AN: Okay. You know how I said long chapters…

I lied.

But only temporarily! It's because I have a…*ahem* I have something planned for this chapter…and…I need to break it up into two chapters. Just because. BECAUSE OF REASONS.

So anyway. Hope you enjoy this annoyingly short chapter.

Xxx

~Fen~

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

As soon as Athaya passed out, Crowley set her hand.

He'd used enough anaesthetic to both knock her out and ensure that she would feel no pain. As soon as that was done, he healed her hand fully, before turning to Ian, who was standing patiently, dry clothes and thermos of what Crowley assumed was tea, in hand.

Crowley wordlessly took the dry clothes and looked at Ian tiredly. 'I'll get her dressed, and then I want you to look after us both, alright?' he requested, and Ian nodded. 'I'm going to visit her in her dreams,' he further elaborated, and Ian took a seat by the fireplace.

'May I ask how long you think you'll be?' the butler inquired, and Crowley nodded.

'As long as it takes for the anaesthetic to wear off. A few hours, I'd say. And I don't want David in the room, either.' There's something going on there, Crowley thought to himself. David had been absent too many times when Athaya needed help. I don't trust that demon.

Well. It's not like I've ever trusted any demon.

Surprisingly, though, he trusted the girl lying on the floor beside him. He trusted her, despite his inherent nature, and for some strange reason, she trusted him too. And with her help, maybe he'd come to remember what love was.

Crowley quickly changed Athaya's shirt, buttoning up the blue flannel one that Ian had brought down before slipping a large, woollen jumper over the top. Thankfully, her pants weren't wet, but Crowley wrapped a blanket around her anyway, not wanting her to be cold in the slightest. Then he picked her up and placed her on the long sofa, before taking a seat himself in an opposite chair, near her. He nodded towards Ian briefly, who had poured some of the tea from the thermos into a cup, and was sipping at it slowly. Then, Crowley closed his eyes and focussed his thoughts on the mind of the girl next to him.


Athaya opened her eyes to a canopy of green. She looked down and saw that she was wearing a dark grey dress. It was simple, knee-length, and had a black bow tied around the back of it. She was sitting at the base of a large oak tree, in what appeared to be a forest.

'Hello, gorgeous,' came a familiar voice to her right, and Athaya turned her head. Standing next to the oak was Crowley, who offered a hand to pull her to her feet. A wide smile broke out across her face and she accepted it gratefully, standing in front of the demon happily.

Before he could object, she pulled him into a tight hug and wrapped her arms tight around his middle. He laughed and pulled her closer, cradling her head against his neck, stroking her hair gently.

'Thank you,' she said quietly, and he pulled back to stare at her.

'What for? You're the one who hugged me,' he said jokingly, and she narrowed her eyes slightly.

'You know what for,' Athaya said. 'But…if we're talking in general: everything.'

Crowley shrugged. 'What's a dragon to do? Ignore the beautiful princess? Doesn't seem right to me.' An eyebrow twitched upwards, 'Speaking of which…' his gave travelled downwards. 'You really should wear dresses more often,' he said, and Athaya rolled her eyes.

'Really?' she inquired sarcastically, and Crowley leant forward to press a quick kiss to her lips.

'Yes, really,' he said when he pulled back to look into her eyes. 'And this one happens to match your eye colour exactly. Very sexy,' he grinned.

Athaya laughed and glanced around. 'So where are we, exactly?'

'I don't know, Princess, I let you choose. Wherever it is, it's very pretty,' he looked around, and then grimaced. 'Very pretty and very…outdoors-y. Where are the chairs? Where is the table? Where will we sit, for Heaven's sake?' he said dramatically, and Athaya sighed.

'You're so dramatic,' she poked him and then turned on her heel. She walked forward a few steps, and then spotted a small cottage. Suddenly, she knew where they were. Something on her face must have changed, because Crowley tilted his head.

'What is it?' he inquired, and Athaya pointed at the quaint little building.

'I know where we are. I came here on holiday with my Dad when I was little,' she explained. 'Before he met my step-mum. Well. I say "holiday". Dad was doing something for work. We're…in Germany I think. He couldn't really hire a babysitter for three months, so he brought me along. I remember…we're close to a lake here.' She walked towards the cottage, and when she got there, the door was unlocked. However, when she stepped inside, it was not into the old-fashioned cottage kitchen she remembered being there.

What she stepped into was a colossal hallway.

At least five metres across, the wide hallway stretched as far as Athaya could see.

'Woah. What is this?' she asked, as Crowley closed the door behind them.

He sighed. 'I guess no chairs then. Just…lots of walking,' he murmured to himself and turned to Athaya. 'Dearest Athaya, welcome to your memory,' he gestured around them grandly, and Athaya blinked in surprise.

