The road to redemption is paved with potholes, lined with detours, and staked with unintelligible mile markers. Dean's driven down it himself, more than once. He knows how bad it hurts to have to double back, to feel like you've broken down on the side of the road. Like this is as far as you'll ever get.
"You're gonna be alright." He leans against the Impala next to the Crowley. "We'll figure something out. And even if we don't?" Dean shrugs.
The hunter and the fully-restored demon consider the rubble of the ruined Hellgate and the remains of a spell that cost a soul, even if only the remnants of one.
After a long silence, Crowley nods. He straightens the cuffs of his hunter jacket, knocks one boot against the other. Glances off down the road that lies ahead. "It doesn't matter what you are, after all," he mutters to himself, and means it. "It only matters what you do."
This road to redemption is an especially long and difficult. But it doesn't have to be a lonely one. Dean slaps his friend on the shoulder, walks around to the driver's side. Crowley gets into the car, and together, they continue on down the road.
.
Thank you for reading! If you enjoy fanfiction in which Crowley is one of the boys or a part of the Winchester family, check out my other works.