A case in Portland, Oregon regarding dead priests and dead hellhounds forced the Winchesters into an odd team up with Crowley. Which Dean did admit was a bit hilarious to have Crowley and Castiel sitting in the backseat.
Would be funnier if the two wouldn't act like kids while in the car.
"Stop touching me."
"I'm not touching you."
"You are on my side."
"I am not."
"Yes, you are."
"Will you two quit it?!" Dean snapped, Sam at his side hiding his laughter behind a cough. Asshole.
"But he's-"
"I don't care." Dean cut off, glaring at Castiel through the rearview mirror. "Shut the fuck up, both of you, if I have to listen to you two argue I'm gonna kick you both out and you will have to walk to the warehouse yourselves."
Castiel scowled but said nothing, leaning back on the seat and crossing his arms over his chest as he glared out of the window. Crowley at his side grinned triumphantly, yet, Dean didn't miss the demon reaching out to touch the angel.
"I mean it, Crowley." He warned dangerously, maybe he should have let Castiel ride shotgun. But he didn't like the idea of Sam sitting next to Crowley. Maybe he will let Sam drive on the way back and Cas can ride shotgun.
Upon arrival at the abandoned warehouse, Sam and Dean went in first while Castiel and Crowley followed behind.
"Bollocks." Crowley's exclamation made the brothers halt and turn around, just to find both Castiel and Crowley standing next to each other awkwardly, both staring at the ceiling.
Sam and Dean followed their gaze.
There was a demon trap painted on the ceiling, and enclosing the demon trap there was… another sigil neither had ever seen before, but the brothers did recognize the Enochian in it.
Yet, before either could speak, an invisible force sent them flying across the warehouse and crashing into a wall. They both quickly got up, but that was about it, they couldn't move at all. It was as if their feet had been glued to the ground.
"What the hell?" Dean said, tugging at his feet in an attempt to free them. But they wouldn't move.
"Don't bother. You won't be moving from there." A voice exclaimed as a woman walked through the door holding a hex bag, grinning. Dean and Sam pulled their guns out, but an invisible force knocked them off their hands, sending them across the warehouse.
As she walked past Castiel and Crowley, both tried to grab her, yet both jerked back, glaring at the witch as she laughed heartily, as if this was all some sort of funny endeavor to her.
"Please spare me the villainous monologue." Crowley speaks as the woman opens her mouth, cutting her off. She glares at him as she slips the hex bag in her pocket.
"Why are you killing priests and hellhounds?" Castiel questions, he still can't see what would someone get from that. There's no spell on Earth that requires such odd requisites.
"Well, I did need something to lure you both in. I should be thanking you both for that." She said the last glancing at Sam and Dean.
"If you needed a demon or an angel you could have literally found one through a summoning spell." Crowley can't help but say, was she fucking stupid? Yet, her smile makes his stomach twist. Which weird, humans don't tend to give him bad feelings. He's the one who gives people the heebie jeebies. Not the other way around.
"But what I intend to do calls for something greater than a regular demon or angel. And when I heard about the Winchesters having just what I needed at their disposal…" A smile with far too many teeth splits across her face as she stares them both down with an unsettling glimmer in her eyes. "I couldn't help myself, you both are perfect for my spell, a demon king and a seraphim, the embodiment of sins and the embodiment of purification."
"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Dean demands, he doesn't like the sound of that, even less the fact that this woman had apparently known some sort of sigil to render Cas unable to move. He didn't even know there was such a sigil.
But he guesses it stands to reason that if there are demon traps, there might also be angel traps.
"You will see soon enough." The witch states before holding her hands out towards Castiel and Crowley. The brothers don't miss the odd sigils carved on the back of each hand.
"What–" Crowley's words get cut off as he sucks in a sharp breath, Castiel next to him stumbles before dropping on his knees with a groan, followed right behind by Crowley.
