Sam and Dean were getting close to the hotel. The car ride had been a mostly quiet one; Sam had been feeling a little guilty about what Dean had said earlier. It was true. He had been keeping Syd at a distance to protect himself. Two of his friends, Kevin and Charlie, had died directly because of his actions, and Sam was determined not to have to go through that pain again. Dean was also mostly quiet on the drive; he was probably planning what to ask the ranger when his phone rang.
"Hello?" Dean answered as he pulled into a gas station. "Crowley? Hold on. Let me put you on speaker."
Dean pressed a button on his phone, so Sam could hear the conversation.
"So how come one of my informants just told me that you two idiots are in Joplin?" Crowley growled.
"Wait. Why do you have people here? Was there more than just a vampire attack?" Dean asked as the phone disconnected.
"Yes, Dean. There is an ex-ranger staying here with orders to capture Sydney," Crowley said as he appeared in the back seat, earning a glare from Dean.
"How do you know that?" Sam asked skeptically.
"While Lucifer has taken my throne and most of my lackeys, there are still some willing to sell me information. The ranger made a deal with Lucifer. While the demon didn't hear the exact terms, he did see the binding on the ranger's and Lucifer's wrists."
"So how do you know that it was for Syd?" Dean asked, earning an eye roll from Crowley.
"Because that's who he's been obsessively trying to find for over the past month, Dean. Suddenly he doesn't seem so worried and even called off most of his demons. He's not even really trying to find me anymore. So you should leave the ranger to me and go back to the bunker until I get the information out of him."
"No, we're coming along," Sam replied firmly, and Crowley gave him an exasperated look. "What? You're not even really concerned about Syd, so don't play that card with me. You just don't want Lucifer to get ahold of her. Afraid of Lucifer getting some extra power?"
"Well, yes, but there are some other… circumstances as well," Crowley admitted, and Dean threw Crowley a knowing look.
What? Dean?" Sam asked, angry at being left out of the loop.
"So Syd's really your..." Dean trailed off as though looking for a specific word.
"My progeny? Yes. Believe me, I'm as freaked out as you are, but can we put that aside for now? We have bigger problems. What were you planning on doing with the former ranger? Use these? How kinky," Crowley quipped and held up the chains.
"Yeah, now we definitely are," Dean admitted. "We thought the timing was kinda fishy before, so we brought those just in case."
"Well, glad to see that you have at least a couple of brain cells working together," Crowley said with a smirk.
"Wait, Dean. You knew about Syd being related to Crowley?" Sam asked angrily. "When?"
"Not exactly. Syd told me at the convention that her last name's MacLeod," Dean replied defensively. "It wasn't exactly the first thing on my list, Sam. We had other things to worry about at the time."
"You mean like how we have other things to worry about right now? More pressing things?!" Crowley hissed. "I don't understand how Syd being my descendant is so disturbing… unless she's like Rowena."
"No!" Sam and Dean both replied aggressively in unison. Syd was a lot of things: combative, snarky, and even sometimes snide. But she was nothing like Rowena, Crowley's evil witch for a mother.
"Okay, no need to get so testy," Crowley replied. "So just what are you planning to do with dear Daniel?"
"Well, we were originally just going to talk to him first, but now we should probably get him cuffed and back to the bunker to ask him a few questions," Dean answered Crowley warily.
"Back to the bunker? Are you planning on just handing Syd over to him?"
"No, he'll have the cuffs on, and we'll put him in the dungeon. Worked pretty well with you, didn't it?" Sam retorted.
"Yeah, but I am out now, aren't I?"
"What do you suggest then?" Dean asked before Sam could retaliate.
"Thank you, Dean. First we cuff him and render him powerless. Then we ask him some question. If we don't like the answers, we leave him for the demons to clean up."
"We'll see what happens," Dean said, pulling out of the parking lot. He quickly drove up to the hotel.
After they'd parked the car, Sam checked the backseat to find Crowley, and the cuffs, gone. Daniel was already waiting at the front of the hotel. Sam and Dean quickly walked up to him and led him to the side of the building where there were any cameras.
"So we need to leave. Now," Daniel said quickly. "I saw a couple of demons around here. I don't think that they've seen me yet."
"Really now, Daniel? It's not like you're hiding or anything," Dean said quietly.
"I don't know what's going on. We really need—" Daniel was cut off by Crowley cuffing him and knocking him out with an old metal trashcan lid.
"Crowley! What gives?!" Dean asked angrily.
"He set off an alarm spell. Demons will be rushing here any minute now. We need to go with your dumb idea because right now… it's the only one we've got," Crowley snapped as he fished a tracking token out of Daniel's pocket.
Dean quickly pulled the car to the side, so Crowley and Sam could put Daniel inside. Crowley got in next to Daniel and volunteered to knock him out again should he try to cause any trouble. Sam quickly got into the car and shut the door as Dean took off for the road.