LI-Li was sitting in her office, tapping at her computer when the door opened and Ali walked in. Her best friend waited until she was finished typing in the last order and hitting send. She smiled and looked up. "Why are you hovering by the door?" She asked and pointed at the comfy seat in front of the desk.

"Cause it's closing time and you're locked away in here like Scrooge." Ali said, sitting down and propping up her feet. "I wanted to check in with you before heading out." The grin on her face told Li-LI everything.

Rolling her eyes, she sat back in her own chair. "Tell me you carded him first?" She asked, worried that one day she'd have to bail her bestie out of jail for statutory.

Ali laughed. "Met me at the bar, he's of age." She assured, and still looked like the cat that ate the canary. "While you've been in here counting profits, the rest of us are out there enjoying the human interaction."

Li-Li giggled. "If I don't count the profits, then you guys won't get the right bonus for one of our BIGGEST weeks! As for human interaction," she rolled her eyes again. "You know I prefer a more mature vintage."

Ali groaned. "Then you REALLY should have been out there tonight." She leaned forward, after dropping her feet back to the floor. "FOUR older guys, all various stages of HOT were out there, and let me tell you, Li-Li, they ALL watched you walk in here like they wanted to worship at your altar." She wiggled her eyes at her friend in the worst version of innuendo ever.

Li-Li chuckled. "You're horrible." She sighed then, "I have TOO much work to do. Between here and the restaurant."

"All work and no play," Ali warned, standing and heading for the door. "I'll think of you while I'm-"

"EW," Li-Li groaned and grimaced. "Don't, don't EVER think of me during your debauchery!" She shooed Ali out as her friend's laughter echoed behind her. She turned back to the computer and opened the tab for the restaurant. She had to place an order for supplies, then hopefully, she could head home before four o'clock.

EARLIER~ AFTER LILANE HAD ENTERED HER OFFICE

A waitress came to the booth and took their orders. She had been friendly, but not overly so, clearly Liliane had trained her staff to be good at service, but not overly open to anything more. Once she returned with their drinks, Crowley felt three pairs of eyes on him. Sighing, he took a drink of the high end scotch he'd ordered and thought about what to tell them. Feeling at a loss, he realized the truth would have to be it.

"She's my daughter." He said, barely loud enough to be heard over the noise of the bar.

John blinked, shocked clearly. Dean choked on his drink and Sam studied him. "Why does that make her so special?" Moose asked, clearly the smart one.

"Because, Moose, her mother was an angel. Literally." He said, meeting Sam's eyes. He could feel the tension return, to himself as well as the three men he sat with. "Abigail, she liked to be called Abigail." He felt the pain of her loss still, he tried to not think about her, but that was impossible. Like not breathing when you're a human, thinking of her was just natural, and fighting against it was unbearable.

"What does that make her?" Dean asked the question directed at his father.

John squinted at his drink trying to think if he'd ever heard of such a pairing in his life. "I don't know." He answered, biting his lip. "I've never heard of it happening."

"Because it never has," Crowley answered. "Her mother and I, it's forbidden, and not in the usual way." He closed his eyes and tried desperately not to think about that day. "Abigail evaporated the day Lilane was born. Gone. That was her punishment for simply loving me."

He could hear Sam gulp. "She died?"

Crowley met Sam's eyes, "No, Moose, she didn't die. She ceased to exist, period."

"They don't know about her." John said, not a question, because he knew if the mother was removed, they wouldn't have left the child if they knew.

"No, they don't. There were ways to conceal that at least." Crowley confirmed. "Abigail knew, she knew that Lilane would end up becoming irresistible to everything. I truly don't know how, but she knew. She made me promise to keep her safe, and part of that was leaving her on Earth. Her mortal guardians, her adopted parents died three years ago."

"When you came to help us," Dean nodded, realizing that was why he'd been buttering them up.

