, "I just pointed at stuff." Letting the newly human Angel take the credit. I gave him an appreciative glance. I donned my apron as I moved to the fridge.

"Well done both of you." I said as I pulled the batter out of the fridge and began my search for a saucepan. Once it was greased up and on the hot plate, did I make my way to the IPod dock. I picked a random song and began humming along as I cooked the pancakes. "You won't admit you love me and so, how am I ever to know? You always tell me, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps."

Using my classy cooking skills, I threw the pancake into the air, did a twirl and grinned when the pancake landed safely in the pan, golden side up. Finally using all of the batter I plopped the steaming plate of pancakes in front of the boys, whose number had now doubled.

They hungrily descended on the pile like angry vultures. Then they began raiding the kitchen for the stuff they wanted on their breakfast. Only after they began chewing did I get a look in. It was actually quite funny, their plates reflected their personalities. On Kevin's plate the pancakes were sprinkled lightly with sugar and lemon rolled and placed in neat rows, which he was carefully eating one by one.

Dean's plate was a mess of maple syrup and his pancakes were practically submerged in the stuff. He was attacking them viciously, but from left to right, organised chaos. Sam had his lightly covered in jam and dusted with icing sugar and he was slowly making his way through the meal using proper table manners.

I glanced at Castiel's plate and almost choked on my food. "Is that ketchup?" I asked in shock. The others stopped eating and looked at Castiel in a mixture of amusement and disgust.

The ex-Angel shrugged and ate one of his pancakes. "It tastes good."

"No way that tastes good, it looks nasty." Dean said shaking his head; he shuffled away from Castiel a little, like his eating habits were contagious.

Curiosity getting the better of me, I used my fork to pull off some of the tomato sauce covered pancake and popped it in my mouth. I chewed thoughtfully, the others watched in horror as I swallowed it. I shrugged, "It's not the worst thing I've ever tasted."

Dean spluttered, he turned back to his best friend and pointed at another pancake, "What's on that one?" He asked.

"Apple sauce." Castiel replied with a straight face.

"And that one?"

"Onion chutney."

Dean looked at his friend, his mouth hanging open. I laughed as Castiel very slowly, rolled up the onion chutney covered pancake and put it in his mouth. He chewed slowly; making sure Dean was watching, he gave him a challenging stare as he swallowed. "Delicious." He said seriously.

Kevin and Sam burst into fits of laughter. I giggled as I gave Castiel a maple syrup pancake. "This might taste better." I told him as I put my fork in his mouth.

He nodded in consent, "That does taste pretty good, but my apple sauce one tastes better."

Suddenly we were all running around the kitchen putting random sauces and combinations on the remaining pancakes. I watched in disgust as Sam downed one soaked in soy-sauce and Kevin spit out one smeared in mayonnaise. Dean was the safest, covering his in peanut butter. I went extravagant and dipped mine in a combo of whole-grain mustard and sweet potato dip.

"Ugh that was awful." I said as I swallowed. "I think I'm going to have to wash my tongue."

Sam downed his glass of orange juice, "Are you joking? I'm going to have to hose down the walls of my stomach."

"I think I'm going to hurl." Kevin said abruptly and ran out of the kitchen in the direction of the bathroom.

Dean shook his head, "I'll wash up." He offered, Sam volunteered to help while Castiel and I promised to go shopping for food.

"What about Kevin?" I asked after Dean found me the keys to one of the bunker's cars. We heard the sounds of someone throwing up emanate from the open bathroom door.

Dean smirked, "I don't think he's going anywhere."


"So what do we want to eat for the next few days?" I asked Castiel as we entered the supermarket. I let him pick the trolley and we began walking down the aisles.

"Hamburgers." He answered instantly, "not sushi." He wrinkled his nose at the thought.

I sighed; I wasn't going to have this conversation again. "No hamburgers." I said in a tone that spelled out 'don't argue'. Castiel frowned but brightened again at the sight of popcorn. He picked up a box and gave me his best puppy dog eyes. "Throw it in." I consented.

We eventually decided on food to eat. I also bought other stuff, like fabric softener, tissues, a bottle of ginger ale for Kevin, a Kit-Kat for Sam and some pie for Dean. I also bought some bubbles for the delighted Castiel, who was fascinated by the stuff. (And he was also intrigued by the maze on the lid of the bubble mixture tube.) And a packet of chocolate chip cookies for myself, they were my guilty pleasure.

We made our way to the cash register, "You and your boyfriend are cute together." The server said smiling at us.

"Oh we're not…" I said quickly, she raised her eyebrows and gave me a knowing look. She didn't seem convinced, it didn't help that Castiel chose that moment to hold my hand and tug at me impatiently.

"Let's go home." He said annoyed, he gave the server a glare and led me out of the store.

"Why'd you glare at her?" I asked as we finished loading the car and I sat in the driver's seat.

Castiel shrugged, "She was making you uncomfortable."

"Oh." I responded, I mean what do you say to that? We drove back in slightly uncomfortable silence.

When we got back to the bunker I headed straight to the bathroom, where Kevin was still sitting and looking deathly pale. "I think the mayonnaise was off." He groaned. I sat beside him and gave him some ginger ale. "Thanks." He said weakly as he took a sip. He instantly looked better, and then he threw up in the toilet.

I kneeled beside him and held a cold damp towel to his forehead. "There, there." I soothed as he moaned. "Better out then in."

"Well this is embarrassing." Kevin chuckled faintly. "I've known you for what two days? And you're already holding my hair back while I puke. Next you'll be doing my laundry."

