Another huge gap between chapters. Sorry, folks. Inspiration struck again, though, so here's a new Chapter.

Chapter 15

Bella PoV

Getting back to 100 percent is taking longer than I wanted. Killing Abaddon really took a lot out of me. I've been eating way more than I ever have on a daily basis, and sleeping about ten hours a day. It took a little more than a day, but I'm finally back on my own two feet, walking around unaided. After I got enough strength to stand on my own, I was using crutches for a few hours, and then a cane after that. I'm not running any marathons yet, but I can get around just fine without accessories now. Add to that, Dean has me training in the Bunker gym we discovered for hours on end between meals.

He and Sammy are researching cases while Charlie and I train. Dean has no idea what all Charlie and I went through in the Fairy Realm, but we need little training. Of course we didn't encounter any real supernatural beings, not like the ones the boys deal with, anyway, but thanks to our daily battles with fictional creatures and characters, we know our way around just about every weapon and attack strategy there is.

However, practice makes perfect, so I do the training with little complaint. Plus, Dean would always rub my aching muscles before bed, which feels amazing. But that's about all he does in bed. We kiss here and there, but we haven't been intimate since that first time. Granted I'm not throwing myself at him, or indicating that I'm in the mood, but he's not throwing any signals my way, either. I think he's still worried about me.

Yes, I came out fine from the Abaddon ordeal, but it was the first time Dean had to see with his own eyes what could happen to me in this life. First he lost me to the Fairy Realm, even if it was only a few hours to him, and then he nearly lost me again to killing the last Knight of Hell. He has to rationalize in his own mind while yes, a normal life would be ultimately the safest thing for me, he doesn't want to let me go. He also needs to learn that no amount of words is going to convince me to go. He's stuck with me, and I'm stuck with him. I'm in this life and he just needs to get used to it. I also don't think he realizes how much it would destroy me if I lost him. So we protect each other. Yeah, that makes him my weakness, and me his, and someone or something will probably use that knowledge against us at some point. But we just both have to have faith that we'll make it through any debacle. I kind of learned that a Knight of Hell is one of the hardest supernatural creatures to kill. In fact, if it weren't for my coincidental relation to Abaddon's meat suit, we may never have defeated her. Not without heavy losses on our side, at least.

As it happened, the only one we did lose was Henry. And he knew that was his fate. Henry accepted that he would never make it back to his time, and he also knew that he didn't belong in this one. We found a ledger of members of the Men of Letters and updated it with Henry's date of death and a short blurb about what happened. He would have wanted his legacy to live on in us, so we're doing our best to live up to his expectations. We'll be both hunters and People of Letters. Or "Saving People, Hunting Things. The Family Business," as Dean says it.

Another room we've discovered is what looked like a demon torture room. It's actually behind the large shelving units and file cabinets in what we first thought was just a secondary library. But when we moved the cabinets and shelves, it revealed a whole new room complete with an intricate devil's trap on the floor and a myriad of torture implements and weapons. Various sigils had been painted on the walls or sculpted right into the marble. We recognized a few of them, but a lot were foreign to us. "Dude, do you even know what all this is?" Sammy asks. "I mean, we could run interrogations here, maybe even find a more efficient way of exorcising demons."

"A more efficient way?" I ask. "Couldn't you just record the exorcism ritual and play it back at a faster speed?" I suggest. "The words would still all be there, and the demon would have less time to try to escape the trap, right?"

Dean walks over to me and plants a slobbery kiss on my lips. "I knew there were reasons we kept you around, Doll Face."

"Kiss me like that again, and I won't stick around much longer," I tease, wiping my lips off onto his sleeve. "Gross." He simply smirks and winks in response.

"Hey there's another door over here," Sammy says, effectively pulling us away from this room and into another. "No way."

"What is it, Sam?" Dean asks as we follow him into the room. Once we enter we see a cavernous garage. Cars that would be worth tens of thousands or more are in pristine condition, lining one side, while the other holds what looks like an in-house car washing station and even a gas pump. "Dude, think that gas is still good? Look, there's a garage door. I could drive Baby into here, and she wouldn't have to sit out in the rain and weather." All I can do is smile at his unnatural love for his car, or Baby as he calls it… her.