"Yes," Crowley answered, continuing. "Abigail also told me that the three of you would be her safest allies. And-" He stopped, closing his eyes against the pain of the promise he'd made as the love of his existence had known she was leaving forever. "Let's say, you're not only protecting her."

John squinted at Crowley, he didn't like how that sounded. "No." He answered, standing up and about to walk away. "The whole story, or we're out."

"Sit, Winchester." Crowley growled, hating that this useless human was important to his daughter's livelihood. "Fine, fine." He said, trying to pacify the patriarch. "The WHOLE story is this: my daughter is going to save all three of you. Not from monsters, demons, or angels, but from something deep inside of each of you." He closed his eyes and sighed again. "Her mother wasn't specific, she just said her Grace would make right that which was wrong." He opened his eyes to see that John had fallen back into his chair. "Angels, they're always cryptic, even when they're dying." The pain clutching his heart made the joke sound wrong even to himself.

THREE THIRTY IN THE MORNING

Li-Li walked through the empty bar, making sure that her staff had locked everything up nice and tight. She knew they were great people, but Spring Break was rowdy and everyone enjoyed themselves a little much. Everything seemed in order, so she walked to the back door so she could get to her car easier. Locking the door behind her, she beeped her car even as she felt a cold chill go down her spine.

She glanced around her, and saw nothing. Walking briskly to her car, she opened the door and jumped in, closing and locking the door behind her. She looked at herself in the rearview mirror as she started the car and laughed. Jumpy, aren't you, she thought. Pulling the car out of the employee parking lot, she headed home, wanting nothing more than a hot bath, some breakfast, and sleep.

Dean and Sam sat in the Impala and watched from the lot next door to the bar as Lilane rushed to her car and jumped inside. Dean chuckled, wondering if she was always so skittish. Remembering her on top of the bar, her tank showing the impressive curve of her breast as she poured that body shot made him think not. And she'd walked past them with that swagger. Definitely not jumpy.

He started the car and followed her home. He wondered what Crowley meant about her saving them. It wasn't like they needed fixing, did they?

Sam was lost in his own thoughts. He had to admit, he had been somewhat let down by the fact that they hadn't seen her again in the bar. While he wasn't really into the whole rowdy bar scene, she'd been pretty impressive in holding the crowd in awe. She was tiny, even compared to the rest of the men in his family. Tiny, but with all the right curves. And the confidence that she sent off in waves, damn.

Trailing her from the bar to her house on the beach, the boys noticed their dad's truck parked down the street from her driveway. They drove past her turn in, and pulled in behind his truck. Watching from their new spot, they saw her open her front door and disappear inside. Once she was out of sight, they got out of the car and went to the driver's side of the truck. Their dad was writing in his journal when they tapped on the door.

"Just writing down what we know so far," John offered, putting down the book and looking at his boys. "Do you think we can trust him?" He felt like he'd asked that a lot lately. Or for the past three years.

Dean sighed, and shrugged, but Sam's answer was firm. "Yes." They both looked at him. "You two didn't watch him when he told us who she was to him. He cares for her, he's terrified of losing her, even if he wasn't there physically for her." He shut his eyes wanting to explain what he'd seen flash across the demon who insisted on calling him 'Moose'. "I've never seen Crowley show that much weakness, that much pain flash across his face." He'd seen it, when he spoke of the angel he'd loved. "He lost the mother, he won't lose the daughter, even if it means putting her in our protection."

Dean nodded, he could admit he wasn't watching Crowley during the story. He'd been too shocked at the thought of Crowley and an angel making the hot chick he'd watched on the bar to focus on much else. "It makes sense that he'd only do it for her, because let's face it, he's hated us forever."

John glanced at the house she'd walked into, "How are we going to do this?" He was honestly at a loss. Innocents were usually IN danger when they met them, but she wasn't, not yet anyway. "How do we insert ourselves in her life?"

The silence surrounded the three men as they all considered what would work best.