Hey everyone! Here is the final chapter of this story. I know I said I'd write about Sam's birthday, but I realized that I was already using big time jumps and I didn't want to skip over too much time. So I wrapped up this story with this chapter. However, Sam's birthday will eventually come because I'm going to write a sequel to this story. Instead of time jumps it's going to be more like a normal story with a plot. This story how the brother's fixed their relationship over time and now it's on to their next adventure basically. So I hope you enjoyed this story and will continue to read onto the next, let me know your thoughts :)
"Come on Sammy; hurry your ass up already." Dean groaned to his brother. They had just returned back from the movie theatre and were standing a few doors down from their motel when Sam had insisted that he wanted a Coke from the motel's soda machine.
"Just go down to the room Dean, geeze I'll be fine for two minutes." Sam muttered as he counted the leftover change in his pocket.
"It's not about that." Dean said, even though that was a lie. Part of the reason why Dean didn't want to go down alone was because he hated leaving his brother, if only for few minutes. As far as Dean was concerned, they didn't need any more time spent away from each other and he felt that if he left his brother for only the slightest instance, he may be snatched away from Dean all over again.
But there was another reason why Dean just wouldn't go down and leave Sam outside alone. He couldn't help but feel that something was about to go horribly wrong. Dean shivered as a cold just of wind blew past him and he looked out across the parking lot. It was pitch black outside save for the few lights from the motel and the occasional streetlight he could see on the highway. They were in the middle of nowhere, a motel basically surrounded on all sides by fields other than a forest to their left. A forest that looked extremely creepy with their bare branches and the piles of dead leaves littering the ground which were left over from fall. Dean tried to tell himself he was imagining things, but he just couldn't shake off the feeling. The wind picked up again, creating a howling noise which rustled the leaves on the forest floor, the branches swaying. So freaking creepy. And worst of all Sam seemed oblivious to it all.
"Sam, really. I have this really weird feeling and I do not like it at all. Let's get back to the room." And lay down a bunch of salt lines while we're at it...
"Okay Dean, just a minute...I almost have enough..." Sam tried digging in his other pocket with his bad hand and ended up dropping his change all over the ground. "Shit..."
"Sam, I have a dollar. Stop trying to be so independent and just take obviously aren't able to use your hand well enough for this so stop trying to prove to me that you can." Dean sighed and that earned him an angry and hurt glare from Sam, even though what Dean said was true. This wasn't the time for Sam to practice handling his change.
"Listen, I'm sorry." Dean tried again. "Just please...can we go back to the room...please..." He sounded like a whiny and scared two year old but Dean could care less right now.
Sam must have noticed something was up because his expression softened dramatically. "Yeah. Okay Dean. Just give me that dollar."
Dean nodded and fished through his wallet. But before he could get it out suddenly Sam had a firm grip on his arm and was dragging Dean down the motel room in a sprint.
"You're right. Shit Dean, you're right. Something is wrong. Something is really really wrong."
Dean shoved his wallet back. "What? Sam, what is it?"
And then, as if on cue the few lights that lit the motel started flickering on and off. Dean felt his heart drop to his stomach.
"Demons." Sam swallowed as he flung them both toward the door. "They're coming! Hurry, Dean! Get the key!"
Dean knew they were too late. Before he could even reach for the key he felt another presence behind them. Dean swallowed, prepared to protect his brother until the death as he turned around.
Dean couldn't believe his eyes. "What the hell!"
Standing just two feet from the brothers was Crowley. The demon was not only covered in blood from head to toe but his clothes were practically torn to shreds, his arm bent at a nearly impossible angle, his eyes were nearly swollen shut and his nose was broken.
And even from the horrible nature of the demon's appearance, Dean was still expecting some snarky remark to come flowing from his mouth.
But all that Crowley managed to say was a whispered "Help" as he began to crumple to the ground. Before Dean could even realize what he was doing, he ran over and caught the demon before he fell.
"Sammy quick, grab the key in my left pocket." Dean grunted out as he hoisted Crowley up as much as he could manage, throwing one of his arm's over Crowley's shoulder.