We're sitting around the map table eating spaghetti that Charlie helped me make when Dean's cell phone rings. "It's Crowley," he says before answering it. The look on his and Sammy's faces tells me that Crowley isn't someone they enjoy hearing from.

"If it isn't the King of Hell," Dean said as he answered. "What do you want?" He pushed a button to put the phone on speaker, but pressed his finger to his lips to keep the rest of us silent.

"Squirrel! Good to hear your voice, love. I merely wanted to thank you for your help with the Abaddon situation. Seems she had her sights set on my throne, and we all know how horrid that would have been. How did you manage that, by the way? Knights of hell are almost impossible to kill."

"My charming looks and witty sarcasm," Dean replied. Clearly, he didn't want Crowley knowing about me. "And you're welcome. Is that the only reason you called?" Dean asked. I saw Sammy getting antsy and that alone told me something was really wrong with this guy. At first I thought Dean was just joking when he answered the phone calling Crowley the King of Hell. Now though, I'm wondering if he actually is. And moreover, why I haven't been told about him yet.

"Ah, you always can read me like a book. You and Moose have dropped off the map the last few days. I thought you may be on the lookout for a new case. And I just so happen to have one to toss in your denim-clad lap." Dean rolls his eyes. "I can hear you rolling your eyes from Hell, Dean. It's rude. Anyway, wherever you are must be warded against Demons because no one can even get a read on your general location, so I've had to resort to dropping a dime, as you'd say it."

"Would you just get to the point, Crowley?"

"Yes, Dear… There's a witch. A particularly powerful one that is wreaking havoc in New Orleans. Go and find her and dispatch her."

"Why the hell would you care about some witch? Don't they all kind of work for you, too?" Dean asks. Damn, this guy really is the King of Hell. But last I checked, that was Lucifer's job, right? Or was that all a myth, too? Guess I'll have to ask Dean and Sammy about that after this call. "I thought witches were like hell's skanks or something."

"Not this one… seems she's trying to cook up a spell to kill me," Crowley admits.

Dean smirks. "All the old bag's got it in for ya, eh? What'd you do to her, Crowley? Possess her kid or something?"

Crowley very audibly clears his throat. "No… I… Damn you, I am her kid. Her name is Rowena and… and she's my mother."

Dean pushes the mute button on his phone and yells, "Holy shit!"

"Dude, if she's trying to kill Crowley, why don't we just let her. We can gank her after she's done," Sam suggests.

"I know what you're thinking, Moose," Crowley's voice calls through the phone. "You want to wait it out and let her kill me, doing your job for you. Well, you could do that, but you'd also be killing about 400,000 people. Her spell would wipe out all of New Orleans. She's planning to harvest the souls of everyone there to create some kind of bomb that she's going to set off in my general direction.

"May I also mention that her little bomb may also dislodge the cage that holds Lucifer, which could potentially unleash him! And none of us want that, do we?! So, why don't you get off your denim and plaid clad arses and find a way to stop her!" Click.

"Well damn, I think even Crowley's afraid of this bitch," Dean states. "She must be a hell of a witch, mother of the king of hell or not."

"So, road trip to the land of Jambalaya?" Charlie asked.

"Sounds like it," Sam said. He glanced at his phone. "Too bad it's not Mardi Gras season."

I shrugged. "There's always a reason to party in New Orleans, I'm sure. But let's save that until after we stop this witch."

After finishing up the meal and cleaning up, we all pack our go-bags and a cooler full of food and hop in the Impala for the drive. We debated taking one of the other vehicles, but don't have time to make sure they're fully functional. Sitting in a garage for however many decades probably doesn't help. At the very least, they'll need oil changes. Plus, Crowley sounded a little desperate and out of time on the phone, so we know time was of the essence. One of these days I'll have to ask Dean why we don't just fly where we need to go. Especially since we have the money now. Then again, we wouldn't exactly be able to fly with our arsenal of weaponry and ammo. Even checking that stuff could send up red-flags.

