Chapter 10: The Kids Are Alright

Three weeks of toddler Dean is what it takes to make Sam cave and trust Crowley.

Most of that time is Sam hunting down spells that Balthazar could perform, trying to find witches, arguing with Juliet about Crowley at every turn, and having sex with Balthazar.

He finally caves when Dean wakes up crying for the eighth night in a row and Cas confronts him.

"He cries every night, Sam! He is suffering! He's not sleeping anymore."

"None of us are, Cas!" Sam snaps. "I'm working on it."

"If you don't summon Crowley, I will."

"And I will stab him," Sam counters.

"And I will stop you," Cas glares at him. Sam glares back.

"Fine," Sam exclaims in frustration.

"Thank you," Cas says relieved. "This is just easier."

"Balthazar!" Sam calls.

"Yes?"

"Get the summoning stuff. We're calling the 'King'."

"You caved?" Balthazar asks surprised.

"Hush."

"Alright, one King of Hell coming right up," Balthazar replies. "Where shall I summon him?"

"Living room. Don't forget the pentagram. Last thing I need is Crowley running loose."

Balthazar gathers up summoning materials and moves to the living room.

"Cas, bring me Dean. Sam, I'll need some blood," he says, passing the knife.

"How much and where?"

"Just a splash. In the bowl."

"What bowl?" Sam asks. A bowl appears in the angel's hand and he passes it over. Sam winces as he drags the blade across his palm. "Say when," he tells Balthazar, holding his hand over the bowl.

"That's enough," Balthazar says, taking the bowl. Sam wraps a cloth around his hand. "I'll heal it in a moment."

Balthazar casts the spell and Crowley appears before them.

"Haven't any of you heard of a cellphone?" Crowley drawls.

"Oooh! Magic!" Dean squeals. Cas catches the boy before he runs to the demon king.

"What is this? Moose and Squirrel Adoption Agency? Where'd you pick this one up?"

"It's Dean," Cas tells him.

"You're joking," Crowley says smirking.

"No. We ran into a witch in Sapulpa," Sam tells him.

"Exciting."

"We want you to fix him."

"Come again?"

"The angels can't fix him, since it's witchcraft. Since you're a witch, you can cast a spell and reverse it."

"You're asking me for help?"

"Don't get used to it."

"I bet this makes you feel horribly useless, doesn't it, angels?" Crowley taunts.

"Crowley," Sam warns.

"Please," Juliet asks from the door. She walks further into the room. Crowley rolls his eyes.

"You think you have me wrapped around your finger? Why should I do this for you?"

"Because then we'll owe you, Crow."

Crowley meets her eyes.

"I knew there was a reason you were my favorite Winchester. The smart one," Crowley says. "Alright, let me out."

"Let him out, Sam."

Sam scratches away a piece of the devil's trap, and Crowley is uttering commands even as he walks out. Sam and Balthazar move to retrieve what he asks for. He moves to Dean and squats by him. He grabs the boy's chin roughly and looks into his eyes.

"Was his memory affected by the spell?"

"He doesn't seem to remember anything," Cas tells him, kneeling down next to Dean. Crowley releases the boy, who turns and buries his head in Cas' chest.

"His tastes haven't improved," Crowley remarks. Sam and Balthazar return from retrieving ingredients. Crowley mixes the ingredients in the bowl.

"I need blood," he announces. Sam begins to remove the bandage. "Not yours. I need Dean's."

"Dean-o?" Cas turns to the boy. "We need to cut your hand, okay? It won't hurt long, I promise. I'll heal it as soon as it's over."

Dean looks up nervously and nods. Cas takes the knife from Crowley, who brings over the bowl. Cas drags the knife across the boy's palm. Dean whimpers.

"It's okay, Dean-o. Almost done," he tells Dean, flipping his hand over the bowl.

"That's enough."

Cas takes Dean's hand in his and lets his grace flow into the the hand. The cut closes up.

"All better."

"Thank you, Cassie," Dean says quietly. Crowley mixes the ingredients in a bowl, then starts painting symbols on Dean's face. He begins chanting. When he's done, the symbols glow for a moment.

"Wait about eight to twelve hours for the spell to work its way in and the other magic to work its way out. He'll be fine in the morning," Crowley tells them, snapping his fingers and getting rid of the bloody mess on his fingers and Dean's face. He's about to stand up when Dean throws his arms around him.

"Thank you, Mr. Crow-Crow."

There are a few snorts and chuckles as the group struggles to not burst out laughing.

"Crow-Crow?" Crowley asks, eyes narrowing. "Listen here, pup. It is Crowley. Crowley. Not Crow-Crow. Say it with me."

"Crowrey," the boy repeats with the King. Crowley sighs in resignation.

"Close enough," he says standing up and patting him on the head. "Anything else before I go back to my real job?"

"Thank you, Crowley," Juliet choruses.

"Yeah, thank you, Crow-Crow," Balthazar smirks. Crowley glares at him before snapping his fingers and disappearing. The moment he's gone, the group dissolves into laughter. Between giggles, Juliet tries to chastise Balthazar, but the words come out unfinished.

After the group finally calms, Castiel turns to Dean.

"Time for bed, Dean-o. You'll be better in the morning."

"Otay, Cassie," the boy chirps, grasping his hand and marching with the angel to his room.

Sam, Balthazar, and Juliet migrate to the kitchen where Ariel, Adam, and Gabriel are sitting with the twins. Gabriel stands up and kisses Juliet on the cheek with Mary Jo on his hip.

