A/N: Here's chapter 21 and we're in January '09. Enjoy a less Winchester filled chapter.
2009 – January
South Dakota – Sioux Falls
Charlotte glared at the tail light that she was busy replacing. Since her talk with Dean she'd barely said another word to him and him to her. She hadn't talked to Crowley and had given Jo and Ellen a quick departure before she'd hit the road with nothing but her and her thoughts. She had thought that a few hunts would help distract her, but they only served to make her more aware of the words running around inside of her head.
Crowley. He'd called and text her but she'd ignored him. Eventually he'd turned up in person and she'd given him a quick, "Fuck off," before she went back to reading the small stack books Bobby had on the myths and fables of Angels as "Passed down through the ages." He was one of the problems keeping her pissed at all times. Dean's question of what was in it for Crowley if Lilith was dead had crossed her mind plenty of times and she couldn't figure it out, wasn't sure she wanted to know. Since she'd agreed to killing Lilith for him the only logic her mind had surmised for her was that she wanted her dead and he wanted her dead. Win-win situation and she hadn't tried to look past that point too hard.
He'd been the reason she took a crowbar to the tail lights, busting them both. He'd been the reason she'd kicked the back bumper of her car and accidentally left a dent. "Stupid fucking angel DNA," she cursed as she dropped the second broken light to the floor and checked the insides for more damage.
Zachariah had been on her mind and she'd been curling her hands into fists and grounding her teeth harshly together. She wanted to murder him, simple as, only she had no way of finding him or making him stay. Not to mention the only thing she had capable of killing angels was the Colt, which she had one bullet for which was meant for Lilith. There was the blade that Matthew had held on to but once he'd gotten his memories back he'd asked to keep it, "Just in case I'm in trouble." If she used the Colt on Zach then she had nothing to kill Lilith with and that only had her mind wavering between the two people she hated most in the world right now.
She grabbed one of the fresh tail light covers and perched herself on the edge of the open trunk as she started to slide it into place.
The Trickster was another problem on her mind. Whoever the hell he was he was causing her more trouble than she needed. "I swear to God," she mumbled as she screwed the bulb back into place, "I'm punching you the next time I see you, powerful angel or not." She grabbed a screwdriver and started to tighten the screws with a small shake of her head.
She finished one light stood up and stared at the other one with a sigh. She needed to stop taking her anger out on her car. Charlotte ran a hand over her face and started to undo the other tail light, her mind wandering back to Dean and Crowley and Lilith. She scoffed. It wasn't like she was still sleeping with him. Once she'd gotten her head straightened out it was nothing but business between them. He gave her the gun and she promised to kill Lilith.
But why?
She paused, mentally cursing Dean before she dropped her screwdriver and grabbed her phone. A few rings passed before the demon in question answered the call, "This better be to tell me you're going to-"
"What do you get out of this if Lilith is dead?"
There was a noticeable pause before he said, "Excuse me?"
Slower she said, "What do you get out of Lilith being dead? What's the up side for you?"
"I get to keep my life."
She raised her brows, waited and said, "And?"
"And what?"
"And what else?"
"What else could I possibly need?"
She narrowed her eyes in thought before she hung up on him and tapped her finger against her phone, trying to put the pieces together. She needed to kill Lilith to stop Lucifer. She got that. If Lucifer rose he'd happily kill hundreds of demons with little regards to their life. She understood that. But if Lucifer stays in the pit and Lilith, the queen bee, is killed, then who tops hell? She tilted her head to one side in thought, wondering if she was reading this right. Crowley was Lilith's right hand man, her second in command. He ranked just below her which meant...
Charlotte straightened up with a small shake of her head. "No," she muttered, "no, no, no, no. No way." She frowned, still wondering if she was right, "Is that how it works? Would it work like that?" She shook her head and stood up, forgetting about the tail light. If she killed Lilith, Crowley would become top dog, unless hell worked in some other way, she was sure that that little piece of information was the piece that he was holding back from her.
