Here it is. Sorry about the wait. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for everyone who's stuck by this story even though I've been taking so long to update.

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Dean came back to consciousness with a jerk. It had been a long time since he'd been knocked out and he was reminded how unpleasant it was. As he shifted slightly it came to his attention that he was tied down rather tightly to one of his dinning room chairs and judging by the moans and muffled groans next to him, Sam and his dad were in the same situation.

Cracking open an eye he served the room and his gaze quickly fell on the three figures standing in the doorway to the hallway. Two large, dangerous looking henchmen standing either side of a petite brunette. He had no idea who the two goons were but he knew the woman. It would seem his past had finally caught up with him.

"Hi Meg."

"Hello Dean. You know, today must be my lucky day. I came for you and instead I get this wonderful surprise. Three Winchesters for the price of one. Its like Christmas and Birthday all at once."

Meg smiled brightly, something that made Dean immensely uncomfortable and pulled a knife from her back pocket. Not just any knife, Ruby's knife.

Seriously? Like I don't have enough to deal with?

Looking over Dean noted thankfully that although glaring hatefully, both Sam and John were keeping their mouths shut. He needed to think and having his brother and his dad yelling wasn't going to help. The first thought that crossed his mind was that Meg had something to do with bringing Sam and John back but he quickly dismissed it. They were already dead, she would gain nothing from bringing them back and the look of shock in her eyes when she looked at them was enough to convince him.

Meg's only concern was Crowley. Dean knew for a fact Crowley was currently hunting down any Lucifer loyalists and Meg was at the top of his list. She'd been on the run for months but he must he closing in, he could practically smell the desperation and fear rolling off her. He was her last chance. As much a Crowley would deny it, Dean was his weakness and Meg knew it. Get to him, get to Crowley.

"What do you want Meg?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

Meg smiled and moved over to straddle him, pushing her body against his. Dean could feel his gag reflex acting up and turned his head away from her. She laughed and grabbed his face painfully tight, forcing him to look at her.

"I want to cut your liver out with a bread knife. However you're worth nothing to me if you're dead so that will have to wait."

The weight of her body pressing against him made him want to heave and her touch made his skin crawl. She stunk of stale sweat, her hair was greasy and her clothes hadn't been washed in months.

"You were harder to find than I thought. Crowley is very good at hiding his toys."

"Crowley? This is about Crowley? Oh that's just fucking fantastic! Well done Dean!" Sam yelled, struggling the ropes that bound him.

"Oh, Sammy knows does he? How's he taking it? Not well I'm guessing?" Meg purred, digging her nails into Dean's face.

"Fuck you Sam!"

"No, fuck you Dean! I told you it would bring nothing but trouble. Seven billion people in the world, you chose Crowley and now we're all fucked!"

"You don't know what you're talking about Sam. You have no idea about my relationship with Crowley so keep your mouth shut." Dean growled in warning. Sam had no right to judge something he didn't understand. He didn't even know Crowley, not like Dean did.

"Who the fuck is Crowley?" John quiet words bought the room to a standstill.

Dean had never thought it was possible to hate, truly hate his own brother but in that moment he did.

"Oh this is just perfect! Daddy Winchester doesn't know! Can I tell him? Please Dean let me do it." Meg begged and Dean felt something he hadn't felt since his time in Hell. He wanted to hurt her, really hurt her. He wanted to make her scream and beg for death before denying it to her. The extremely violent nature of his thoughts made him uncomfortable, he'd spent the better part of four years keeping that side of him, the side Alistair had bought out tightly tucked away. His body was shaking in suppressed rage and his fingers itched to circle Meg's throat. The strength of his hatred knocked the breath out of him and it was then he knew he had to push it down and quickly. It was clouding his thoughts, making it hard for him to see through the haze of anger and that was dangerous in his current situation.

"Crowley is a crossroads demon but after Lucifer went back in the cage he became the King of Hell." Dean explained when he'd calmed down meeting John's gaze head on and refusing to look away. "He's also the man I've been dating. He's the one who gave me this ring. We live together. That's why Meg is here. She's going to use me to get to Crowley."

Dean waited. He waited for the yelling and the screaming. Waited for the ranting, for John to tell him the same thing Sam and Bobby told him only louder. Waited for the hurtful words and ultimatums. They never came. Instead he got silence. John turned his gaze away from him and focused it on the wall opposite. The rejection hit Dean in the stomach and for a second he forgot how to breathe.

"I've never been more disappointed in you." John's voice was barely above a whisper but it didn't matter. The room was absolutely silent, Sam sitting awkwardly between them while Meg and her bodyguards were enjoying the tense atmosphere.

Dean tried to catch Sam's eyes but he couldn't. "You're such a hypocrite Sam. After everything you did with Ruby!" he hissed when he realised Sam was avoiding his gaze because he agreed with John. For some reason, Sam's disappointment hurt much more than John's did.