Sam and Dean watch in horror as the sigils on her hands glow, the left one a burning red and the right one a blazing white, and then a familiar, red smoke bursts out from Crowley at the exact same time a white/bluish smoke bursts out from Castiel. Both bodies dropping bonelessly on the ground.
The red smoke and the bright white/bluish one rage inside the traps like a furious storm, making the traps above burn a bright orange.
And if the red smoke is Crowley. Then that means the other one is-
"Cas." Sam whispers, unable to hide the awe from his voice as he stares at the bright smoke, though more than smoke it looks like cirrus clouds, but much more magical, like something you would see in fairy tales. He never quite wondered how angels would look like when not in a vessel and not in their true forms.
"I have to thank you for bringing them to me, I have been waiting ages for this, and now I can finally have it all back."
"Have what back? Why are you doing this? What could you possibly get from this?" Sam asks, trying to gain time, trying to prevent whatever the hell the witch was trying to do. Because he has a feeling that if they let her do it, they won't see Cas again.
And Crowley, he guesses.
Sam might not be a fan of the demon but at least they knew Crowley's… questionable morals. They knew he was probably the best choice to have ruling hell than some other psycho demon.
"Did you know, that if you merge a strong enough demon with a strong enough angel, you can get the equivalent to an atomic bomb of a kick start in a spell that can grant you a wish within the laws of Heaven and Hell?"
What?
"That's impossible." Dean scoffs, though even if he does, his heart is racing, because that sounded like the start of yet another fucking world ending shit. And he's so fucking done dealing with world ending shit. And that merging thing, it sounded like something that would definitely kill Cas and Crowley.
Where the fuck did she even get such a spell? Dean had never heard of that, and with good reason. That sounded like something people just shouldn't know.
"Oh, you have no idea what's possible." The witch said, and just like that, her hands glow once again and Sam and Dean watch in nauseating horror as the black smoke and the bluish one crash into each other like a ravenous thunderstorm, energies cackling and windows exploding, a high pitched, metallic ringing piercing through the air making them flinch and cover their ears. But even then it's beyond impossible to shield the sound.
It sounds louder than anything Sam or Dean had ever heard from angels. It reverberates through their very bones, slicing through their brains and making it feel as if their skulls will split apart.
And with dawning horror, both realize why it's different.
It's not talking.
It's a scream.
Thunder roars outside, threatening to split the skies apart as energies collide, like a glitch that makes them both frizzle like crackling energy, both seeming to refuse to stay put, it looks seven levels of wrong and sends shivers down their spine .
"Stop! You are gonna fucking kill them!" Dean shouts, unable to hide the twinge of fear in his voice. Because Cas is screaming and Dean can't begin to imagine how that actually has to be hurting them both .
Sam and Dean struggle to free themselves without avail, their fucking feet won't move. And Cas is going to die. Fuck, even Crowley is going to die and Dean will be fucking damned if he lets either of them die.
Suddenly, an explosion seizes the air, sending the witch to the ground and forcing Sam and Dean to shield their eyes, sulfur engulfs the air and it feels as if the heat will burn their skin to a crisp .
But as the light dies down...
The unexpected stands above both unmoving bodies from the angel and the demon. Two creatures pulled out of a nightmare.
And still.
Sam and Dean know who those creatures are.
Castiel has a somewhat humanoid shape, but his limbs are much too long and much too thin, not quite right in proportions as he bends at an awkward angle, he's tall enough that they wonder how he even fits in the warehouse at all or stays under the influence of the trap. He has tousled white hair that looks like dancing flames, skin pale, almost paper white and glowing with water-like reflections, silver scales littering his skin and thousands of blue snake eyes covering most of his skin, they are everywhere , sharp and furious.
A row of fangs splits his mouth apart, blueish glowing cracks spreading through his skin, leaking light and a flaming halo hovering over his head, not a ring of gold but actual flames or some sort of interlocking energies . There's also the enormous three set of wings with feathers the shade of an explosion of glitched, metallic rainbows. He looks as hypnotizing as he looks terrifying.
