Dean looked at his watch. Sam was taking his sweet time getting pie and food. He had taken Bear out for a walk just in case, and had missed the light show.
So he took Bear in with him, and within seconds away from the tiny diner he started snarling like no tomorrow.
Dean figured out why too. The place reeked of sulfur and everyone was dead. Fortunately, Sam wasn't among the dead.
"Fuck."
"Crowley. Dean, what's got your britches in a bunch? Say what now?"
Crowley found it fascinating that Dean could match his British quips tit-for-tat. He had forgotten what it was like to meet someone as snarky as he was without his precious coffee.
"So Sam's been taken. Has to be Meg, she's the only one of that lot who would know where Azazel had his tournament...and hasn't been killed by you two blockheads yet."
Crowley listened to a grumpy Dean ask him something.
"Don't know if that hound of yours will find your brother. Wait, didn't you once mention Sam has a weird affinity for dogs? Why not let me send some of my more tame pets to you and you can see if he can't snag a familiar out of them. Nah, I have like a hundred of the damn hounds, they breed like bloody rabbits."
Crowley honestly liked the Harvelles. They amused him and they were useful as hell to boot. Best of all, no one was aware of his personal hunters.
So did he care that he was essentially handing over one of his hounds to the younger idiot as a familiar? Hell no. Sam was amusing in his own right, but Dean cracked Crowley up.
Especially with the blackmail the older one had forwarded to his P.O. Box against Loki. Using a full on Bear Bomb on that annoying as heaven pagan? Classic.
"Be sure to have something with your brother's scent. Once they have it they should be able to find him pretty quick," Crowley warned.
Sam wasn't the only one with a weird affinity towards canine familiars. Dean had just found his faster. So if he managed to get one of the tamer hell hounds as a familiar, it wasn't Crowley's problem.
Sam groaned.
"I hate demons," he muttered. Very few things could get a jump on him like that, especially leaving a sulfur trail behind.
He checked his gear. All he had on him was a cell phone and his wand. The rest of the spelled gear was in the trunk. It was just luck that he had forgotten to put his wand and holster back in too.
"Sam?"
"Andy? What the hell are you doing here?"
"No idea. All I remember is smelling rotten eggs..."
"Never mind, I think I get the picture. Dammit, I bet that bitch from before is behind this," said Sam under his breath.
"You know what happened?"
"The basics. Someone wants all the psychics Azazel tainted twenty-two years ago, though we never did find out what they wanted them for. And none of the demons we took out were talkative about why we were picked," said Sam. He checked his phone.
A slow grin formed.
"And whoever grabbed me left me with two things they shouldn't have."
He couldn't believe that Meg was stupid enough to leave him with his phone. Or worse, his wand!
Talk about an idiot.
Sam suddenly paused when he heard the howls.
"What the hell is that?!" said Andy, sticking close to Sam. Sam noted several others jump at the sound of baying hounds.
He spotted Ava, and noticed she seemed the most nervous at the sound.
However when he saw the source, he had to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Hell hounds. I just know my brother is behind this," said Sam tiredly. He made sure his magic was at the surface as he barked "SIT!"
Two of the hell hounds paused in their snarling and promptly sat down. The rest stared at him like he was an idiot.
"Well that's somewhat better," said Sam, rubbing his head.
"Sam? What's going on?" asked Ava.
"My brother apparently thought it would be hilarious to send a pack of hell hounds after me. Asshole. Why couldn't he have just sent Bear instead?" complained Sam.
"You can see those things?"
"I can see most things like them. Hell hounds are nothing," said Sam tiredly. The two that had sat down on command whined.
He nudged them with his magic, and the two trotted over and sat at either side of him. The rest ignored him completely.
"So where the hell are we?" asked the soldier.
"No idea. Right now I just want to see how far the barrier keeping me from getting a signal goes out," said Sam, holding up his phone. His hunting phone.
"You still have your phone?" said Ava shocked.
"Let's just say the demon responsible for dumping us here is a bit of an idiot and didn't check that I was unarmed," said Sam dryly.
Dean waited patiently for Crowley to call back. He was the only one who understood hell hounds.
He barely understood Bear, and that was because he paid attention to his dog.
His phone rang.
"Yeah? They found him? Where?"
"No idea. But two of the dogs haven't returned and since they're not in a frenzy I think Sam managed to get their attention pretty well," said Crowley.
That was how you got hell hounds as familiars. You dominated the damn things. Though the fact Sam had apparently took control of two of them meant he was a lot stronger than Crowley took him for.
"Great. I take it this means Bear will have to contend with two new additions?"
"Look at it this way, Bear is the biggest dog with hell hound blood. Chances are they'll look to him as the Alpha Male. Besides, hell hounds can shrink if they want. I've seen one as small as a Chihuahua."
Dean choked back a laugh.
"Seriously?"
"I think they used him in a fast food commercial if I remember right. Something to do with Mexican," said Crowley.
"Taco Bell?"
"That's the one."
"Knew that dog was always suspicious," laughed Dean.
"If he has dominated the two, it shouldn't take too long before he tries to contact you. Call me if you need to make a deal though," said Crowley.
"No offense Crow, but I hope that I don't have to make any deals. If I do, you're the one I'll contact first."
Dean drove straight to Bobby's house and waited. Sam would eventually remember that they had a telepathic connection. So far nothing they encountered had noticed this fact, so it was highly unlikely that they would think to block it like the phones. They usually only exercised that trick around Mort.