"So I have to choose," she mumbled to herself, "between him and Lucifer? Crowley or the Devil?" She groaned and hit her hand on the edge of the trunk with a frustrated noise. She stared a little longer, only being pulled out of her thoughts by a bang on the open trunk of her car. She leaned forward to see Natalie step into view and she gave her a small smile, "Hey, you and Bobby done talking?"
Natalie shrugged and took a seat next to her. "Charlotte, be honest with me, what's going on with you?"
Charlotte stared at her for a moment before she sighed and bowed her head to stare at the floor. She shrugged her shoulder, took a breath and sighed before she ran a hand through her hair and started, "Dean's pissed at me because I slept with the same demon a couple of times whilst he was in hell. Said demon and I are kind of working together to kill Lilith who by the way is trying to bring on the apocalypse. Add into that my angel dad had his grace stolen by heaven, there's this other angel guy who every other angel is afraid of, helping me for some reason and I'm pretty sure the angels want the apocalypse to happen." She took a breath and glanced up at Natalie with a shrug, "Add into that a possible divorce and me wanting to kill a couple of angels in particular for screwing up my life and killing me and I'm fine."
They stared at one another for a few moments before Natalie sighed and wrapped an arm around Charlotte's shoulders. "Why did you sleep with him?"
Charlotte sighed and resisted the urge to roll her eyes before she shrugged and said, "Oh I don't know. I was black out drunk and high on loss, pain and anger from seeing Dean get ripped apart by hellhounds that my hands gave the orders to."
Natalie squeezed her shoulder gently and Charlotte admitted there was a little comfort in the small touch. "And now you two want to kill Lilith to stop the apocalypse?"
"Yeah, apparently Lucifer doesn't care for demons and if they're scared of him then I'd hate to see what he has in mind for humans."
Natalie nodded and Charlotte shifted slightly closer. She hated to admit it but sharing everything was starting to help her breathe and helped her to think a little clearer. "The angels want the apocalypse too? Are you sure about that?"
Charlotte tilted her head to one side. "No but I need to have a little chat with one of them to clear that up then I'll be sure." At Natalie's frown Charlotte sighed. "The first of the sixty six seals shall break when a righteous man sheds blood in hell." Natalie stared at her some more and Charlotte shrugged. "Dean went to hell and the angels stopped me from selling my soul for him. Five months later they drag him out, please tell me that I'm not just paranoid about the timing."
"But this is Dean Winchester. Mr "let's just go in and hope we don't die" Winchester. He hustles money from pool and poker. He uses fake credit cards and he steals all the time from what you've told me. Righteous? Idiotic maybe, reckless."
Charlotte smiled and nodded, "Genius, selfless, caring, excellent hunter, amazing in bed."
"I didn't need to know that last bit."
"No but he is pretty fantastic. Seriously, full night's sleep every time, full body tingling, seeing stars, the whole nine yards. Every. Time."
Natalie turned her head away and dropped her arm from her shoulder. "Well good for you that I don't plan on sleeping with him any time ever."
Charlotte raised her brows with a smirk, "No, you just want to bang his tall brother who no doubt has a huge-"
Natalie slapped the back of her head before she could finish her sentence and pointed a finger at her, "Tell me again why we're friends?"
Charlotte grinned, "Because you love me and secretly can't wait for me to get into your pants."
"You're disgusting. You and Dean are a perfect match, if he wasn't pissed at you right now."
Charlotte's grin faltered and she turned away, "Thanks for killing the mood."
"Dean just needs some time and you need to make sure he knows everything," Natalie said, giving Charlotte a stern look.
"As I said, still need to work out a couple of things. Still need to hope one of the angels will talk to me."
Natalie nodded and jumped off the open trunk, "Well let's go make a call."
Charlotte raised her brows at her with a small smile, "Excuse me?"
"What? You guys get all of the angel action and I have to take a back seat? I don't think so. You and I and going to get us an angel. Together."
Charlotte couldn't help her smile and nodded, "Just as soon as I finish putting in this tail light."
"Nope," Natalie said, pulling the screwdriver from her hand, "we're taking my car and we're going now."