It makes their hairs stand on end and their hearts skip a beat.
Crowley on the other hand… he's human shaped, and his height while taller than his meatsuit, it's still within the human category. Making him look incredibly, almost comically small as he stands under Castiel.
His skin is pitch black with cracks that ooze a reddish, thick goo that drops on the ground, hissing and sizzling, leaving melted concrete behind, like fucking acid. His hair is a burning shade of black with hints of cackling red, piercing red eyes that seem to be the only actual thing to stand out among the utter darkness of it all, that and the fucking row of fangs. His claws are like knives, disproportionated and razor sharp.
Crowley stares at his hand for a full minute before turning to look at the witch who is standing up.
"What the hell is your problem?" Crowley snaps angrily, his voice guttural and dark, bloodcurdling and admittedly fucking terrifying.
Castiel shifts above him, he seems uncomfortable with the angle he's been forced to bend at, even more since he seems to be avoiding touching Crowley.
Yet, he speaks, and as he does, it's a mix between a woman and man's voice with piercing echoes that rumble through the walls and ground. Guttural yet almost musical. Like silver bells or the very trumpets of the Apocalypse. It's as unsettling as it's breathtaking.
Also, he's speaking in Enochian. Much more fluently and less strained than when he does so usually. Makes the brothers wonder absentmindedly if it was because technically a human's body wasn't quite made to speak the language of angels.
Crowley's attention snaps up, reminding Sam and Dean that the demon does know Enochian.
"Feathers, respectfully, are you bloody insane?! " The demon snarls, to which he gets a very, very skin crawling glare that if Sam and Dean weren't unable to move, it would have sent them bolting the fuck out of there.
Their hearts are racing and there's sweat trickling down their temples. The very deafening urge to run is hollering in their ears and clawing beneath their skin. Danger. Ripping through their skin and setting every hunter instinct inside them off.
Yet, Crowley doesn't even flinch, though he does shift uncomfortably.
"Fine! But if you fuck up I'm gonna skin you!"
And just like that, Castiel's hand reaches forward, grabbing the demon and straightening up, the traps above blaze, like an invisible field that refuses to give in under the angel's strength. And then Crowley fucking dissolves into burning goo that latched onto Castiel's hand, hand that the angel swings up, the trap blazes impossibly bright before the ceiling cracks and explodes, ground quaking beneath them as Cas steps back.
The witch tries to run, but the red goo on Castiel's hand explodes back into the nightmare known as Crowley, the demon lunging straight towards the woman, and without hesitation his hand goes straight through her chest, heart in his hand as he crushes it, exploding with a wet plop.
The woman drops on the ground as he removes his hand, kneeling down to snatch the hex bag from her pocket, which burns in his hand. Finally allowing Sam and Dean to move.
Yet, none of the two move.
Crowley stares at them.
"What? You can't tell me you seriously wanted to spare someone with that kind of knowledge." The demon states, as if both were stupid for even considering that.
Unbeknownst to him, that's not even what Sam and Dean were thinking about. They would never admit it out loud but right now both were fucking terrified of Crowley.
"You are fucking weirdos mate." Crowley said before straightening up, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable under the brothers' gazes. The quicker he got back to his vessel the quicker he could forget this day ever happened. He felt fucking disgusting. He just fucking merged with a bloody angel.
He felt like throwing up.
Yet, as he kneels next to his meat suit, he finds he can't possess it. What the hell? Feathers is also kneeling, poking at his vessel and looking quite displeased, Crowley would have laughed on his face if he wasn't also having the same problem. And if the angel wasn't in that form. His very presence made Crowley insides turn and his stomach twist violently. His skin burnt and he wanted nothing more but to get the hell out of there.
"You have got to be joking." He snaps angrily. He really likes this meatsuit. He hasn't spent the last decade making it a perfect fit just to fucking lose it over a stupid, over glorified witch.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked, snapping out of his bubble and coughing to clear his throat. Because neither Cas or Crowley are making any attempts to get back into their vessels.
