Chapter Twelve : Irritation and Changes
Crowley rolled his eyes as the blonde beside him let out a huff, she was obviously agitated. He had expected this reaction. He hadn't expected her to just outright agree to stay out-of-the-way and let the Winchesters handle this ring business on their own.
He had expected her to put up a fight. She just couldn't take his word for it could she ? No she had to be so damned stubborn.
She didn't understand what it took to survive. You couldn't just act on impulse. You had to think. You had to make a plan and a back up plan and a back up plan if your back up plan failed. Jumping the gun on these types of situations would cost you your life or in their case their afterlife.
Grace crossed her arms over her chest as she spoke. "I can't believe you. How can you be so...selfish...finding those rings could be the answer to everything...How can you suggest that we just sit here and do nothing ?"
"Demon, love...selfish kind of comes with the territory." He responded before taking a long sip from his glass of craig.
He missed having nice heavy expensive crystal glasses, it felt wrong drinking such a fine liquor out of a red plastic Dixie cup.
They were stuck using paper plates, plastic silverware, and plastic cups for now. He hadn't realized just how much he could miss something as simple as ceramic and glass.
Currently they were cooped up in a tiny RV out in the middle of the Midwest countryside, Upper Kansas if you wanted to get technical.
The RV was crowded with their belongings. There was very little room to move, crappy furniture. The table pulled down to form a lumpy tiny bed. And it was cold, the heater was sub par and loud. It rattled suspiciously when they tried to run it.
Grace stood up from the edge of the bed, stomping across the room, which wasn't a far distance to stomp across. She turned to face him crossing her arms over her chest. "It's cowardly...you're being a coward you know that."
He let out a huff of his own. Did she seriously just call him a coward ? He spoke up raising his voice "I am not!"
He took a deep breath trying to regain control of his temper. " Do you have any idea how long I've been around Grace? More than 300 years. Longer than you can even begin to imagine. Do you think I managed to stay alive this long by sticking my neck out and being a hero ?"
"So what ? We're just supposed to sit here and twiddle our thumbs while Dean and Sam Winchester go after Famine ?" She blurted out ignoring the fact that he was still pretty angry about her coward remark.
Crowley shrugged his shoulders as he continued to take deep breaths. Trying to push the rage back down and keep calm."Our meatsuits can't handle that kind of power. Famine is far too powerful for us to handle."
She moved her arms down placing her hands on her hips as she glared down at him. "And what you're suggesting that the Winchesters can handle that type of power ? What if they fail...or die ? This may be our last chance to stop Lucifer and you're suggesting that we just stand by and wait it out."
"It's better them dying than us dying Gracie." Crowley responded taking another drink.
Grace dropped her jaw a little thrown off by how calm and collected he was being about this. He was being so cold...so cruel. Then again, should she really be surprised. He was a demon. Evil and cruel kind of went with the territory.
She guessed she'd just been trying so hard to ignore what he was capable of. He had been so good to her that she'd almost forgotten just what he was.
She had tried to focus on the good. How kind he was to her, how he protected her, how he took care of her after the torture. She had fallen in love with him. She tried to love him despite the horrible things he was capable of doing.
He was self-serving, selfish, cruel at times. He would do absolutely anything to stay alive. He was a demon being cruel was just part of his nature.
But he wasn't all evil she had tried to tell herself. He was only horrible when he absolutely needed to be horrible. There was some good in him, she kept trying to tell herself.
Times like this though made her question her feelings for him though. He was capable of such terrible things. She couldn't help but to think that she had to be out of her mind to love him as much as she did.
Maybe she was no better than him. She was changing. The torture had changed her. She was aware just how dangerous her life had become. She knew that deep down inside she was willing to sacrifice the Winchesters to stay alive. She was willing to do anything to avoid the pain she'd felt during that torture. She refused to just lay down and die.
It was because of this she knew that at the end of the day she was just as selfish as Crowley.
Crowley could admit that the felt his stomach drop as he noticed the look of disgust on her face. She was judging him, and it bothered him. It effected him more than he'd like to admit. Usually If anyone else gave him a disgusted look then he would care less, but he didn't like her looking at him like that...it made him feel guilty.
He loved her. It was the first time in a very very long time that he felt anything but annoyance or hatred for someone. It was the first time he'd cared about someone other than himself. The love he felt for her was so pure that it frightened him a little.
He didn't know what he would do without her. He worried that she would pull away from him soon enough. Once she realized just how cruel he could be. He couldn't help but to think that once she saw more of his true nature, she would grow to hate him.