"You keep using Ruby as an excuse. Like because I did it, that makes it alright! Look at the chaos it caused. I thought I had a handle on it, I thought I was in control but I wasn't! Just like you aren't in control! Crowley is a demon and no matter how sweet and nice he is to you, he will never be anything else!"

"You are so full of bullshit Sam! You've been gone for over a year and been back for a little over ten hours. You have know nothing about my life with Crowley! You've met him what; four times in total? You've never even seen us together!" At that point Dean had completely forgotten he had a pissed off demon sitting in his lap with a knife held to his neck.

"You don't need to see something to know it's wrong." John murmured quietly. "I thought I taught you that at least."

"No. You taught me if it feels wrong, it probably is. It doesn't feel wrong."

"Dad's right Dean."

"Oh that's just great. Twenty years of being at each of throats about every fucking little thing and this is the one thing you finally agree on! Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Dean I'm feeling ignored. I don't like it." Meg spoke up, cutting Sam off before he could snap back.

The knife pressed against heavier against his skin and he could feel blood trickling down his neck.

"How do you think this is going to go Meg? Are you going to ransom me in exchange for your life?" he sneered, giving her his attention.

Where the hell was Crowley? The demon living across the road he wasn't supposed to know about must have gotten word to him by now.

"That's the plan handsome."

"Well it's a pretty shitty plan. Do you really think Crowley is going to just let you walk away?" he pushed his face closer to Meg's. "He is going to skin you alive. And you know what? I'm going to be right there watching while he does. Do you think if I ask nicely he'll let me have a go? There is nothing I'd enjoy more than having your blood running through my fingers."

"All you'd have to do is ask baby."

Dean felt his heart jump at the sound of the rough British voice coming from the hallway and a cruel smile broke across his face when Meg's eyes flashed with fear. The knife dug deeper into his flesh but before she could inflict any serious damage, she was pulled off him with such force Dean wasn't too sure what had happened for a moment. Crowley had her on her knees, a strong hand in her hair and holding her in place. She grunted when the knife was kicked out of her hand. Dean couldn't control the warmth in his stomach at the display of power from his lover mixed with a flood of relief.

Dean looked over Crowley's shoulder, wondering who was taking care for Meg's goons. Simon and Daniel, two of Crowley's higher-level demons were holding them firmly in place as they waited for orders.

"Hey Dean." Daniel grunted, putting more pressure on the demon's throat to stop him squirming. "How are things going? You having a family reunion or something?"

"You have no fucking idea how weird the last twelve hours have been."

"Your supposedly dead brother and dad sitting next to you gives me good idea."

"You know where to take them." Crowley ordered over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off Meg.

Simon and Daniel disappeared with their respective hostage, leaving Dean to stare at a glaring Sam.

"What?" he snapped, so far beyond caring about anything Sam said.

"You're friends with them now?" Sam demanded, frowning heavily.

"Fuck off Sam. Oh and Crowley, you gonna help or just leave me tied to a chair."

"But you look so pretty tied up." Crowley smirked, taking his eyes off Meg for the first time.

"Crowley!" Dean hissed in warning, he did not need Crowley to make the atmosphere in the room any more uncomfortable than it already was.

Crowley rolled his eyes and sighed before flicking his wrist and snapping the ropes around Dean's wrists easily. As Dean stood up another demon appeared, one he didn't recognise and took hold of Meg firmly.

"You and I are going to have so much fun." Crowley promised her, causing her to shiver in fear and Dean couldn't blame her.

Crowley was pissed and even he knew to stay away from Crowley when he was this angry. Meg stuck her jaw out defiantly but it did nothing to hide the fear in her eyes.

"Can you untie Sam and dad as well?" Dean asked hesitantly once Meg had been taken away, presumably to where ever the other two had been taken.

Crowley's attention snapped to John and Sam as though noticing them for the first time. His eyes narrowed at Sam, a gesture that Sam returned before flicking his eyes towards John.

"Ah yes. I was wondering about that."

Crowley's silky smooth voice made it perfectly clear to Dean that he better start explaining and quickly. The only problem was that it was hard to explain what was going on when he didn't understand it himself. His hesitation only made things worse when Crowley shot him a look usually reserved for Sam.

"Kitchen. Now." Crowley growled, grabbed Dean's arm tightly and guiding him past John and Sam and into the kitchen.

Dean did his best to ignore the painful grip but it was hard. A small part of him was worried that Crowley was actually annoyed enough to hurt him, and he could hurt him if he wanted to. Not that he couldn't take Crowley in a fight, he was pretty sure that even without a weapon he could put Crowley on his ass but that wasn't the point.

"Talk." Crowley demanded when they were out of sight.