Charlie and I take up the back seat and try to catch a few zz's so one of us could take over driving when the guys got tired. As it happens, Sam takes his shift after Dean and then when it's my turn, Dean stays awake with me, instead of Charlie. We have stopped for gas, and Dean heads inside to pay and grab some drinks.

Back on the road, he hands me my drink and I take a sip. "Dean, how do you know how I take my coffee?" I ask. It tastes perfect.

"I'm observant, Doll Face," he replied, smiling. "You make coffee nearly every day at home, I've seen how much creamer you mix in and which flavors you like. Luckily, they had the caramel macchiato and the chocolate one at that station, so I whipped it up for you. How is it?"

"It's perfect, Dean. Thank you." He leans over and kisses my cheek. "Aww, and so was that." I get a glimpse of his dimply grin before I have to put my eyes back on the road. We've been driving about ten hours, and have about five to go when I take the wheel. Looks like Charlie lucks out on not having a driving shift. I know she's never driven "Baby" before, so maybe Dean worked it out this way on purpose.

When we arrive in the city, we find a hotel, glad that we don't have to search for the cheapest ones anymore. Hell, we could stay at the Hilton if we wanted to. As it stands, we pick a Comfort Suites and get two adjoining rooms. Dean and Sam tell me and Charlie to set up in the room while they do some recon. And by "set up" they mean send me to bed, since I've been up the longest of all of us.

Charlie gets on the internet and starts looking through any weird news that might indicate where Rowena is holed up while I pass out on a bed. The next thing I know, I'm hearing a very familiar voice ask Charlie, "Now who might you be, love?"

I open my eyes and see a man in his forties standing in front of Charlie. He's wearing a fancy black suit. "You must be Crowley," I greet. He turns in surprise, as if he hadn't spotted me there.

"Indeed. And who are you? And why couldn't I sense your presence? I knew Moose and Squirrel had been here and left a minion behind, but I couldn't detect you. Why is that?"

"It's a new perfume I'm trying," I replied. "My name's Josie," I told him. I had no idea how well I was lying, but Charlie seemed scared enough, so I felt it was necessary to keep this guy in the dark as much as possible.. "And that's my friend Luna," I added, playing off of Charlie's Queen of Moons character.

"The boys' girlfriends, I presume?"

"Ha! As if," Charlie laughs.

"Where there used to be two, there are now four," I said cryptically. "Got a problem with that, Your Highness?" He narrowed his eyes at my sarcasm.

"Well, whomever you are, I brought something that may help in your search for my mother." He sets down a box that looks like it's at least five hundred years old. "Read this incantation," He describes, pointing at some words carved in the box. "And it will open. Inside is an item that belonged to her. A lock of her hair, actually." The look on his face is almost wistful. The witch is his mother after all, and while she may have been awful to him, he probably still loved her in a way. "When the box opens, the hair will emerge and lead you to her location. But she'll know you're onto her rather quickly, so you'd better have a plan in place for dispatching her before you use this spell, got it?"

"Yeah, here's a question. If you're so threatened by her, why aren't you killing her yourself?" I ask.

"She's warded herself against my abilities, somehow. And if I could figure out how, I'd do the same to her, so she couldn't kill me. Wait, why the hell did I just admit that to you? What are you?" he demands.

"I don't know what you're talking about. All I did is ask a question. Take a chill pill."

He disappears into the bathroom and then begans tearing it apart. "There aren't any in here!" he hells.

"Whoa, dude. There aren't any what?" I ask.

"Chill pills! I need one!"

Realization dawns on me and Charlie. "Yo, he's doing exactly as you say. How does that work?"

"Crowley forget the chill pill and come back out here," I say. "Wait, first put everything back the way it was."

He cleans up the bathroom and then comes back out, a scowl on his face. It's like he knows I'm controlling him but can't do anything about it. "How are you doing this? Are you with her? Do you work with my mother?"

