Chapter 18

The world was blurry before his eyes when he opened them.

He was no longer on Bobby's terrain, so much was clear.

The sound of a crackling fire sounded in his ears.

Gorgeous heat enveloped him and he was lying on something soft.

When he had managed to open his eyes and waited until his vision was clear again, he looked around. He was in a large room that looked like a giant living room. Antique furniture lined the walls, a fireplace, a few meters in front of him, from which the wonderful warmth came. A blanket lay on his body and when Dean wanted to sit up, the pain went through his body like a tidal wave and he fell right back into the pillows.

"Dean?"

The hunter opened his eyes again, when a familiar voice sounded in his ears, and when he turned his head and looked to the side, a big smile of joy and relief appeared on his face when he was facing Bobby who sat in his wheelchair not far away from him.

"Bobby? You're alive? Thank God."

"Don't thank God. You should thank me, little human."

Dean winced and his eyes widened slightly as he saw Crowley, who entered the living room along with his brother Sam.

His brother smiled facilitated, but in Dean's eyes was still the shock written when he realized where they were: In Crowley's house!

"Whatever you did to him Crowley, I'll -"

"Relax, Dean. I haven't harmed your brother or your spare Papa."

Bobby gave the demon a warning look, but Crowley only grinned.

"Besides if I would have wanted to harm them, I would have left them there. So, how about a little bit more gratitude?"

"Dean he's right. We are fine and he's telling the truth. He rescued us."

Dean tried again to sit up and this time he succeeded.

Although the pain moved back through his body, but the shock that he was under Crowley's roof, sat too deep that he could pay any attention to the pain.

Sam sat down next to him on the sofa and looked into his face.

Concern was reflected in his eyes. Who could have blamed him, after what had happened?

But then the panic in Dean's body came back when he remembered something.

"Gabriel. The Archangel. What happened to him? I have seen how Cas attacked him. Is he dead...?"

"Relax, Dean. He is not dead. He is lying next door and resting. He's still unconscious, but his wounds heal quickly and soon he will be back to his old self."

Crowley took a chair, pulled him close to the sofa and sat down.

"Now to you Dean. How are you? Your brother is doing better again. Cas has not done anything to him. He only made him pass out, but you and Gabriel...he made you two suffer pretty much. But I have to admit: For a human you really are a tough lad. I've seen what Castiel did to you."

"What does he mean Dean?" Sam wanted to know with a worried voice, and even Bobby looked at the hunter now with concern in his eyes.

"He has tortured him as I have never seen an angel torturing someone before. Whatever the good Cas did to you, it must have been really bad. As much as you have screamed..."

"Stop Crowley, that's enough!" Sam growled and he cast the demon a sharp look.

"Calm down Gigantor. I will stop."

Just for the nickname Sam could have punched him in the face, but the young hunter restrained himself and focused rather back at his brother.

"Why have you saved us Crowley?"

Silence.

The question came so quickly and surprisingly that Crowley was speechless for a short time. If he were honest, he didn't exactly know why he had saved the Winchesters, Bobby and the angel. Perhaps because he was afraid of Lucifer and these four idiots could be the only shield for him?

Of course, if he was doing it smart, he could use the Winchesters to lock the devil back into his cage and he could finally take Lucifer's place as the king of hell. Alone he had no chance against the fallen angel, but with the help of Sam, Dean, Bobby and an archangel his chances were definitely better than if he would fight alone against the king of hell.

Of course, he kept most of his sinister plans to himself and therefore limited only to the essentials.

"You can still be useful for me, so I saved you. With your help we can shove Lucifer's ass back into his cage and then we all go back to our daily routine. You hunt monsters, I create monsters. Everything is as it was before the apocalypse."

"Yes, except for the fact that you're a demon and we don't trust you and Cas is still out there. And you should know best how dangerous Cas is. How did you even manage to escape from him?"

"That's a very good question," Bobby said and he, Sam and Dean looked at the crossroad demon questioningly.

Crowley grimaced.

"You're asking a lot of questions, you know?"

"It is our right!" Dean hissed.

"Right? Something like this doesn't exist in my world, so don't expect such a thing from me. You want to know why I saved you? I've told you just a few moments ago. I want to lock Lucifer back into the cage, but a little demon like me can't do this all alone. And even if I did want to kill you, an angel would bring you back. Do you think I don't know what you two are?"

Now it was to Sam and Dean to throw the demon questioning looks.

"Oh man, you're dumber than you look! Dean, you're Michael's human vessel and you Sam, you're Lucifer's human vessel. Or have you two forgotten this?"

"I would like to forget it..." Sam muttered under his breath, and when he looked at his brother, he could see that he had to think the same thing.

"Well, but you can't and if you were smart you would watch your steps in the future. These heavenly bastards have their eyes everywhere and at any time. And as your friend Cas has apparently also changed sides, we have now one more problem."

"What does that mean?" Dean hissed and he managed to sit up.

Furious, he glared at Crowley, but the Demon seemed to be unimpressed by his dark looks.

"Do you want to kill Cas?! If that's what you want, then you can forget about that very quickly! If you want to kill him, you must kill me first!"

Crowley grimaced yet again.

"Stop making such a scene. You almost sound like if you two are married."

Dean flushed with anger and embarrassment at the same time.

How could the demon dare to talk to him like that?!

"You son of a bitch!"

"Calm down Dean. Don't be provoked by him," his brother tried to calm him down again, as he had laid his hand on his shoulder and tried again to push him back into the pillows.

"Listen to what your little brother says Dean. I play in a different league than the demons which you have encountered so far."

"Pah! You are a ridiculous demon like everyone else! I'm not afraid of you!"

Within a few seconds Crowley had disappeared from his chair and stood a little later just centimeters away from Dean's face. Furious, he glared at the human who returned his angry look.

"Don't you dare to think you knew what kind of demon I'm Dean. I'm warning you! You don't want to have me as your enemy!"

"I wanted to say the same thing to you!"

Sam and Bobby looked at each other and both hunters seemed to think the same thing at this moment. It was certainly not a good idea to provoke Crowley even more. Especially in times like these where the devil literally walked around the world and leaving death and destruction behind him. If they had a powerful demon as their enemy the chaos would be perfect.

Had the boys and Bobby known of Crowley's dark intentions, a retreat would have been the wisest decision...

"Maybe we should all calm down," Bobby tried desperately to ease the situation and it even seemed to have an effect, because Dean glared at Crowley one last time before he let himself fall back into the pillows and turned his face away from him.

Also Crowley himself now stepped back a few steps and sat back in his chair.

"Since we now have clarified that, we should think about a plan how to proceed now. Any ideas?"

The demon looked around and he was looking for an answer, but the three humans wrapped themselves in silence.

"I have almost thought that. All right. How about if I'll get us something to drink and then we begin to think about a suitable plan? And maybe we get heavenly help when our little angel next door comes back to life."

"Crowley's right guys. We need to figure out something, how we fight against Lucifer and Castiel. I suggest we all think about a good plan.

"Are you crazy Bobby?! You want to work with Crowley?!"

"What remains for us to have a choice? Or do you have a better idea Dean?!"

The hunter had nothing left to answer and he preferred to keep quiet.

Meanwhile Crowley stood up and went into the next room.

Even if Dean didn't like this situation at all, he had to accept the fact that they had to get the help of a demon now...