T.J. followed through, helping me get clothes together. I could just as easily show up back in America, T.J. knew, but the Men of Letters preferred flying and transportation where they could keep an eye on each other. We packed my stuff, fed Karma, and took her back out to the park so she could play fetch with the new leg bone we got at the butcher's (told the guy it was for a university project). I had enchanted it so that it would disappear and reappear with different scents for different monsters in new hiding spots. Karma would bound after it, then bark once when she found her query. Afterwards, she had a few minutes to chew on it and enjoy her reward before it disappeared again.

"You know," T.J. muttered, the pair of us sitting and watching her. I'd given him a pair of sunglasses the week we'd met so that he could see Karma too. "I think you're the first witch that I'm ever going to miss, same with Karma."

"It's a talent." I said, shrugging. The bone disappeared, and Karma sat up, alert and sniffing. She ran off eastward a second later. "Kind of puts things in a weird spot, doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"The Men of Letters and their mission." I reminded him. "To rid the world of anything and everything non-human, right?"

"Yeah."

I pointed at myself. "I'm not entirely human. I'm a witch with angel grace inside of her. My dog most certainly isn't human." As I spoke, she barked once, sharply. I was glad I had a sound containment field up. Her bark was as loud as a shotgun blast. "Castiel isn't human, he's an angel. Crowley is a demon. I'm even on good terms with a Reaper." He thought for a moment. "Chuck isn't human, he's God. And Amara is the Darkness. The mission of the Men of Letters is to wipe them all out, isn't it?"

"Not you." T.J. said. "You're still quite human. You haven't killed anyone that was human."

"And Castiel?" I asked. "Crowley? Karma? Billie?"

"They are good." T.J. said. "They are human, too, in their own way."

"So exterminate everyone else except those that we happen to like?" I challenged, offering him a teasing smirk.

He didn't return it, just thought.

"We're saving the world." He finally said. "What's bad about that?"

"Nothing." I answered. "Just posing questions, like normal. Apparently I'm so special that I'm allowed to."

"Stuff it." T.J. muttered, nudging me with his shoulder. Karma bounded back this way, her bone in hand.

"Time to go." I said, looking up. It was starting to get dark. "One last drink at Rory's?"

"I could go for a pint." T.J. agreed.

"Maybe the blonde guy will be there again."

"How's this," T.J. offered. "If I talk to the blonde bloke again, whose name by the way was Jeremy," I repeated the name as if in awe. "Then you will promise to at least consider speaking with Castiel when you return."

"That…" I took a deep breath. "That's a difficult promise to make."

"To even consider it?"

"Yes."

"How about if I get Jeremy's digits?"

"T.J.," I was about to tell him to stop, but he kept going.

"What about a date?"

"If I promise to consider it will you please just drop it?" I asked, frustrated. Karma barked once, quieter, looking from me to T.J.

He nodded. "I'm sorry for bothering you."

"It's alright." I said. "Come on. I need to make a quick call, then we'll go to Rory's."

"What're you doing?"

"Making sure Karma has a spot to hang out at while I'm flying." I said. "Give me five minutes."

T.J. nodded, getting up to try and get the bone from Karma. He preferred throwing it as hard as he could, and seeing whether he threw it hard and far enough for the bone to hit the ground before Karma could catch it in mid-air. Karma liked the game, too. Mostly because she hadn't lost yet.

I took out my phone, and took a moment to look through my contacts. I still had numbers for Sam, Dean, and Castiel. I could always call one of them. I could call now, and get it over with.

I called Crowley instead. I hadn't spoken with him since we'd last met. We'd both kind of quietly agreed that that would be better.

"Do my eyes deceive me," Crowley started off, answering on the third ring. "Or am I getting a phone call from a dead woman?"

"Yep. Totally." I muttered. "Room 66F needs new sheets in Hell. Something about scattered limbs."

"Always have a sense of humor, don't you?" He asked. "What might the occasion for the call be? If it's a demon-related issue give me their name before you kill them, at least. They may be someone I don't like."

"I've got an assignment." I stated. "I'm… I'm coming back. To America."

"What?" This came as a complete shock to him. "I thought you were done with the New World?"

"I don't know what it is, just that I'm flying back tomorrow."

"Do they know you can simply show up here?"

"I think they prefer to keep an eye on me." I watched T.J. throw out of the corner of my eye. It was too easy, and not nearly high enough. Karma caught it without needing a running start. "I just… I wanted to ask a favor." I thought for a moment. "Maybe more."

"Are you calling to make a deal?"

"I'm calling as a friend." I hadn't ever said that before. Crowley stopped with the games, then. He was listening. "I'm going to send Karma ahead. Is she alright at the cabin?"

"Of course." Crowley said. "But that's not the favor, is it?"

"No." I admitted. "I'm visiting Mrs. Tran's grave when I get back. I missed the funeral and I… I didn't get to say good-bye." I fought to keep my voice neutral. "Is there any way you can ask Billie to meet me there?"

"When?"

"I'll call you when I find out." I promised. "I don't know yet. Probably soon."

The line was quiet for a few moments. "Yes. I can do that. Why can't you summon her yourself, though?"

"I don't want to risk her safety." I said. "And someone will be watching me. If I summon her myself, I can't guarantee that there will be pleasant repercussions."

"I see." He said. "Anything else?"

"How are Sam and Dean?"

"Currently, they're enjoying a nice stay somewhere I don't even know, thanks to the American government." He said. "Castiel is, by the way, working to locate both them and you."

"How much does he know?"

"He's more confused than anything else." Crowley said. "He isn't quite certain whether you are alive or dead, much less with how to proceed with that information."

"Is he…" Come on, Kylie! Buck up! It's a simple question! "Is he OK?"

"Physically, yes." Crowley told me. "As for everything else… He's trying to figure it out. He's on his own for the first time. No Sam or Dean. No you. No angels. He's trying to figure it all out on his own and it's not doing him any favors."

"And you?" I asked, watching as T.J. wrestled Karma for the bone. She let him win that one. "Are you alright?"

"I'm managing quite nicely." He said. "It's been pretty quiet with Lucifer gone, Sam and Dean incarcerated somewhere, and Castiel trying to hunt. Complete Christmas for everything evil, like us," I laughed a little bit. "What? The boogeymen Winchesters haven't been seen in weeks, almost a month. Of course everyone who's in the know about the underbelly of society is aware."

"I hope they're OK." I admitted.

"They're always fine, Kylie." Crowley said. "They're like herpes. Just when you think it's gone, it shows up again."

"That's a bit of a gross analogy."

"But accurate." He said. "Don't worry about the Winchesters and their lives. Worry about yours and what you are doing. You left to better yourself, to control your magic and to understand who you were, right?"

"Yeah."

"Have you accomplished that?" I raised my hand for a moment. No unwanted sparks. There hadn't been since the nuckelavee. I watched T.J. throw again. This time it had distance, but Karma was still about to catch it. I stopped it just above her mouth, leaving her confused for only a moment as she stared at the floating bone and started to bark.

"Yeah." I said.

"I trust that's Karma I hear howling?" Crowley asked. I dropped the bone to her.

"Yep."

"Good. I'll make sure there's food for her at the cabin."

"Thank you."

"Enjoy your flight." He hung up before I could say anything else. I smiled for a moment before pocketing my phone. I used to think he did that because he was a rude asshole. He's still a rude asshole, but I figured out why he liked to hang up first.

I think he just hates saying goodbye. Even when I'd met with him to say the words, neither of us actually said them. Crowley just asked if that was my intent.

A demon that hates goodbyes, and a witch that doesn't hate a demon.

It really did put things in perspective.