"Psssht. Hell no. I'd rather be dead than work with a witch. Luna, you hungry?" She nods. "Crowley, be a dear and go down the road and get us a couple of pizzas and some beer. The best New Orleans has to offer. Oh, and make it enough for the boys, too, please and thank you!" I kiss his cheek for added effect and he hobbles out of the room, pissed as all hell.

I take my phone out of my pocket and call Dean. "Did you find anything?" he asks as he answers.

"Yes and no," I reply. "You and Sam need to come back here. I can't explain what just happened over the phone. Don't bother bringing food, I've got that taken care of."

They arrive just before Crowley does. He knocks on the door. "Doll Face, we never order room service at hotels. What if they see our weapons and research stuff?"

"It's not room service," Charlie explains.

I go to answer the door and let Crowley in. He's holding three pizza boxes, and another container on top in one hand, and his other hand is carrying a twelve pack of locally brewed beer. Ice cold, from the looks of it. "Please do come in, Your Highness."

He begrudgingly enters the room and places the pizzas on the table and then the beers into the fridge. "They had a deal. Buy three pizzas, get a free box of wings. Will there be anything else, you heinous bitch?"

"Hey now, there's no call for that," Dean starts.

"It's okay, Dean. To be honest, I'm surprised he didn't call me something worse. No, that's okay, Your Highness. This will be all we need. Unless you have something more to tell us about how to kill your mother. Any information would be helpful."

He walks over to the desk and picks up the pad of paper and pen provided by the hotel. "Find some iron shackles and carve these symbols into them. If you can get her bound by the shackles, she'll be powerless." He hands me the pad and I look it over. It looks a bit like the tattoos on my back and he explains that it's indeed old Enochian. "Then when you kill her, make sure you burn her and then place the ashes in a consecrated iron urn with the same sigils carved into it. That way she'll never be able to reincarnate herself."

"How the hell are we supposed to find a consecrated iron urn?" Dean asks.

"Not my problem, Squirrel."

I decide to repeat Dean's question. "How the hell are we supposed to find a consecrated iron urn?" Dean looks at me, confused.

"I think I tracked one down in a museum in Egypt. Shall I go and get it?"

"Dude, what the hell?"

I smile. Charlie whispers something in my ear. "Yes, please oh and could you stop at Sebastian Joe's ice cream in Minneapolis on your way back? I'd kill for some of their Oreo ice cream."

"Ugh, yes of course. Back in a jiffy, Love." And he disappears.

"What. The hell. Just Happened?" Sam asks. I grab a slice of pizza, a couple of wings, and one of the beers, offering up bottles to the rest.

"I have no idea how or why, but Crowley has to do everything I say. He also cannot lie to me. That's why I repeated Dean's question. Your guess is as good as mine. I have no idea how this happened. He popped in out of nowhere and started asking Charlie who she was. I recognized his voice from the phone call and spoke to him. He didn't even know I was in the room. He said he couldn't detect me, whatever that means. Oh, I also told him my name was Josie, and Charlie's Luna. I thought it prudent for him to not know my real name. Who knows what kind of circles he's in, particularly sparkly ones."

Dean chuckles. "Y'know, there was a time when the only sparkly things we knew of were fairies and unicorns. Turns out, Fairies aren't sparkly, they're douche-bags, unicorns only exist when magic is involved, and vampires are the ones that sparkle. Imagine that." I was reminded of that King Naldazar bloke telling us that the sparkly vampires are actually Children of Diaman, and don't belong in this realm. Part of me wanted to leave well enough alone, while another wanted to rid this world of the lot of them.

"It's like you're not only warded against demons, you're able to control them. Bella, this is huge," Sam informs me.

"Do you think it might have something to do with the fact that I got Abaddon's blood mixed in with mine during that debacle? I mean, maybe as a Knight of Hell, she had some extra powers or something, and it got into my system? Part of that spell was to cut my hand and cut the demon's skin and then mix the two together. Where my hand was touching her, it felt like it was on fire. I know Cas healed me right after, so I'm not sure if my hand was actually burnt, but it sure felt like that. In fact, it felt a lot like what being bitten by a sparkle-vamp feels like."