Sam did as he was told and looked at Dean with panicked eyes. "There's more! Shit Dean, there's so many more coming. Crowley wouldn't have led them here would he...?"
Dean could hear the doubt in his brother's voice and knew what Sam was thinking. Crowley could be putting on an act just to lead all these demons to the brothers when they were most vulnerable. Dean almost dropped Crowley right there on the sidewalk but there was just a part of him that couldn't believe Crowley would do such a thing. What would he gain by leading other demons to the Winchesters? All the demons were after Crowley unless he used the brothers as a bargaining chip to spare his own life...
Dean almost came to that conclusion but then something clicked. "No, they're after him Sammy. I think they tried to kill him or something so he came to us, now the demons are following him here, they probably don't have a clue that we're here as well." The whole reason Crowley had kept in contact with the Winchesters was to come to them when demons were on his trail, and now he was in deep trouble.
Sam seemed to believe the same thing that Dean did because he quickly turned around and unlocked the door before he hurried inside. Dean was right after him but as he tried to drag Crowley in too, he suddenly couldn't push the demon any further.
"Come on Dean, they're nearly on top of us!" Sam screamed, obviously not seeing that Dean was stuck in his own state of panic.
"I can't!" Dean yelled back. "I can't move him anymore, I'm literally stuck here!"
Sam's eye went wide and in a second he bent down on the ground. Dean felt ridiculously stupid as he watched Sam break the salt line at the door, allowing the demon to enter. Shit, why hadn't he realized that? Dean stumbled in and placed the moaning Crowley on the ground as he grabbed one of the salt bags and Sam took the other.
"I'll fix the door and get the bathroom window!" Dean called to his brother. "You get the two windows in the front."
Both brothers went to work and it only took them mere seconds from years of practice. Dean told Sam to pour extra just in case and the brothers double checked that there were no small breaks before they moved Crowley onto one of the beds.
"They're nearly here Dean. I can feel them." Sam whispered as they knelt down on the floor near the bed Crowley was occupying.
Dean placed a hand on Sam's shoulder and moved his younger brother closer to him; he didn't remove his hand even after the gesture was completed.
"We're safe though Sammy, remember that. They can't get us in here, there's nothing they can do."
Sam nodded and turned his attention to the demon lying on their bed. "You know, every hunter instinct inside of me is saying we should kill him while he's down. That it's the worst thing to have a demon trapped here in this room with us. But really...I don't feel threatened by him at all. And I can't say why exactly but I just don't want to kill him, I don't see any sense in it."
Dean nodded; he understood how Sam felt completely. "It does go against everything we know and have learned. I actually think I understand him in a way...maybe because of my time in Hell. Do I believe he is a good demon? Hell no, there is no such thing. But is he downright evil? I'm not so sure. But what I do know is that he's on our side and he poses no threat to us."
"Yeah." Sam agreed. "What if they try to like summon him or something? Crowley wouldn't be forced out because he's trapped here right?"
"They could try all they want but it wouldn't work. If a demon is trapped by a barrier, either a devil's trap or salt barrier, he can't be summoned out of it. So both us and him are safe."
"Okay...okay, good..." Sam nodded before his face went pale. "Oh god...they're here! Shit!"
"What? Where are they?"
"I don't have see-through vision Dean!"
"You can feel them can't you?" Dean asked his clearly panicking brother.
"Well, yeah...but I..." Sam couldn't finish as his trembling became worse. Dean cursed himself for not paying attention to Sam's well-being quicker; he had forgotten how frightened Sam got around demons these days. Dean grabbed his brother gently by the shoulders and spun Sam around so he faced away from the door and towards Dean.
"Sammy, it's going to be alright. We're safe as long as we're in this room. Now what we have to do is calm down so we can judge what kind of situation we're in, okay?" He informed Sam, rubbing his hands up and down Sam's forearms, trying to show comfort.
Sam nodded, relaxing at Dean's touch, after a moment he took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving his older brother's face. "I can feel them all around us; I think they're surrounding the room. At least I think so because he..." Sam waved a hand at Crowley's still-prone form on the bed. "Is throwing off my senses."