"Let them go first."

Crowley rolled his eyes and clicked his fingers but not without a sour look on his face. "There. Now what the fuck did you do Dean?"

The pure anger in his voice made Dean take a step back. He'd seen Crowley angry plenty of times but never directed at him. Frustrated maybe, but never angry and it made him more than a little nervous. He knew better than anyone what Crowley was capable of doing when he was angry.

"I didn't do anything!" Dean swore, a bit annoyed that Crowley was accusing him of something. "But while we're having question time, care to tell me exactly what Meg and her goons were doing here? How did they know about us?" he shot back.

"Every demon knows! Do you think they've stayed away for the past year out of common curtsey? They stayed away because I made it very clear you were off limits and what the consequences would be if they came after you." Crowley sneered and Dean had to strongly resist the urge to punch the demon. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with Crowley's snark.

Dean opened his mouth to shoot back a response but closed it suddenly. Crowley had been after Meg for months, there was no way he hadn't known she was going to come after him. Crowley had known. He'd known Meg was coming and used him as bait. That was why he'd planned on staying topside longer than usual, he'd been waiting.

Damn it Dean! I should have seen that coming. I knew Crowley was up to something; he never stays longer than a few days. I've gone soft.

It was in that moment Dean realised just how much he had changed since meeting Crowley. His instincts had told him something was wrong but he'd ignored it because it was Crowley. Crowley who played with his hair to help him fall asleep and kissed the back of neck to wake him up. Crowley who watched Dr Sexy MD with him even though he hated it. The Crowley who Dean would have bet his life on would never do anything to hurt him.

"I'm not sure what I'm more pissed off about. The fact that you didn't tell me Meg was after me or the fact that you knew and still left last night to do god only knows what!"

"I had to leave to deal with whatever fucked up mess you've got going on in there!" Crowley roared, pointing to the lounge room. "Do you have any idea the amount of power needed to bring those two back? Even I can't swing that. When that kind of power is used, there are signs. I knew something big had happened I just wasn't sure what. But now I know once again, you have done something monumentally stupid!"

"Exactly what do you think I've done? Look at me! Do I really look like I have a fucking clue about what's going on? What, do think I sold my soul?" Dean yelled back, not caring that Sam and John were probably hearing everything.

"Of course I don't. No demon would touch your soul, it belongs to me."

Dean filed that sentence away for later, that was definitely a whole other conversation that was going to happen. Sighing heavily he felt himself deflate, the anger leaving him like a puff of hot air. He didn't even know why he was arguing with Crowley. Probably because he was stressed and needed someone to yell at. But with Sam and his dad coming at him from both sides, arguing with the one person who was on his side was stupid.

"So if not that. What do you think I've done?" he asked, hearing the exhaustion in his own voice.

"I don't know. But I know it's bad and I know that whatever it is, you're messing with something you shouldn't be messing with."

Dean took note of the softening of Crowley's face and was thankful that they were both calming down. Swallowing nervously he made a split second decision and stepped towards the demon until their bodies were touching and their faces inches apart.

"Do you trust me?" he asked softly.

Crowley blinked slowly and rested his forehead against Dean's. Dean was too busy marveling at the difference between the Crowley standing in front of him and the Crowley from five minutes. This was the Crowley only he got to see. The Crowley Sam, dad and Bobby would never understand.

"I never trust anyone."

Dean snorted and pulled their heads apart before cupping Crowley's face and playing with the short beard. "Do you remember the first time you took me to Hell?"

"When you freaked out and called me an evil bastard?"

"I'm pretty sure those weren't my exact words but close enough. Anyway, you asked me to trust you and even though common sense told me not to I did. I still do. Even tied to that chair, I knew you'd come for me. I trust you with my life, more importantly, with my soul."

Crowley's eyes hardened and he pulled away, putting distance between them. Dean knew he was slipping back into defense mode. Cocky, sarcastic Crowley was coming back into play.

"Where are you going with this Dean?"

"It's my turn. I'm asking you to trust me. Trust me when I tell you I had nothing to do with bringing Sam and my dad back. Trust me when I say I would never do anything to jeopardies the life we've built together."

Dean was well aware of the fact he sounded like a bad romance movie but he wasn't sure how else to say what he wanted to say. As much as he tried to convince himself otherwise he sometimes felt their relationship was a bit one sided. He felt like he had more invested in this relationship than Crowley did. He had a bad feeling that things were only going to become more and more difficult over the next week or so and it wouldn't work if they didn't trust each other.

Too caught up in his own head he didn't see Crowley moving towards him. He grunted as Crowley crushed their bodies together and took Dean's face in his hand, eerily similar to the way Meg had except a lot less painful. Their eyes locked and Dean's breathing hitched when Crowley's eyes flickered to red, arousal pooling in his stomach.