"The bitch's spell has fucking locked me out of that meatsuit!" Crowley snaps as he springs up to his feet, both angry and offended.
"Cas too?"
The angel nods at Dean's question.
"Is it a ward of some kind or..?"
Castiel spoke, yet again in Enochian.
"What did he say?" Dean questions, for the first time in his life quite irritated about the fact that he didn't know Enochian, but that fucking language was incredibly difficult.
"It's a warding branded into their blood, we need…" The demon scowled, looking quite displeased and like it pained him to even speak it out loud. "We might need a witch."
"Alright, so we call Rowena."
Crowley scoffed, yet didn't contradict Sam as this one walked away, pulling his phone out. Crowley took that chance to try and walk away.
"Where do you think you are going?"
"What does it look like, genius? I can't wait for her, I have things to do, I will go find myself a new meat suit until that one's available again."
"I don't think so. You aren't possessing anyone." Dean exclaimed, standing infront of the demon to cut his path, he didn't think it would be wise to touch him with all that bubbling acid goo he had.
"And who's going to stop me? You?"
Before Dean could answer, a giant hand was slammed down next to the demon, making the ground quake and filling the place with chilling static as Castiel gave the demon a piercing glare. And yeah, Dean's definitely making a note to not piss the angel off, like, ever.
"I think we both know the answer to that." Dean states with a grin, crossing his arms over his chest and feeling quite triumphant. Crowley scowls before stalking away and sitting down. And would you look at that? For a guy who usually enjoyed getting under Cas' skin he sure was very tamed right now.
But Dean guesses it's easier to tease Cas when he doesn't have the size to crush you like a bug, or the appearance of a walking nightmare. Why the hell did he have so many eyes? That was fucking creepy.
Still.
He doesn't voice his thoughts, he does not want to piss Cas off right now.
~
It takes over ten hours before Rowena appears, another hour before she figures out what the hell is wrong with the vessels and another hour of a back and forth between Castiel and her with a very annoyed Crowley as the medium.
Sam and Dean were definitely learning Enochian after this. Sure, Sam did know some words, but not enough to piece even a sentence together.
"Alright, I think I know what we need to do to break the wards." Rowena exclaims at last, giving the two unmoving bodies a look. For such a complex spell, the solution was much easier and simple than expected. Insultingly easy.
"Well? What is it?" Rowena ignores Fergus' question, she would never admit it out loud, but to see him as he was… it was unsettling. Not in the aspect of fear but in the aspect where she knew that that had been the result of his soul eventually becoming twisted beyond salvation in Hell.
Something monstrous. She knows her son is a demon, she knows how demons are made. She's made peace with him being a demon and all. She could care less. But having to see it. It was not something she could bear to look at.
"Blood." She conceded at last.
"Care to elaborate?" Dean asks as she remains silent.
"The wards are branded into their blood, we just have to shoot them up with outside blood to break it, the spell in itself might be strong on the outside, but it's fairly weak on the inside." Rowena explains as a matter of fact.
"Like a blood transfusion of some kind?" Sam questions a bit unsure, that sounded like such an odd way to break a spell.
"Basically, though a wee bit of it will be enough."
"Alright, who's blood?"
"Blood that holds some sort of relation to them." Rowena said, as if that should be obvious, she sighed, pulling a knife out and slicing her palm open, she was so gonna get Fergus back for this.
She held her fist up to his body's mouth, clenching her fingers tight and willing the blood to drip into his mouth.
"That's bloody disgusting." Crowley can't help but say, grimacing. Bloody fan-fucking-tastic, now he owed one to her.
"Don't be a baby." Rowena chided, once she felt the ward break, she pulled her hand back. "There."
Crowley scoffed before quickly shifting, forcing his true form to vanish back into smoke before rapidly re-possessing his body.