I grinned, "Don't hold your breath."

"I just wish I could hold the contents of my stomach." He whimpered as he leaned towards the toilet. I left him with a glass of ginger ale and a packet of salt crackers.

Besides Kevin weak stomach, the rest of the day was average and I felt a routine forming. Everyone was in bed at about nine, apparently Dean, Sam and Castiel were going to check out some haunting. They wanted to get a gauge of how much they were going to have to train the Angel to get him to a hunting standard. Kevin was to stay with me because he was still sick and, well, I wasn't that good in a fight. Which didn't bother me in the least; I wanted some proper training before I even looked at a ghost.

I was lying in bed, reading my book when I turned the page and an old post-it note fell out of the book. I read it curiously:

Could link to File 2543, check store room 7B.

My interest peaking, I snuck out of my room and headed towards the area Dean said the store rooms were. Reading the numbers on the doors I found 7B and opened it. It was dark and musty and my nose began itching immediately with dust. I trawled to the back of the storeroom and kneeled down when I found the right file. Sitting on the ground I opened the file and began reading, there was just enough light from the open hall door.

It was a pretty average monster report, but it gave some food for thought. I slid it back in the box, some dust came floating up and I sneezed. I was so going to buy a feather duster and give this place a once over. I heard a wheezing cough and I spun around. The room was empty, I heard another hacking cough, it was coming from inside the wall. I looked at the ground, only now noticing the pattern of dust, I pulled the shelves forward and another room was revealed. I clicked the light switch and gasped in horror.

Chained up on a chair in the middle of the room, sat a hunched over figure. He was wearing a ripped, dirty suit and he needed a shave. His black hair was oily and untidy and his brown eyes looked at me wearily.

"Oh look another hallucination to keep me company." He said in a sarcastic British accent. "What did I do to you dear? Torture you? Make a deal? Steal something of yours?" He smirked.

"I'm not a hallucination." I said with a wavering voice.

"Because no one has said that before." He rolled his eyes and gave me an uninterested look "Look girlie; whatever I did to you, I'm sorry. Now leave me alone."

I took a step closer, he sounded awful. "You look terrible." I commented, "Who are you?"

He sighed, "Didn't I introduce myself before I did whatever awful deed you're here to haunt me for? Crowley at your service." He bowed his head mockingly.

"You're the King of Hell." I realised, but I kept moving forward.

"The one and only." He replied smarmily. "Now leave me alone."

"I'm not a hallucination." I repeated, "My name is Bethany."

"I don't remember ever meeting a Bethany." Crowley said frowning.

I rolled my eyes, "I told you I'm-"

"-not a hallucination." He cut me off. "So you've said." He started coughing, his body racked with the force of the fit and he spat out blood on the floor. "I haven't got time of mind games sweet-cheeks so scram."

I spotted a bucket of water on the floor; I took a cupful in my hands and brought it to his lips. He began drinking immediately; I refilled my hands several times as he greedily swallowed the water. 'See?" I said.

"Not a hallucination." He said in awe. He slowly moved his chained hand and poked my arm, which was sitting on the armrest of his chair. His voice cracked, "Why are you helping me?"

I knelt in front of him, looking in his eyes. "The last Trial, it purified you right?"

He nodded, "I'm half demon." He spat angrily.

"You're also half human." I said gently, "And no human, half demon or not, deserves to be treated this way." Crowley looked at me with wide eyes, like he couldn't believe I would show him kindness. My heart broke, what had the Winchester's done to him?

I began washing his face with water, gently removing the dirt and blood. "I don't deserve your kindness." He said softly. "I'm done terrible things; things that would make you recoil in disgust at touching me."

"Everyone can find redemption; no one had gone far enough to reach the point of non-forgiveness. No matter what you did, there will always be someone who can forgive you." I told him.

Crowley shook his head, "There is no one who would forgive me for what I have done."

I stood up "I do." I said quietly. "I'll be back as soon as Sam and Dean leave. Hold on until then okay?" He nodded his head, still looking at me like he wasn't sure if I was real. "And Crowley?"

"Yes?" he asked.

"If those hallucinations come back, tell them to go fuck themselves." I said seriously. He nodded grimly and stared at the wall in determination.

I closed the doors to the secret dungeon and began to leave. I gave storeroom 7B one last glance before heading back to my room and locking my door. For the first time in the bunker, I didn't feel safe.


A/N: Oh Bethany, that was not a good idea... A couple of you have been wondering where Crowley is, well TAH-DAH! So here we are again, another week has gone by and I get to talk to you all again, yay! Though I am not particularly happy with this chapter, but I've tried rewriting it several times and this is the best that I've gotten. My main fear is Bethany comes off a bit Mary-Sueish, but there is a method to my madness, so please if you have started groaning in horror at my OC just bare with her, it will all be revealed at some point in the future.

So first off, love, hugs and waves of good karma to all those who have been kind enough to follow or favorite my crazy ramblings. And to those who have done both? Well you guys are just the bestest! Now a HUGE thank you to all those that reviewed: Jennifer and XLucyInTheSkyX your kind words make me smile every time I read them!

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Now next order of business: If YOU (yes you) would like something to happen in this story, or for something not to happen. Maybe you would like some trickster action? Maybe you don't want that whole nasty thing with Kevin to go down. If YOU want a person to show up, Garth, Charlie, people who are living or dead! Write me a message or put it in your review and it can be so! Don't be afraid to ask, if it doesn't work in the story I will TRY to find someway to put it in there. This story is for you guys, so tell me what you guys want to read!

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