"Okay." Dean nodded. Sam was calmer, but he still seemed off, his face set in an unreadable almost blank expression. "Now let's wait for Crowley to come out of it, see what he thinks about this and we'll decide our next move from there."
They stayed sitting there for a moment, not a sound other than the movements of the demons outside.
"I know Lucifer wasn't a demon." Sam said suddenly, now looking anywhere but Dean. "But when he possessed me...it felt a hundred times worse than being possessed by Meg."
"Sammy..."
"It was bad Dean, and I wouldn't be one to complain, but man...it was horrible. I think maybe because demons...while they're evil...they really don't have a choice. What they do and who they are is their nature. But with Lucifer, he had a choice, he...he may be an angel but there was so much evil inside of him, I felt like I would explode. He chose to become that way and I think that's what made him the worst of the worst. A being that created so much death, destruction and pain and Hell...and he was inside of me...he felt like a hundred demons all rolled into one. I can't even describe how much pain he was making me feel, like I was the worst piece of shit on the planet..."
Dean stared at his brother, a lump lodged in his throat. He wanted to ask Sam a million questions, the main one being 'Why didn't you tell me this earlier.' But Dean knew from his own experiences that you can't come back from a traumatic experience and blurt out everything that happened. Sam had needed time, needed to feel comfortable around Dean again and know that his older brother wouldn't judge him.
Dean had been to Hell and back, sure. But he never had to deal with the devil owning his body while his soul was still inside. At least when Dean had been getting tortured he could retreat back into his mind to escape the pain, Sam probably wasn't even allowed that comfort because Lucifer was controlling everything.
There weren't any words he could possibly say to Sam to make him feel any better. But Dean knew that Sam didn't want any words. He just wanted someone to confide in, someone to listen and still accept him when everything was said and done.
"Is that why you seem so nervous around demons now?" Dean asked, hoping it wouldn't upset Sam any more.
Sam nodded, his face growing paler. "It's like every time I see one I'm afraid I'm going to get possessed, and I know it wouldn't be as bad as Lucifer but still..."
"Hey..." Dean pulled his brother against his chest in a tight embrace. Feeling how Sam's body nearly went limp and sagged against him showed Dean just how much this frightened his brother. The poor guy didn't deserve any more pain, didn't deserve any of the shit that was thrown at him these past years just because of one yellow eyed demon's plan to unleash Lucifer. But now Lucifer was rotting in Hell, it was all over so Sam's pain deserved to be over as well. Dean tightened his hold for a minute before pulling away, feeling ferociously protective.
"Are you feeling uncomfortable because of him at all?" Dean asked, pointing to Crowley. "Because if you're getting a bad feeling at all, I won't hesitate for a second to throw him out to those demons."
Sam eye shined with admiration as he took in Dean's determined voice. "You'd do that for me?"
"Of course. I'll do it right now." Dean said as he grabbed Crowley by the shoulders and began pulling him off of the bed, only stopping because of Sam's sudden laughter.
"Dean! Dude, what are you doing?" Sam's smile was wide, all traces of his former distress gone.
"I'm getting rid of him for you."
"What? No! I think you might want to keep the few allies we have alive, don't you agree?"
"But you said..." Dean backpedaled, letting go of Crowley and letting him fall limp on the bed once again.
"I asked if you'd actually do that for me...meaning if I actually felt that way about Crowley, you'd get rid of him. But seriously, he's an exception and for the most part an ally."
"You're positive he doesn't make you uncomfortable or scared or anything? Because your feelings come first man no matter who or what is the cause of them."
Sam smiled, touched by his brother's confession. "I'm sure Dean. Really, he's fine. If anything he protects us."
"Well I guess I owe Bigfoot here my life. And to think that I once thought you didn't like me...I should have known that you had a thing for me all along."
Both brothers turned to face Crowley, to see that some of his injuries had healed quite a bit.
Sam scrunched up his face. "I...wait, what?"
"Oh come on darling, there's no use in denying your love for me any longer."
Sam looked as if he was about to puke. "You're disgusting."
"I only speak the truth."
"Alright quit it." Dean tried to sound serious and not crack up laughing at the banter.
"Ooh, getting bossy there Dean, are we? I got to say that I like it."