He spoke up wanting to change the subject. Wanting to say anything to make her stop looking at him like that. "Did I ever tell you about some of the idiotic things people have asked for in exchange for their souls ?"
She dropped her hands from her hips leaving her arms dangling at her sides as she glared at him, remaining silent.
He rolled his eyes as she stared at him, not saying a word, her eyes narrowed. The silent treatment awesome.
"Once someone asked me for a free lifetime supply of Pepsi, Camel cigarettes, and Lays potato chips...can you believe it ? Soda, cigarettes, and crisps in exchange for their everlasting soul." He exclaimed hoping that he could get her to at least stop giving him that disappointed judgmental look.
She raised an eyebrow not helping but to be a little curious. She kept her mouth closed not willing to give in and talk to him just yet. The selfish asshole wasn't going to win this argument that easily.
He sighed speaking up again once he realized that she wasn't going to budge. "And this one guy wanted me to make sure that his son got on the football team...a high school football team...Another guy wanted season tickets to a car race...Nascar Is what I think he called it...a bloody car race, darling can you believe it ?"
She bit her bottom lip not helping but to speak up as curiosity won out over the irritation she felt for him at the moment. "What about you ?"
He took a sip from his glass as he shrugged his shoulders. He spoke trying to play dumb. "What do you mean ?"
"What did you sell your soul for ?" She asked.
He let out a sigh making sure to avoid her gaze as he spoke. "I can't tell you that."
"What why not ?" She asked making her way over to the bed and sitting down beside him.
He took another sip from his glass, taking a long swig enjoying the way the liquid burned all the way down his throat. "Let's just say that what I wanted was...an idiotic thing. Right up there with Pepsi and crisps for life."
She rolled her eyes not wanting to let it go. She had to know the curiosity she felt was too much to ignore. "Come on please. You can tell me. I won't tell I promise, boy scouts honor."
"You aren't' a boy scout love." He said wanting desperately to change the subject.
"Yeah, yeah quit trying to change the subject. I won't tell a soul I swear. Come on it can't be that bad, can it ?" She said doing her best to give him a pleading look.
She raised an eyebrow as he mumbled something under his breath. She spoke up playfully poking him in the shoulder with a finger. "What I didn't catch that."
He let out an irritated huff after taking a long swig of his craig finishing off the glass. "A bigger...manhood."
She dropped her jaw. He couldn't be serious...a bigger dick.."What ? Really ? You aren't just screwing with me are you?"
"I was trying to reach double digits...I told you I slept around a lot there in the last ten years of my life. And I was a drunk...my decisions weren't the most well thought out ones." He mumbled getting up off the bed and making his way across the room to refill his glass.
Her jaw remained dropped as she stared up at him. He really was serious.
He let out a huff more than a little peeved that he'd had to reveal something this embarrassing to her. He would have preferred that she'd remained in the dark about that part of his life.
It wasn't something that he wanted just anyone to know. He would be a laughing-stock to the demon community if the word got out. He needed everyone to be afraid of him, not amused. How was he supposed to be a decent king of hell if no one was afraid of him.
"This better not get out Gracie." He stated as he poured craig into his glass finishing off the bottle.
She said nothing nodding her head, still feeling a little shocked by this admission. His soul for...that.
He spoke up wanting to change the subject. "We'll drop in on the Winchesters soon. In a week or so. Help them get the last two rings."
She nodded her head happy that they wouldn't be left just sitting here doing nothing while the Winchesters tried to get all the horsemen rings.
She prayed that this whole ring business would work out. If they could get Lucifer back in the cage then this would all be over.
Well technically it would never be all over for her. She would still be expected to be queen of hell, but at least she wouldn't have the threat of the end of the world dangling over her head anymore.
They had to stop the apocalypse. This was their last chance to stop this and she refused to just sit back and do nothing.
Crowley spoke up as Grace and he appeared in the backseat of the Winchesters black impala. "Say I've got an idea."
The impala swerved practically winding up off the road into a nearby field. Sam turned swinging a knife only managing to hit the empty backseat as Crowley and Grace suddenly disappeared.
Grace crossed her arms over her chest as she stood behind Crowley beside the parked impala. He leaned over knocking on the driver-side window as he spoke his voice far too cheerful. "Fancy a fag and a chat ?"
She rolled her eyes not amused by his cheery comment. She couldn't help but to step back a little as the Winchesters got out of the car. They had already tried to kill Crowley so she was sure they probably wouldn't hesitate to kill her.
Sam spoke up moving towards Crowley anger clearly evident in his face. "You want to talk...after what you did to us !"
"What I did to you ?...I gave you the colt." Crowley exclaimed a little irritated that the Winchesters were blaming him for their failure.