Fucking finally. He couldn't help but think as he sat up, grimacing in disgust as he felt the taste of blood lingering in his mouth. He stood up, brushing dust off his clothes before handing his handkerchief to his mother for her bloodied hand, she took it without a word.
"What about Cas?" Dean asks, turning to look at Rowena who had taken to wrap the handkerchief around her hand.
"Well, does the angel have a sibling he can call for it? If not I'm afraid he might just have to seek for another vessel or wait and see if the spell dies eventually."
Sam and Dean frowned. A sibling? Every angel out there would kill Cas without hesitation. Those who might have helped him were long dead, Gabriel, Balthazar, Samandriel, Hannah, they were all dead.
"Cas?"
The angel spoke, making Crowley huff in annoyance at their expectant looks
"I can't believe you idiots have known him for 10 fucking years and you can't grasp something as basic as Enochian."
"Didn't ask for your opinion. What did he say?"
"He said that he does have someone in mind. I will be taking my leave now." Crowley states, giving them no time to protest as he places his hand on Rowena's shoulder, and then they are both gone.
"Son of a bitch."
For a moment, there's a deafening silence in the warehouse, and then the sound of fluttering wings is heard, making them both turn.
And there stands a somewhat familiar face, though he isn't wearing a suit, just a plain shirt, honest to god pajama pants and were those fucking slippers?
Hadn't he been one of the angels who had come with that chick who beat the crap out of Cas? Dean can't remember his name, but he had been the one to stop that chick from killing Cas. He seems a bit caught off guard as he looks up at Castiel.
"When you said you needed my help this isn't quite what I was expecting." He breaks the awkward silence. Castiel said something, prompting the other angel to huff. "I can see that. So? What is it that you need from me?"
There's no irritation in his voice, no demand. Just plain curiosity with a hint of confusion. He sounds unnervingly normal. Sam nor Dean could think of an angel who hadn't had an attitude, maybe Anna before she was taken away to 'angel camp.'
Castiel speaks, Sam just manages to understand the words 'blood' and 'sorry'.
"Alright, I can do that." The other angel states easily before giving Sam and Dean an awkward look, prompting the brothers to step aside and let him approach Cas' vessel.
They watch as he kneels next to the body, pulling out his angel blade and dragging it across his palm. He then holds it up to the body's face, clenching his fist above, blood drips into his mouth.
A few seconds later, he pulls his hand back, the ward must have broken off for he stood up and took a step back. Before Cas shifted back into that fairy tale magical cloud and slipped back into the body.
Not even a second later his eyes snapped open and he was quickly standing up, shuddering.
"Cas? You good?" Dean asks, just wanting to be sure. The angel stares at his hand, flexing his fingers as if testing something before glancing back at Dean and dropping his hand.
"Yes, I am." He states before turning to look at the other angel. "Thank you, Inias."
"Don't mention it. I'm actually surprised you even called me all things considered."
"It's fine. I… understand." Castiel assures, he does mean it, he doesn't blame Inias for having disappeared after the Leviathans killed the others, nor does he think ill of him for the life he's taken on. If he wanted to retire and live a regular life among humans, Castiel was the last person who would judge him.
"I should be going now, I can't leave the little devil alone for too long." Inias states, tilting his head to the side before smiling at Castiel, warm and familiar. "It's good to see you in one piece again."
And with that, he's gone.
"Little devil?"
"A child, I believe humans use the term 'little devil' as some sort of endearment nickname." Even if Castiel has never understood why. "Inias has long found himself a family among humans, do refrain from calling him in the near future."
Castiel doesn't want to ruin the life his brother has built. After all the siblings he's killed, he wants to at least keep Inias alive, the last of his siblings who didn't want to see him dead despite all he's done.
Meanwhile, Sam and Dean frowned, well, that was certainly new. But if that guy didn't want Cas dead, maybe leaving him be was best. God knows Cas needed an angel who didn't want to tear his head off.
"Alright."