This time Dean couldn't stifle the short burst of laughter that came from his mouth. Crowley looked absolutely ridiculous spewing out snarky remarks while he was lying bleeding and broken on the motel bed. The demon seemed completely at ease in a room full of hunters that could kill him in a heartbeat while he was so vulnerable. It should be sad that it's gotten this far, that a demon could feel safe around them but Dean didn't find it anything but hilarious.
"Well, glad to know that one person still likes my jokes, I guess I haven't lost my touch after all." Crowley proclaimed with a grin that caused Sam to groan.
"Trust me, it wasn't your lame ass jokes that I found funny. And you don't seem to be in the best state to be making jokes."
Dean wasn't sure if it was possible for demon's blood flow to slow, but he swore that Crowley suddenly turned pale.
Dean felt the atmosphere in the room shift abruptly and he shivered, and eerie feeling falling over him. "What happened to you?" He asked the demon, his voice quiet.
Crowley looked up, locking his gaze with Dean and he almost gasped at the amount of pain filling the demon's eyes.
"I think you have a good idea." It was the quietest Dean had ever heard Crowley speak, and yet he felt chilled to the bone.
"The demons..." Sam suddenly butted in only to be glared at by Crowley.
"They found me. For days they tortured me. Hung me from the wall on chains like I was some bloody pig. They did things to me that no pathetic human could imagine...well except for your brother..."
Sam turned to Dean, his face and expression of horror.
"Like Hell..."
"Oh it was even worse, gigantor." Crowley huffed. "This time I was in a real body. It makes the pain ten times more intense. Even though I'm trapped in this body that mends itself, every body has its pain limits unlike in Hell."
Dean shivered at the demon's words. If Hell had been so unbearable...he couldn't even imagine his body and soul being tortured at the same time on earth. And with Crowley, his body would heal back up, so it must have been a never-ending cycle of the worst pain imaginable.
"Why don't you just poof yourself out of here?" Dean asked him in a quiet voice. "Maybe they wouldn't be able to follow you?"
Crowley seemed to grow pale again. "First of all it's not called poofing, you imbecile. It's called teleporting. Or if you're a Harry Potter fan, apparating. I do not poof."
Dean shook his head and tried to keep from laughing at the way Sam had lit up over the Harry Potter reference. "Okay so why don't you apparate your ass out of here?"
"Because I can't!" Crowley growled, irritation and desperation strong in his voice. He ripped open the remnants of his shirt to reveal a very bloody and messy sigil carved into his chest. "They took it away from me! Not only did they torture me and confine me in a devil's trap but carved this." He waved at his chest. "Into me! You know what it does? It prevents me from leaving this body! Not only that, but it has taken away my ability to poof anywhere! So if I am about to be killed by who knows what, I can neither leave the body or the area other than running the heck away!"
Dean stared at Crowley, not understanding his ramblings. He glanced over at Sam who simply shrugged. Crowley threw a couple sentences at them and just expected them both to understand everything that had happened to him in the past few days.
"Uh, so why don't you break the symbol?" Sam dared to ask.
Crowley's face was bright red now. "I CAN'T! Once it's engraved onto me no demon can physically break it."
"Then what's the freakin' point of it!" Dean rubbed at his eyes, trying to make sense of all this.
"Because. Now they have me trapped. They put this symbol into me in case I managed to escape. That way when they find me again I can't just teleport away."
"Then why don't we break it, we're not demons!" Dean actually grabbed his knife and started heading towards Crowley, only stopping once he saw the look of absolute terror on his face.
"No!" Crowley yelled, flinging a pillow over his chest, as if that could stop Dean from his task. "You can't. That's what makes this so horrible. If it gets broken then I'm sent back to Hell. So I'm either stuck here in this body for all eternity or I get sucked back down to that fiery garbage pit."
"Heh, nice way to describe it." Dean sat down on the other bed and stared across the room at nothing. Just lovely. They were trapped in a room surrounded by an ocean of demons and now had to deal with the burden which was Crowley. It was either break that mark right now and never have to deal with him again or let him continue to use both brothers as an island of safety.