"Hey, hon," Juliet says to him. "Hey, baby," she coos to Mary, reaching out her arms to the infant. Mary gives her prettiest smile and moves to her mother's arms willingly.

She rests her head on Juliet's shoulder and yawns widely.

"She has the right idea," Juliet remarks.

"Time for bed, Bobby," Gabriel says, taking his son from Ariel. The couple takes the twins to the nursery.

"Alright, Ariel, we should go to bed, too," Adam reminds her.

"What would I do without you looking after me?' she asks fondly.

"Crash and burn, sweetheart," he teases. "Night, guys."

Balthazar waits until they leave.

"Guess it's just you and me, Sam."

Sam rolls his eyes, but asks anyway.

"My room?"

"Read my mind."

"It's a one track mind; it wasn't very difficult."

"How right you are, love."

Dean is curled against Cas' chest with his fingers wrapped around the trenchcoat collar when the spell kicks in. Within minutes, the toddler has grown back into full-sized Dean.

His eyelids flutter open and he meets the blue eyes gazing at him curiously.

"Hey, you. What are you doing here?" he murmurs sleepily. He takes in the trenchcoat. "Hey, why are you sleeping in your clothes?"

"What do you remember?"

"What do you mean? Sam and I are in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, preparing to take down a werewolf."

"No, Dean. That was three weeks ago."

"What?!"

"It wasn't a werewolf. It was witch. And she turned you into a child. Sam called Crowley last night and he performed a spell that changed you back."

"Why don't I remember this?"

"When you were a child you didn't remember anything about this life either."

"I didn't? Well... what happened?"

"You called Crowley 'Mr. Crow-Crow'."

Dean closes his eyes, struggling not to break a smile.

"Did anything else happen?"

"Not really. You were just an ordinary toddler. Except..."

"What?"

"I think you might have upset Sam a little."

"What? What did I do?"

"You liked me better than you liked him."

"Oh crap. Now he's going to get it into his head and save this for one of our big fights. I should go talk to him. Where is he?"

"His room. But, Dean, maybe you should wait..."

Dean is already out of bed, shirt on, pants halfway up his legs.

"No, if I wait, he'll just let it brew. That's what Winchesters do," he says, leaving the room. "Be back in a sec."

"Wait, Dean-" Cas calls, following.

"I need to handle this before it gets too hot to handle. It'll just be a minute and I'll have it straightened out," he says, reaching Sam's door. He opens it quickly. "Sam, I-"

He can't find the words to finish the thought, since making out, naked, on the bed are his little brother and Balthazar. The two look up, Sam with fear and surprise and Balthazar with is customary look of disdain. Dean immediately slams the door, but Balthazar can still hear him.

"Oh God," the Winchesters mutter together.

"Not exactly," Balthazar smirks, "But I'll take it as a compliment."

"That was..." Dean says.

"Mmhm," Cas finishes.

"Sam and..."

"Yes."

"How lo-"

"Three weeks," Cas tells him. Dean pauses again.

"... Fuck."

"Crap. Crap. Crapcrapcrap," Sam mutters. scrambling to grab clothes and throw them on his body, nearly falling over a few times. Balthazar follows him with his eyes, un-moving, like a big cat. "Bal? Where's my belt?"

"Foot board," he replies in a bored voice.

"Thanks, love. Dean!" he calls, rushing to the door, fastening the belt. He yanks the door open. His brother and Cas are still there.

"Cas, can we have a second?" Dean asks. Cas immediately moves down the hallway.

"So..."

"So..." Dean repeats. "So, I guess you're over Bela?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that's a way to phrase it," Sam says awkwardly. Dean stands there for a moment.

"Okay, awkward. So, I'm not going to ask any questions. What you do is your business. Um... so, yeah, now we're all dating angels."

Sam lets out a breathy half-laugh.

"Yeah... Guess it's the new family business."

"Dating angels, hunting things, the family business?" Dean says. "God, what would Dad say?' he asks chuckling.

"I don't want to know," Sam says laughing. "Listen, Dean, was there something you wanted? When you came down here?"

"Oh. Yeah. Cas said you might have been offended when I attached myself to him the past couple of weeks."

"Don't worry about it."

"You weren't jealous?"

"Well, I was, but I sort of found a... distraction," Sam replies, glancing toward the door of his room. Dean winces.

"Sorry, I asked," he says. He recollects his thoughts. "Okay, so we good here?"

"We're good, Dean."

"Great. 'Cause I have three weeks of abstinence to make up to a certain angel."

It's Sam's turn to wince.

"Didn't need to know."

"Now we both have mental images we didn't want."

"You can say that again," Sam mutters.

"Have fun, brother," Dean says with a wink and a slap on the shoulder.

"We will," Balthazar announces from the door. "Get in there, Winchester," he adds, gesturing with a whip he makes appear in his hand. Dean's eyes widen.

"Later, Sam," he says, hurrying to his own room. Sam turns to Balthazar when he's gone.

"You shouldn't have done that," he chastises the angel with a bitch face.

"Couldn't resist," he shrugs, getting rid of the whip. "I enjoy having fun with your brother. Although, not as much as I have with you."

Sam rolls his eyes, walks forward and gently pushes Balthazar into the room.

A/N: Episode 3x02.

Fixed Dean! Yay!

I took Crowrey from the Season 8 gag reel, since pretty much the season 8 gag reel was "Crowrey, Crowrey", Jared makes funny face, "Crowrey".

Whoops, Dean totally just found out about Sam and Balthazar... Kinda wish someone had figured out how to mention that before... You know, mental image.