"Sam's missing?!" said Bobby.
"Demon nabbed him. I'm just waiting for Sam to get a hold of me through ways they won't expect."
"Why aren't you panicking?"
"Crow sent two hell hounds to wherever Sam's scent was strongest. Two didn't come back. He figures Sam managed to get him a pair of new pets," said Dean.
"Hell hounds," deadpanned Bobby.
"Yes, hell hounds. I would rather Sam have hell hounds as his partners until I get there than nothing at all," said Dean flatly.
Bobby privately conceded his point. So they waited for a sign, any sign at all.
Sam was tired, he was starving, and he was pissed off. The hell hounds kept the Acheri demon off his ass, and he liked having such powerful canines to fight for him, but frankly he was sick of these...civilians.
Andy was alright, he at least kept his mouth shut and didn't question Sam's knowledge. But Jake and Ava were getting on his last nerve.
This sucks, he thought to himself. His magic was so tightly coiled around him that he didn't realize he was broadcasting.
Sammy! It's about damn time you remembered!
Dean? How...
Suddenly Sam went to the nearest wall and started banging his head against it. Of course. He had forgotten entirely about telepathy, and they had yet to find what the maximum distance was for it.
You forgot about telepathy didn't you?
Sam could hear the laughter in his brother's voice.
Yes. Now shut the hell up. I have a massive migraine because the soldier is a paranoid idiot and Eva claims she had only just got here.
You got the hell hounds Crow sent your way?
Yes. And I knew you had to be behind that somehow.
Did you know the 'Yo Quero Taco Bell' dog was actually a hell hound?
What.
Crow mentioned how they could shrink and said that one had been a famous chihuahua on TV for some fast food Mexican place.
Interesting, but not important, said Sam. Actually, that was kind of hilarious. Dean had always been creeped out by that dog and had no idea why when he loved dogs.
Besides, I would rather you have a pair of hell hounds backing you up just in case than none at all.
Here's an image of where I am. Can you get here, or did that idiot block apparition too?
Did she confiscate your wand?
No, and she left my hunter's phone on me as well. Unfortunately that is jammed.
Then start sending up flares! Come on, how hard is it to send up fireworks that a reaper can see?
Sam snorted. Of course Dean would think of asking reapers to keep an eye out for unusual fireworks.
Loki looked up when he saw the weird ass fireworks going off from twenty miles away. Normally he wouldn't be paying any attention, but he was seeing reapers start to converge on the spot. So he went to investigate what was going on.
He wasn't expecting to see Sam on a roof with his wand setting off anything and everything he could think of. He looked rather bored to be honest.
So he grinned as he popped up behind Sam, only vaguely noticing a pair of hell hounds nearby.
"Heya Sammy. Don't you look the picture of enthusiasm?"
Sam jumped, then turned to look with a glare at the one speaking.
"Loki. Saw the fireworks?"
"And the reapers," admitted Loki.
"Dean's idea of calling for help without a cell phone signal. He asked the reapers to look out for magical fireworks, since we're not sure if there's any wards to prevent teleporting," said Sam shrugging.
"Yeah, hearing he asked reapers doesn't surprise me, considering the company he keeps," snorted Loki.
"Mort's not bad, just has a really dry wit and looks like death warmed over," said Sam.
Loki choked.
"Sam, that is a more accurate description of Mort than you seem to realize. What's with the hell hounds?"
Sam rolled his eyes.
"Dean's idea of back up. We happen to have a crossroads demon as a contact, and he owns hell hounds. So he had the demon send some of his tamer ones my way, and two of them stuck around."
"Huh. You must have an affinity towards dogs," said Loki, looking at how calm the hounds were around him.
"So...any ideas for more fireworks? I've been mostly recreating the stuff Gandalf the Grey used at Bilbo's party," admitted Sam.
"Even the dragon and the explosion?" asked Loki, impressed.
"I'm saving that for when Dean gets close," said Sam. Then an idea occurred to him. "Care to see who can come up with the most impressive idea?"
"You bet!" grinned Loki.
For a pair of hunters, the Harvelles weren't bad at all. They were nothing like he expected them to be.
"So... do you have a creature form too?" asked Loki before they got started.
Sam's evil grin did not inspire confidence.
One minute Loki was staring at a moose (one of the many nicknames given to Sam), the next he was staring at a tall bunny with a carrot in his hands.
"Eh, what's up doc?"
"A rabbit? Seriously?"
"Not just any rabbit. Haven't you ever seen Looney Tunes?" asked Sam.
"Uh, not a fan of cartoons?"
"You've never even watched one episode with Bugs Bunny? What sort of Trickster are you?! He's like the ultimate prankster!" said Sam turning back.
"So your creature form is a talking rabbit?"
"I'm a Bugs Bunny fan. Dean nearly pissed himself from laughing so hard when he found out what I had Mort set my creature form to. Then he said it was a perfect fit because I always eat like a rabbit anyway," said Sam shrugging. Then he gave Loki an odd look.
"What?"
"When we get out of here, I'm going to force you to sit through an entire marathon of Looney Tunes. There is no excuse for not recognizing Bugs Bunny on sight. Stitch I can understand, but Bugs?"
"Like I said, not a fan of cartoons."
"Still not an excuse."
Loki never seeing Bugs and Daffy? Sam seriously couldn't believe that for a minute.