Dean picked up the knife, twirling it in his hands. He'd even be doing Crowley a favor by releasing him from the body he was trapped in. But in going back to Hell, how could that be considered a favor? To be tortured day in and day out and if Crowley was sent down there, he would for sure never be able to escape. His stint in helping defeat the devil had granted him eternal torment.
Dean thought back to Lenore, the friendly vampire, if you could call her friendly...she was more like civil. That was the first time Dean didn't kill something supernatural when he had the chance. He had let her live because she didn't deserve to die. And did Crowley...while he may be a demon and evil he was an ally, he did save their lives. Did Crowley deserve to spend the rest of forever in a burning maddening pit full of death and hate?
The answer came much quicker than he expected and way too easily that it scared him. The answer was no.
Dean tossed his blade back under his pillow.
Dean could hear Crowley's breath of relief before Sam spoke up.
"If you can't apparate, then how the hell did you wind up at our motel room door?"
If looks could kill, Crowley's scowl would have both brothers dead in an instant. "Must I explain every damn thing to you two? Not all demons can teleport like I could. But remember that little tracking device I told you about? That's right; it's still in your precious little car. They are very hard to come by but any demon can possess one. Those tracking devices contain their own power, which allows the owner to teleport to the location of the device."
"So you can only teleport to us because of that tracking coin?" Sam asked.
"Now you're getting it princess. It's also how the demons followed me here; they managed to scrum up a device." He dug around in his pocket before tossing the coin on the ground. "You may want to burn that."
"Great." Sam grumbled, his face falling. "So we're all stuck here. I guess we need to call Bobby and ask him to get up here."
"Bobby?" Crowley let out a loud laugh. "Are you insane? Do you know how many demons are out there?" At Sam and Dean's blank stare he groaned. "Go ahead, take a look out that window, they won't bite...well as long as you don't break that salt line..."
Dean turned to face his little brother, seeing the unmasked panic clearly written on his face. He walked over and grabbed Sam's shaking arm in a show of support and led them both over to the window. Taking a deep breath Dean slowly opened the curtains.
Dean's mouth fell open in shock, unable to form any words. He couldn't even move when Sam stumbled backwards and fell flat on his butt, making this odd frightened noise at the back of his throat.
"Surprise!" Crowley called out in an overly-cheery voice and Dean really thought the demon was in no condition to be cracking jokes at the moment.
It was like an ocean of demons that flooded the area around the motel. As far as he could see...not that he could see much though, there were demons standing as close as two inches to the window, blocking much of Dean's view, their breath almost visible against the glass.
Dean violently closed the blinds and knelt down next to his brother.
"Now you see? Like that old fart Bobby could take down dozens of demons!"
"All of them followed you here?"
"I am...was a pretty powerful demon. It took a lot to get me down." He said, waving the hand of his uninjured arm to the demons outside.
"Okay, so why didn't they just send you back to Hell then? Or kill you instead of wasting time by torturing you?"
"First of all, not many demons know how to kill a fellow demon. And I think they were hoping that if I managed to escape they could follow my trail and it would lead them to you two. That way they could kill us all in one go."
Sam's breathing evened out enough and he managed to shrug free of Dean's hands. "We're screwed then. Is that what you're trying to say?"
Crowley smirked and Dean knew he wasn't going to like what came out of his mouth next.
"I don't believe so. If I recall, you toasted those demons back in that house. So all you need to do Sammy, is conjure up the force within you and send the little buggards packing."
Sam sneered "Don't call me Sammy."
Crowley ignored him. "So, what'da you say?"
Sam opened his mouth to protest but before he could say anything Dean butted in.
"I say go for it."
Crowley grinned. "That's the spirit!"
"Whoa...wait a second Dean!" Sam spun Dean around to face him, his eyes wide. "You can't be serious. I don't even know how I did it last time; all I know is that I was angry. And anyway, it was only one demon! Who knows if I could do that again!"
"Did it hurt you last time you did it?" Dean asked him.
"Well, no...it didn't..."
"Then what's there to lose?"
"Why can't we just exorcise them?"
"Too many." Crowley butted in. "Besides you wouldn't be loud enough to get all of them."