Sam frowns in thought. "It's possible. Or maybe it has to do with the fact that your mind is different. Remember you said Edward could never read your mind. Maybe it's like that."

"Great, either way, I'm a whole new level of freak," I complain. Sam and Dean both clear their throats. "What?"

"I used to think that about myself," Sam starts. "When I was a baby, this yellow-eyed demon named Azazel came into my nursery and bled into my mouth. As an adult, some weird things started to happen. I started to dream of the future, like a psychic, and eventually was able to kill Demons with my mind. That's another story with a not so happy ending, but yeah. I remember saying that exact thing.

"You're not a freak, Bella. In the event that you did inadvertently take in some of Abaddon's blood or something like that, it'll work its way out of your system. It might take a while, but it will. However, I think we should use this ability to control Crowley to our advantage."

"We also don't know that she can control all demons," Charlie pipes in. "Just Crowley for sure. We'd have to see another demon and test it out to know for sure."

Just then, Crowley pops back in with an old dusty urn and a box full of hand packed pints of Charlie's favorite ice cream. "In the freezer, then?" he asks, pointing at the fridge. I nod. He then sets the urn on the dresser below the mirror. He checks his teeth in said mirror

"Thanks Crowley. You're the best Demon King I could ask for," I said, killing him with sweetness.

He rolls his eyes. "If you're done puppeting me about, you should get on with finding and killing Rowena."

"And how exactly do you suggest we go about luring her into a trap where we can put these shackles on her?" I ask.

And his eyes go rolling again. "Do I have to do all the work, Pussycat?" He grabs the paper and pen again and draws a trap on it. "This has to be painted in blood for it to work. But it can be animal blood, so visit a local butcher. Get a hold of some of that Goofer dust, too. She hates it. I have no idea how you'll get her out of where she's holed up and into a trap, but I suggest you have plans B, C, D, et cetera."

"Alright Crowley, thank you for all your help," I tell the demon. He looks at me aghast. I guess he's not used to being thanked, particularly by hunters. "I just have one last question. Can you tell us what she looks like?"

"Short, petite, long curly fire-red hair. But she may be in disguise, so you can't trust anyone. But she's terrible at accents. Her Scottish brogue pops out unbidden."

"That's very helpful. Thank you again. We'll call when it's over!" He smiles sardonically and disappears.

Sam takes the pad and studies the trap. "I never knew there was a witch's trap. Guess it makes sense. We can trap angels, demons and reapers. Why not witches, too?"

"Let's finish eating then go over some strategy," Dean suggests as he fills a plate with pizza and wings. "And I'm going to revel in the fact that Crowley just became our bitch. Bella, you have no idea how happy this makes me." He leans over and kisses me soundly.

"Well, if that's all it takes, I'd have been ordering him about long ago," I joke.

We polish off two of the pizzas and most of the wings, packing the rest in the fridge. I make a mental note to try out the ice cream when we get back. Charlie was raving about it the whole time we were eating dinner. Dean throws away his plate and empty bottle and then leads the strategy conversation. "Okay, so first we need to get our hands on some iron shackles and get 'em carved up. Bella and Charlie, think you two can manage that?" We both nod. "Sammy and I will hit the town, see what clues we have as to her weaknesses. Crowley said she'll be powerless once we get the shackles on her, but we gotta get them on her. That's going to prove challenging, I'd think."

"Do you think she knows who you two are?" I ask. "I mean, you clearly have some kind of love-hate relationship with Crowley. Hell, the guy has nicknames for you. His mother might be tipped off about you. I wonder if it shouldn't be me or Charlie that approaches her. If one of us can get her to let her guard down for a second, it might be long enough to get her shackled up."

Dean shakes his head. "No way, Bella. You're not putting yourself on the frontlines again. Not going to happen."

"Dean, we both know this is our best bet. I haven't been in the game long enough for her to have a clue who I am, right? You two, she could probably spot a mile away. Hell, she might already know you're here!"

