A week or so passed and Crowley's formula was ready to be put to the test. Thankfully they had inside men in the other building, someone to hand over the explosives when they needed it. They were out in the dessert, twenty miles or so from the actual base, and the air was hot. The scientist was sweating in his suit, his waistcoat begging to be unbuttoned while his white sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. This was so unlike Europe, he thought.

"Ready, Crow?" Paul called out from the ignition.

"Yes, quite." The Scottish scientist replied before tugging down the safety glasses and holding the clipboard in a tight grip as he watched from the safe area as Crosley ran over to stand beside him. Frank was in the background, letting the foreign boys do all of the leg work, as he always was, unless it was most important to him. This should've been important to him, but he hadn't even given Crowley the time of day to explain his work to him. Dr. Frank Winter. Smarter than everyone. Oh, he knew it too.

There was a soft rumble in Crowley's stomach as he felt his nerves fluttering around in there. He held onto the clipboard watching as the lit fuse got closer to the explosives. It was like a comic strip in the funny bits of the newspaper, though those were filled with propaganda nowadays. Bloody Hitler.

'Five… four… three… two… one…' The physicist thought, letting out a rough and discouraged noise as the explosives didn't blow. Well, this was a disappointment, and Crowley didn't dare turn to look at Frank to see what his reaction was. Failure. Everything he did. He was a bloody failure and there was nothing to be done about that. He'd just defect back to bloody London and work in an office over there, if even that.

Crowley sighed and turned around as the desert wind blew a warm breeze against the scientists. Thankfully that was cooling his sticky, sweat covered skin. He decided to trudge along towards the bomb, figuring it had been long enough since it should've been ignited for safety measures, which would allow him to disarm it.

The dirt crunched below his feet, his shoes scuffed from the constant trekking around the desert had made the sound much worse than what it was.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Sizzle.

Wait, what was sizzling? Something wasn't right, and Crowley noticed it too late.

Dean Winchester hadn't ever been assigned to much more than being an army doctor, or an army nurse. He didn't like that term, though. It sounded too effeminate for him. 'Now you're just being silly.' The man thought as he carried the charts around to the doctor.

"Dr. Adelman, I've got the last assessment for those on the Gadget crew." He said, setting the folders down on the doctor's desk.

"Ah- did everything look normal?" Dr. Adelman asked, twitching slightly as there was an explosion in the distance.

Dean turned to look out of the window, seeing the light flash and watching as the dust blew every which way. He glanced back to the doctor, green eyes closing as he nodded. If normal was the start of radiation poisoning, sure, it was normal. For a moment the soldier thought that he should speak up, ask the doctor about the radiation. It was a huge secret, and as a soldier, he knew that. "Everything's just peachy." He said with a small grin, though inside he was worried about these scientists.

Dr. Adelman dismissed Dean, telling him that his day of work would be up once he finished up his bit of paperwork. He nodded and left from the room, shutting the door. There Dean was, roaming the small hall of the tiny hospital. The explosion he heard earlier had worried him much more than any one before.

The hall was darkened, the air stirred up and a bit of dust flew around. Dean absolutely hated Los Alamos for the fact that it was pure, dry heat. His skin felt like it'd just crack open if he didn't slather himself with lotion each and every morning and night. The boys made fun at times, but hey, he didn't give a damn. After last week, Dean didn't think he'd give a damn again. He wasn't going to listen to them assholes again. The horrible feeling that had settled in the soldier's stomach hadn't gone away since he teased the Scotsman, and he didn't think it was going to.

There was a sudden bang at the door and shouting coming from outside of the hospital, making Dean turn down the hall and rush to the door, pulling it open. "Doc!" He hollered, moving to help the men that was carrying the now mangled body of the scientist.

Dean's heart sped up as he helped carry the man to the operating room, unsure of what the doctor was going to do to him as he quickly began to cut the clothes off the man.

The explosion was sudden and the scientist didn't know what hit him. There was a ringing I his ear that made him feel queasy as he laid on the ground where he'd been blown back. He couldn't feel half of his body, and the other half was filled with shrapnel and covered in scrapes. Bruises began to show on his body and his breathing was shallow. Soon after, Crowley closed his eyes and he let himself fall asleep.

Crosley and Frank stood in pure shock, knowing it had been well past long enough for Crowley to have been safe enough to be by the bomb. The Englishman ran towards Crowley, hollering his name as he came to a sliding stop in the now loose dirt beside him, gathering the Scottish physicist into his arms. "Frank-! Frank we need the car! Get the bloody car!" He yelled, moving to stand as much as he could with Crowley's body. "Hang on, mate, we'll be good, you'll be good."

Frank and Paul managed to get Crowley into the car and drove as fast as their vehicle would go back to the base. Though Frank didn't really show it, he was worried half to death about Crowley. Not only because he was one of his best scientists, but because he was a friend, though he never expressed that to the man.

The duo carried Crowley to the hospital door, Crosley managed to kick it, hollering for the doctor, or anyone. Crowley was the closest thing to a friend he had there, not that he didn't like the others, and not that he didn't love Helen, but no one else understood him. Everyone else was from America.

Thankfully, the door to the hospital opened and one of the soldiers who worked there began to help Crowley. As soon as the Scotsman was taken to the back, Paul sat down on a bench and looked down to his bloodstained hands. He felt like this would be a long night.

The worst of Crowley's injuries were the shrapnel that littered the right side of his body and the concussion he suffered. There were minor burns along his torso, but nothing too serious. The pain medicine was wearing off and Crowley's eyes slowly opened as he let out a whining groan. No one was in the room with him, and so the Scotsman just laid back and close his eyes again, breathing through the pain.

The fuse had been wet in the spot where it burned slowly, making the time before the explosives ignited slow down. That was the sizzling noise that he heard, and it had been too late for him to run.

The door knob to Crowley's room rattled quietly as it was turned and his door opened. Dean stepped through, carrying a shot.

"Hey there." He said, grinning at Crowley as he walked towards him. "How're ya feeling?" Dean's green eyes swept over Crowley as the Scotsman's eyes opened to take in the man who walked through the door.

"Like Hell chewed me up and spat me on the floor." Crowley croaked out as he gave the soldier a dry smile. 'Like a knight in shining armor.' Was the last thought that Dr. MacLeod had before the shot was coursing through his body.

Dean smiled at the look on Crowley's face. This man was beyond handsome, even when he was half beaten up. That feeling was back in his stomach and he cleared his throat once the man was back to sleep. There were all of these… feelings… that had begun to make their ways into Dean's mind. He'd never been so turned on by a man before, not now, but when Crowley had turned his frustrations on him and stood up for himself? Yeah. That. That had really stirred up Dean's mind and imagination, and if anyone, anyone at all knew about them he might as well kiss his military career goodbye.

With that thought, Dean bit the inside of his lip so hard that it bled before he turned and left out of the room, glad that Crowley was alive.