"Never trust anyone Dean. That's the rule that's gotten to where I am today. But then again, I find myself all sorts of things for the first time for you."

Crowley's hot breath ghosted over his face and Dean couldn't control the stupid grin on his face as Crowley's words coursed through him, causing him to shiver pleasantly. Sighing happily, Dean wrapped his arms around Crowley's neck and buried his face into the soft skin. He was thankful for the extra strength the demon possessed as he was practically hanging off him. For the first time since getting the call from Bobby he felt safe and content. Crowley's body heat soothing him and the smell of his cologne calming him like nothing else could.

He sunk further into the hold and Crowley responded with a tight arm curling around his waist and rubbed soothing circles on his lower back.

"I don't know if can do this Crowley." He muttered against the skin of the demon's neck.

"You don't have to do anything. I'll take care of it." Crowley promised, cringing inside at the thought of dealing with Sam and John for any period of time.

"No. My family, my problems."

"Well isn't this charming."

Dean groaned at the sound of Sam's voice but pulled away from Crowley and turned to face Sam and John who were stood in the kitchen doorway. He was secretly thrilled when Crowley didn't let go of his waist, continuing to hold him tight.

"Samantha." Crowley sneered in greeting.

"Demon scum." Sam returned, cocking his head and glaring at Crowley in a way that made the hair on the back of Dean's neck stand on end.

Crowley turned his attention the John when he realized the older man was just staring at him. "John Winchester, the man himself."

"So you're the demon who's brainwashed my son." John growled.

"Dean doesn't do anything he doesn't want to. And he just happens to want to do me. Or more accurately for me to do him."

"Watch how you speak to me." John warned, grinded his teeth so forcefully Dean was sure he could hear it from the other side of the room.

"Please, you're not nearly as threatening as you think you are. I will rip you to pieces, Dean's father or not." Crowley's smooth voice washing over the room and Dean couldn't help but laugh silently to himself.

John really thought he was the most dangerous person in the room. He still had no idea how much things had changed since his death.

"I'd like to see you try."

Crowley moved forward but Dean stopped him by placing a firm hand on his chest. He had no doubt Crowley would win in a fight against John but he really didn't want to be mopping up his dad's blood from the kitchen tiles.

"Drop it. Both of you."

Crowley tensed for a moment before relaxing against him once more and Dean watched as John shifted his stance into a less threatening pose. Dean glanced up at Crowley and realised why Sam was shooting him such odd looks.

"Crowley. Eyes."

Crowley blinked and his eyes returned back to normal but the damage was done. Sam and John were looking at him differently and Dean was reminded what it felt like to see those eyes for the first time. It was a strange feeling, seeing the undeniable proof that Crowley was a demon. Although Sam and John were having a much different reaction than he did. Fear was clouding their eyes and Dean could tell Sam was resisting the urge to take a step back.

"Look, we don't have time to have a staring competition. The sooner we figure this out, the sooner we can all get on with our lives." Dean cut in; someone had to be the voice of reason.

"Do you mean the life that I'm no longer welcome in?" Sam asked, hurt coloring his voice.

"You're my brother and I love you Sam. Nothing will ever change that, but until you learn to accept that I've made my choices concerning Crowley; No, you're not welcome in my life or my home."

"Dean? I have to take care of Meg, make sure she's being dealt with appropriately. Do you want to come with me?" Crowley asked quietly, not wanting to leave Dean alone.

Dean smiled at the gesture and kissed Crowley on the check even though what he really wanted to do was drag him upstairs and fuck him silly. "No. You go. I want to have a chat with my dad. Sam my laptop in the lounge room. Go and see if you can find anything that might explain what the fuck is happening."

Sam nodded and left the kitchen but not before glancing hesitantly at John. Crowley kissed Dean softly before disappearing with a snap and leaving Dean alone with his dad. Turning to face his dad, Dean sighed and leaned against the kitchen table. He tried to catch John's eyes but he couldn't and he rolled his eyes when he realised John was going to make things as difficult as possible.

"Are you just going to ignore me? Or are we going to talk like adults?"

John sighed and Dean was surprised by how defeated he looked.

"You know. The day you were born I knew there was noting you could ever do to make me stop loving you. I knew that no mater what you did or who you became, I would love you regardless." John sighed again and Dean felt a spark of hope that maybe, just maybe everything would be alright. "I was wrong."

Maybe not.

"Are saying you don't love me anymore?"

"I'm saying I can't even look at you right now. I'm saying you're no longer my son."

Dean froze and what little affection he left for his dad disappeared. "Fine. When this is done. We go our separate ways."

John nodded and left the kitchen, heading into the lounge room and leaving Dean alone in the kitchen.

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There we go. So sorry it took so long. Hope you enjoy it and please review.