'A…memory?' she inquired, and glanced down the stark hallway. It was completely bare of any paintings, furniture or any other artefacts that would make it distinguishable to her, and she truly couldn't think of where she'd seen it before. The hall was dimly lit with haphazardly scattered light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, and further along, Athaya could see one flickering every so often. She still couldn't place the hallway, however, which was weird, because it was so barren and miserable, and stirred strange feelings within Athaya. Feelings of sad nostalgia and shattered pasts. She felt her chest tighten. 'But I've never been here before…' she murmured quietly.

Crowley gave a short laugh. 'Not a memory. Your memory.' He smiled. 'You, my sweetness, have just walked into your own mind, so to speak. If your memory were a tangible, physical thing, this is what it would look like.' He paused to glance around, and after a moment, his smile fell. He slowly turned to Athaya, and looked at her with a heavy gaze. 'Princess…You…I'm…' He seemed at loss for words, and Athaya barely had time to register that he was never lost for words before he pulled her into a tight hug.

She didn't resist, and let him hold her for several moments, just listening to the sound of his breathing. But why? She wasn't sad or upset. A bit confused, sure, but did that really warrant a hug? She didn't think so. Athaya pulled back after a second and looked him straight in the eye. 'Crowley, what's wrong?' she asked, and he leant up to press a kiss to her forehead.

What was going on? Why was he acting like this?

'Have…have I ever mentioned how tall you are?' Crowley inquired suddenly. 'You make it extremely hard for a man to kiss the top of your head – '

'Crowley?' Athaya snapped, cutting across him. 'What the hell is going on? You got all weird…and clingy.'

Crowley's eyes flickered to hers and he sighed. 'Like I said. This is your memory.' He gestured around once more, but with far less enthusiasm this time. 'This…is your memory,' he stared at the dark, gloomy hallway, and Athaya felt a chill travel down her spine. This? But…

'I don't understand…' she said quietly, and Crowley's hand tightened on her arm.

'I'm sorry. But you will,' he said dully before shaking himself. 'Anyhow. Let's begin the tour, shall we?'

Athaya was still confused. 'What are you…? Crowley, stop. Stop.' She pulled him to a halt, stopping him from leading her down the hallway. Now that they had taken a few steps, she saw that the hallway was not entirely empty. Along either side of her were huge, dark grey metal doors.

Door after door stretched out down the corridor on either side of her like broken, rusted train tracks, and she felt her eyebrows crinkle in a frown. 'Please just tell me what this is all about.'

Crowley's shoulders dropped and he let go of her hand, walking over to one of the door. 'This?' he said, rapping his knuckles on the metal door, 'This is a memory. In here, beyond this door.'

'And?' Athaya asked. The clanging of his hand tapping on the door still rung out faintly along the corridor, and she wondered briefly how long it went on for.

'And…the door we just walked through brought us to the beginning of your memories. All these doors are in order. So. This being the first door would make it – as you would expect – your first memory. The first memory you had as a child. Possibly even as a baby.'

Athaya felt a twinge of annoyance. 'So? Get to the point.' Not that Athaya would ever admit it, but she was afraid. Afraid of Crowley's words, afraid of what they meant, and afraid of this hallway.

Crowley looked at her sadly. 'So…It really begs the question…Why is it behind a locked metal door?'

Athaya felt her previous prickle of unease intensify and felt a horrible feeling pull at her stomach. 'Because…because…' she felt panic rise up in her throat. 'I don't know,' she whispered. 'Why, Crowley?Why don't I know? Why is it behind that door?' It was just a baby's memory. Why would it be behind such a barricade?

He quickly walked over to her and touched her arm gently. 'Don't panic. It's not really anything big,' he said far too quickly and Athaya felt her unease grow.

'Shit, Crowley, just tell me already!' she said sharply and pulled her arm away from him. She didn't want him to coddle her. She wanted him to explain.

'Calm down, Princess,' he said, not reacting to her withdrawal, but instead cocking his head to the side. 'You're just different, that's all.'

'What does that mean?' she asked quietly, dangerously, and sent a glare towards Crowley. If he would stop being so cryptic and mysterious for just five seconds…

'I've seen a lot of people's insides,' Crowley began. 'I've seen what makes them tick, their minds, their memories…and…I've only come across this kind of mind a few times during my…explorations.' He shrugged like it was no big deal, but Athaya knew – she felt – that he was uneasy.

'"This kind of mind?"' Athaya inquired. 'And what – pray tell – is "this kind of mind?"'

Crowley stared at her evenly for a moment, and his dark eyes looked completely black in the shadows that seemed to cling to everything. After a very long moment, he spoke.

'A demon's.'

AN: Okay. It's possible that I may allow you to kill me.

Because boy, that's a nasty cliffhanger.

BUT BEFORE YOU DOKILL ME: I'm letting you know that I intend to update the next chapter (well second part to this chapter, really) within the next 24 hours (ish). I just wanted to give you something to read and when I started writing this chapter, I didn't realise it would be this short/complicated as it turned out. So. Because of reasons I have become Satan incarnate.

Except not Lucifer. No. I suspect Lucy is kinder. Mwahaha.

Thank you ever-faithful, wonderful, lovely readers. You are all truly amazing!

Don't forget to review!

Xxx

~Fen~