Sam frowned shaking his head. "Yeah and you knew that it wouldn't work on the devil. You sat us up you bastard."
Crowley let out a gasp truly offended by that accusation. After all he'd put his neck out doing this. He really did think that the colt would work. "I never !"
Grace nodded her head wanting to back Crowley up. "We didn't know. Really we thought it would work."
Sam glared unfazed by Crowley and Grace's attempts to smooth things over. "We lost people on that trip. Important people. They're dead because of you."
Grace frowned as she heard this. She felt her stomach drop and begin to knot. She let out a deep breath trying to reason that more people would die if they didn't find out a way to stop this.
It was cruel to think that a few deaths trying to stop this were better than the definite possibility of everyone dying if this apocalypse happened, but it was true. She knew that having this type of reasoning was just another sign that she was changing.
The righteous young woman she had once been was fading away. It was being replaced by something she didn't quite understand. Maybe it was from the torture or the time she'd spent literally running for her life, but she knew that she would never be that innocent young woman again.
She had to focus on not losing her afterlife, and if staying alive meant that she had to be cruel then so be it.
Crowley spoke up shaking his head. "Hey who you brought along on that trip was your own business. Don't blame us for your poor decisions."
Grace spoke up quickly trying to stop things from boiling over. "We're here to help you figure this out. Just trust us."
"I don't think so." Sam blurted out moving forward swinging the knife at Crowley.
Crowley disappeared just in time to avoid the collision of the knife. He reappeared behind Sam before looking at Dean and speaking up growing annoyed with trying to reason with the younger Winchester brother. "Please call your dog off."
Dean pointed a stern finger at Crowley as he spoke. "Give me one good reason."
"We can get you Pestilence." Crowley blurted out as he took a hold of Grace's upper arm, pulling her behind him. He wasn't going to risk having Sam try to take a stab at her.
Grace was slower at teleporting than him. She was barely just a baby demon at the moment. Her reflexes were too sluggish to avoid being stabbed.
Crowley took a deep breath before he did his best to give Dean Winchester a confident smile. "I know how to get to him. That has your attention doesn't it ?"
Sam frowned at his older brother. "You seriously aren't listening to this."
Dean shook his head not helping but to feel conflicted. Should he follow his gut and trust Crowley and Grace for the moment or should he let Sam kill the two demons? "Just...shut up for a minute Sam."
Crowley let out an irritated noise as he spoke his voice raising slightly. "Oh just shut up both of you. Shut up. Listen we really did think that the colt would work. It was just an honest mistake."
"Your honest mistake cost two people their lives." Sam pointed out raising the knife again.
He only lowered it when Dean spoke up. "Just back off and let him talk Sam."
"So, everyone will die if we don't put a stop to this...Listen it's all just part of the learning process. Nothing has changed. We still want the devil dead...well actually one thing has changed. The devil knows that we want him dead now...which by the way makes the both of us the most buggered creatures in all of creation." Crowley stated.
Dean spoke up interrupting him. "Oh god...we don't care."
Crowley frowned raising his voice beginning to grow a little angry. "They burnt down our house ! "
Dean rolled his eyes not affected by Crowley's tantrum. Crowley spoke up again his voice still loud and full of rage. "They ate my Tailor ! They tortured Grace...almost killed her !"
Grace frowned crossing her arms over her chest wanting to look anywhere but at the Winchesters. She didn't want their pity...if they even had any pity for her. After all she was probably just another demon to them not worthy of any pity.
"One month of Grace and me hiding under a rock like bloody salamanders. Every demon on hell and earth has their eyes out for us. And yet here we are. Talking to the last two people we should be talking to. Sam and Dean Winchester, under a freaking spotlight !" Crowley yelled before pointing up a a street lamp causing the light bulb to explode, sparks flying all over the place, leaving them in total darkness.
Grace jumped a little surprised that Crowley had just caused a light bulb to explode with a point of a finger. She frowned feeling uneasy and a little afraid about the darkness that they were now left standing in. The dark still spooked her. Not to mention Sam Winchester was standing right here in the dark with them and he still more than likely wanted them dead. Great just great...now Sam could stab them in the dark.
Crowley took a deep breath trying to get in control of his temper. He spoke up his voice a little calmer. "So just hear us out...please."
He frowned noticing that Dean and Sam still didn't look convinced. He spoke up again. "Do you want the horsemen rings or not ?"
Dean and Sam exchanged a look of clear disbelief before Dean finally spoke up. "Fine...get in the car."
so reviews ? Please..
fag = cigarette (which you probably already knew)
crisps= potato chips (which I assume you also knew)