Summery: Somewhere in Montana they find Dean, only not quite. Crowley can't stand to watch Bobby break anymore.
I Bobby/Crowley'd, Sorry!
Sam got out of the car dejectedly, this was the tenth border city in Montana that they had arrived at and so far no sign or mention of Dean.
Crowley watched John, Castiel, and Sam search the town, John going to the Police offices while Sam and Castiel searched the library, the group was still reluctant to leave the Angel on his own when they were searching for information.
Crowley looked around the area and saw a young man looking at a faded poster on a billboard. Crowley walked over to the board and looked at the other posters curiously before his eyes landed on the one the man was looking at.
"Your brother?" Crowley asked, looking at the faded missing poster with Dean's picture on it.
The young man looked at Corwley.
"No, he saved my life." The kid said.
Crowley looked at the kid, "Yes, he did have a habit of doing that."
"He save you too?" The kid asked.
"Nah, but he saved some people I know. They've been looking for him for a long time."
"I haven't seen him since the night he saved my life, I found out his name's not even Cade Younger." The kid said quietly.
"There seems to be quite a bit of confusion as to what the young man's name is." Crowley said.
"He was really injured when he left, but he didn't want to go to the hospital." The kid said sadly, "I hope he's okay, my mom said that the injuries he had could kill him if left untreated."
Crowley gazed at the kid, "I'm sure the man is tougher than your mom's usual patients."
"Yeah, he took on the monster of the forest alone and killed it, it hasn't bothered us since." The kid said.
"No, I don't suppose it has." Crowley reached for the poster on the board, "Do you mind if I take this? My friends would like to see it."
"I was going to put up a new one anyway, that one's getting faded, a few more days and you wouldn't be able to see the picture." The young man told him, pulling a replacement out of his backpack and putting it up as Crowley took the other one, "I wish I knew his real name, I wanted to name my kid after the man that saved my life."
Crowley smiled at the young man, "I'm sure the name you knew him by would please him, Cade is a nice name and real name or not Cade is the name he gave to you."
The man smiled at Crowley, "If you find him tell him I said thank you for saving my life."
Crowley nodded, "He didn't do it for the thanks, kid, he did it because it was the right thing."
"Maybe my mom was right." The kid said staring at the poster.
"Oh?" Crowley asked.
"Maybe he was an Angel and was called home." The kid said, "I have to get back to school, see you."
Crowley looked down at the smiling picture of Dean on the missing person's poster and nodded, "Maybe he was an Angel, not yet called home."
"Did we find anything?" John asked frustrated.
"Nothing at the library." Sam said, pulling Castiel down to sit next to him.
The door opened and Crowley stepped into the room.
"You're late, Demon." John growled.
Crowley rolled his eyes, he hated working with this man, he never trusted him, not like Sam or Bobby.
"I found something." Crowley said waving the poster in the air.
Sam grabbed the paper, "Missing: Cade Younger, blond hair, green eyes, last seen November, ten years ago, wearing faded blue jeans, black t-shirt and a leather jacket. It's Dean's picture, Dad."
"So, he was here, then what happened?" John asked.
"According to the kid I talked to, he saved the kid and left, but he was injured, he could very well have died by refusing to go to the hospital." Crowley watched Sam's face crumple, "The kid also called him an Angel."
John snorted, "Dean is a lot of things, Demon, but he ain't an Angel."
Crowley glared at John, he understood suddenly Bobby's strong dislike of this man, and how could he have fathered such good boys like Sam and Dean; Bobby liked to rant and Crowley liked Bobby's voice on occasion.
"I have never met Dean but he can't be an Angel, the closest he could be would be a Nephilim." Castiel butted in.
"Not helping, Castiel." Sam said.
"Look, Dean was here, he's not here now, we should move on." Crowley said, "Continue looking, we might even start looking for graves."
"He's not dead!" Sam yelled.
"You don't know that, he could be dead for all you know!" Crowley yelled back, "Maybe if either of you had picked up the phone when the boy had called, you wouldn't be in this mess, hoping to a god that's gone that he 's still alive."
"Hey." Castiel whined.
"Shut up, Angel." Crowley snapped, "You two left Dean long before he disappeared and now that you need him for support," Crowley looked at Sam, "Or to help you fight Demons," Crowley looked at John, "You want to find him, well," Crowley grabbed a beer from the table, "Here's to hoping you never find the kid, he's better off without you and honestly I'm praying to every god I can think of that they keep that boy hidden from the likes of you, and Hell and Heaven too."
Crowley raised the beer up and took a swig, "When you three are done looking for the one that doesn't want to be found, I'll be at Bobby's, helping him actually do something."
With that Crowley vanished, reappearing at Bobby's side.
"I wish you wouldn't do that, you Idjit." The man said not looking up from his book.
"I hate John Winchester!" Crowley yelled, steam coming from his ears.
"Join the club, we have hats." Bobby said.
Crowley looked at Bobby, the man had aged since Dean's disappearance, his eyes were worried and he was always looking for the man, or waiting by the phone hoping the kid would call, this was what a father looked like when his kid vanished, hoping they'd call and keeping an ear out for him if he needed him.
"I know where Dean is." Crowley said quietly.
Bobby's head snapped up so quick that for a second Crowley thought he would get whiplash.
"What?!" Bobby yelled.
"I saw him, he looks good, Bobby." Crowley sat on Bobby's desk, "He looks happy."
Bobby leaned into Crowley, "He's happy?"
"Yeah." Crowley said, "He's a little like you, only hunts when kids bring one up."
Bobby smiled, gently, "He gave me a call, said he'd seen Sam."
"Yeah, Sam didn't recognize him, he goes by Winston Robertson, now." Crowley whispered, watching tears fill Bobby's eyes.
"I'm proud of that boy, he made his choice and he stuck to it, I'm glad he's happy." Bobby whispered.
"I can take you to see him." Crowley offered.
"Nah, he'll either invite me or come see me when he's ready, I'm good with the calls he'll make." Babby said pulling away from Crowley to continue reading, "I'm glad that boy is happy, he deserves it."
"Yeah, what are you working on?" Crowley asked.
"Still doing research on Angels, what with the Angels trying to find a new way to release Lucifer from his cage, honestly they don't give up."
"Nope, what can I do to help?"
"Some coffee would do wonders." Bobby said, waving his empty cup.
"Where from?" Crowley asked, taking the cup.
"The kitchen, you idjit." Bobby said, smiling softly.
Crowley smiled back and went to get Bobby some coffee.