"You make a habit of this, don't you? Throwing yourself in the line of fire in order to protect everyone else." He was referring to the Ballet studio, followed by me trying to save Edward by telling the Volturi to kill me instead, and then again with Medlina, and finally with Abaddon. Yeah, I guess there was a pattern.

"And?"

"I have an idea," Sam interjects. "How about Dean and I lure her out. If she does know who we are, she'll want to target us right? And if she doesn't, we can straight up tell her, and she'll still target us. Meanwhile, Bella and Charlie can be setting up the trap. She won't know they're involved, so she won't see them coming. This is the best of both worlds, Dean. You don't have to watch Bella throw herself into the fray again, and she still gets to help."

Dean glared at Sammy, but couldn't find a fault in his logic. "So basically, what we're planning is to lure Rowena out by just being ourselves while these two set up a trap for her?" I don't like the idea of Dean being in danger like this, but I guess that's exactly how he feels about me, and up to this point, I've been the one doing the dangerous stuff on all our cases so far.

Once outside, Charlie and I go off in search of old iron shackles and goofer dust. Thankfully, New Orleans has a rich and historic culture, so it's not too hard to find antique stuff like the shackles, and there's no shortage of people that practice Hoodoo. So finding Goofer dust should be a breeze as well. We made a plan to rendezvous back at the hotel after acquiring all the items we needed. An antique store that had recently acquired items from a closed down jail had the iron shackles we needed. We bought out the collection, thinking it'll be a good idea to have multiple traps set up in case the first plans fall through. Like Crowley said, plans B, C, D and so forth.

Our next stop is at a hardware store where we purchase tools that can mark the shackles. "Let's get these engraved," I suggest.

"Why not wait until we meet up again with the guys?" Charlie asks. "They can help us with these symbols."

I shake my head. "I just have a feeling that having at least one set already engraved is going to work in our favor. Trust me on this?"

"Bella, without you I'd never have survived the fairy realm on my own. I trust you with my life. Alright, let's find a quiet spot where we can get these marked up." We do just that and within an hour, we've got a set of shackles covered in the markings Crowley gave us.

Next, I find a place that offers witch doctor services and also sells Hoodoo supplies. "Hi, I'm looking for some goofer dust," I say to the lady behind the counter.

"And what would it be for, lass?" she asks me. She's speaking with a thick creole accent, but uses the word, "lass?" that doesn't make any sense.

"School project," I lie smoothly. "We're doing a project on Hoodoo and wanted to have some various items to showcase in our exhibit."

"Goofer dust isn't kids play, child. You got to be careful with it."

"Yes ma'am, we know. We're not believers in Hoodoo, I'll admit, but we won't be casting any spells with it. It's just to have as part of our project, I promise," Charlie tells her. I hoped my lie was convincing, because Charlie deserved a damn Oscar for hers.

"Let me just check the back, dearie," she tells us before disappearing through a beaded curtain. As she was walking through, I saw a hint of red hair popping out from under a wig. I'd bet dollars to donuts that was Rowena wearing a disguise. We're in deep shit.

Turning to Charlie, I yell, "Run!"

A/N: Shameless plug time! I'm on etsy! I'm selling some hand painted items and have a supernatural themed set of kitchen towels for sale. You can also purchase them individually. If you go on etsy dot com and search for CraftyRivers, you should find my shop. I currently also have a set of Lord of the Rings towels available. I soon will be posting Princess Bride, Doctor Who, and Firefly.

In other news...

So I've read quite a few TwilightXSupernatural crossover fics, and a lot of them just re-hash existing cases for the boys, only adding a bit of dialog for the extra characters, but the overall plot is the same. To be honest, I find that kind of boring. I'm not judging those writers though. If that's how they envision their crossover story, then more power to them. It takes guts to write like this and publish it for all to read, in hopes that it's not hated and despised. But at any rate, I decided to avoid that entirely, so my cases may have some inspiration from the original storylines, but I go by the way-side quite a bit. Next chapter, we'll find out what happens to Charlie and Bella, as well as have a guest appearance from another Twilight Character, but one that has yet to be in this story.