"So that leaves only one option." Dean pointed out.
"But I don't know how to do it!
"Last time you said you got angry...well I guess just get angry again. Think about how mad you are at these demons and uh...let it rip."
"That was a wonderful expression Dean." Came Crowley's chuckle at which Sam glared over at him.
"What about you? If I try to exorcise or kill them...you're close within my range, wouldn't I kill you too?"
"Don't start getting any ideas." Crowley winked. "I'm trapped in this body, remember? It's going to hurt like Hell, because my soul will be screaming to be ripped out, but I won't be going anywhere."
"And you really want me doing this?" Sam looked at Dean. "You aren't afraid of the powers?"
Dean smiled softly. "Don't you remember me telling you how cool they were? And Sammy, these are totally different; they're not dangerous because you're not being fueled by anything evil. I can tell that you're in control of the powers, not the powers controlling you. There's nothing to be afraid of."
Sam nodded, blushing a bit. "Alright then, here goes nothing." He shared one final look with Dean before he walked over to the door, his head bowed.
A few minutes went by without Sam moving.
"The hell is he doing?" Crowley whispered in an angry voice, causing Dean to throw a pillow at him and mouth 'shut the hell up'.
Luckily for both their sakes it didn't take much longer as Sam looked up, the eye that wasn't hidden behind his patch shining that fascinating shade. Sam held out his hand and the next thing Dean knew the room was filled with Crowley's screams.
It was strange and unlike anything Dean had ever seen. Dean didn't know much about Sam's powers but he did know that his brother was extremely powerful if he had killed that demon before with such ease. And here was Crowley, Sam's powers being used on him, clawing and tearing at his soul that was confined by a spell to stay put in the body he inhabited. Not even in Hell did Dean experience anything like that and he couldn't even begin to fathom how painful it must be. Without thinking too much, Dean ran to the bed Crowley had withering and screaming on and leaned his arms against Crowley's chest, trying to keep him still.
"Crowley! Hey! Relax, you're not going anywhere, ride through it." Dean bit his lip after he spoke, trying to ignore the fact that he had just attempted to comfort a demon.
And then it was over and the screams stopped. Sam turned around, his eye still glimmering and shrugged with a sheepish smile on his face. He looked so completely innocent and timid that Dean had to laugh. It was much different than the Sam who had been high on demon blood and it filled Dean with joy to know that his brother's powers were safe.
"Well, did it work?" He asked at which Sam shrugged again.
"I'm afraid to check." Sam replied and then looked over at Crowley with what could pass as a frightened look. "Is he alright?"
Dean just then turned to inspect the damage and cringed. Crowley was shaking uncontrollably, his eyes unfocused and his meat suit's skin a scary ashen color as well as sweating profusely.
And Dean realized that somewhere deep inside him, if only just a little piece…was hoping that the demon would be okay.
Dean sighed, trying to push past the soft spot he had from watching someone in pain suffering, a trait that he had gained since his time in hell that he couldn't seem to break. "This better have worked."
Without wasting any more time, Dean marched over to the window and flung open the blinds.
There looked to be only about half of the hosts on the ground, the rest remained standing in attention. And Sam looked wiped out, there was no way he would be able to get rid of the rest before the demons called in more reinforcements.
"We're going to die here." Dean croaked out,
"No you won't."
Out of the blue Dean felt a strange yet familiar presence in the room. He slowly turned upon hearing Sam's gasp.
Standing in the middle of the room was Castiel, the shadow of his wings illuminated like the first day Dean met him.
The angel didn't even blink as he flung his hand out in a sweeping motion. "I have sent them away from here." Castiel informed them as he looked down at the tracking device Crowley had laid on the floor. With a blink of an eye it was sent up in flames before disintegrating.
Dean stared with wide eyes at the angel and then over to his brother who looked just as confused as he was.
"Cas?"
The angel looked over to him. "I wanted to apologize to you and your brother for how I have been acting." His voice still holding the same authority. "I realized that I was wrong for not continuing to help you and now I am in need of your help."
The brother's looked at one another and Dean cocked an eyebrow.
"And why would that be?"
"I have been kicked out of heaven."