SPN: Reminders of the Past epilogue [T]
Fandom:
Supernatural
Title:
Reminders of the Past epilogue
Author:
lt_indigo
Previous fics in the series:
- The Things We Cling To
- The Mementos We Carry
- Reminders of the Past
She had gambled on being interesting enough that he would come in person, and he didn’t disappoint. Not with the fact that he appeared, anyway.
“Claire Novak, unless I’m very much mistaken,” he purred, all British smarm, just like Dean had said,
“You’re Crowley?” she asked, folding her arms, putting on her best ‘unimpressed teen’ look. It was an expression she had perfected long ago, and it still worked on Sam and Charlie sometimes. And, apparently, several-hundred-year-old kings of Hell.
“You were expecting something else?”
She shrugged dismissively. “They said you were short but, you know, they’re all giants. I figured they were exaggerating.”
“Hey! Don’t diss the suit: he served a purpose a few years back. So, whatever can I do for you, Miss Novak? Protection for you and the nipper? Cushy place and a nice job where they don’t ask too many questions about high school diplomas? Or…”
“I want you to get what’s left of Cas’ grace out of me,” she said bluntly. “I know you took it from that girl before, so you know how to extract it.”
“She was…” he started to protest, as she had known he would. Yes, Adina had been an angel, but she was in a vessel and the fundamentals of the process were the same.
“And I want you to deliver it to Castiel. Directly to him, as intact as it will be when you take it from me. No finding loopholes, no finding your way around it. Once we’re done, it goes straight to him, in its entirety.”
He frowned at her, just a little, his eyes calculating. “And what do I get in exchange? Did you think you would get ten years for such a difficult request? Or did you maybe think you would get the one, like we talked your pal Dean into?”
“Nothing,” Claire said, straightening up. “I expected nothing. You get my soul, right now.”
That really got Crowley’s attention.
“You would do that for him? You know what he’s done in the past? The apocalypse? The Leviathans? The Fall of the angels?”
She looked levelly at him. I do, and I would.” She smiled, cold and tight and calculating: “And you want him alive, or you wouldn’t have saved him all those months ago. This suits your plan.”
“And you don’t want to try and trade that for more time?”
“If I have any more time, I might not have the courage to leave my daughter.”
Crowley rolled his eyes. “Family. Try having mine then see if you feel like that.”
“I don’t have any except her,” Claire snapped. “Your lot saw to that: you drove my Mom crazy and shot my Dad. And she’s better off without me. So, do we have a deal?”
Crowley seemed to consider his options carefully. But she knew that this ultimately served his purposes as well as hers, whatever his undoubtedly nefarious purposes were. He did want Cas alive, and so did she and everyone else.
“You know how this is sealed, I assume?” he asked her with a sly smile and a lascivious wiggle of his eyebrows.
“Won’t exactly be a stretch for me,” she said as acidly as she could. “You agree to all of my terms?”
“I deliver whatever grace I pull from you directly to Castiel, without hesitation, deviation etcetera etcetera. And in return, I get your soul on the same terms.”
She grabbed the lapels of his overly-expensive jacket and pulled him close.
to be concluded