Unexpected Destinies Chapter 146
Title: Unexpected Destinies
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 3,221
Summary: Dean's conversation with Claire.
PAST
As Dean followed Claire into the living room, he silently hoped that Amelia wouldn't be too harsh on Castiel. So far she'd taken things far better than he'd thought that she would, but then he supposed that she had had a few years to get used to the idea after discovering that her husband really hadn't been crazy after all. And seeing how she'd come through that particular ordeal with her faith intact (as evidence by the little golden crucifix that she wore), he figured that she wouldn't totally lose it now. If only because to do so would mean that she'd spent her entire life worshipping, and lost her husband to, a false God.
"Will you get him?" Claire asked.
"Sorry, what?" Dean replied, moving to sit next to Claire on the couch so that he wouldn't tower over her.
"The one who killed my father, will you get him?"
Ah, crap. "Oh, eh, we kinda already did."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Do you remember that massive power failure along the entire eastern seaboard last year?"
"That was you?"
"No, that was the archangel that killed your father. The dic- bad angels are kinda flashy like that."
"What happened?"
"In addition to what he'd done to Cas and Jimmy, this angel had information that we needed so Cas and I tricked him into a ring of Holy oil which I then put on fire."
"Is that bad?"
"No angel can cross Holy fire."
"Oh, okay. Why... Why do they need vessels? Why can't they just be amongst us as they are?" Claire questioned after a moment of silence.
"You don't know?"
"No. When I gave Castiel permission to take me, I was already tied up and trapped. I didn't take the time to question him once he said that he could save Mom and me."
"Okay. Well the reason is because only a few special people can stand to see or hear an angel's true form and voice. The rest of us would go blind or deaf and them die if exposed to it for too long."
Claire's eyes went wide. "Really? Are you one of them, those special people?"
"Me, nah. When Cas was first on Earth after he saved me, he tried to talk to me twice, but all he succeeded in doing was to shatter all of the glass in the room and make my ears bleed."
"So he needed to come get Dad."
Dean winced, having never quite thought of it like that. "Yeah, I guess. Sorry."
Claire looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before turning to observe Castiel in the next room and Dean couldn't help but wonder at how oddly she was handling all of this. He'd pegged her as a teenager now but she definitely wasn't acting like one. Was this due to his husband's influence? Of having been a vessel? Or had Claire simply always been far more mature than her age?
Dean desperately hoped that it was the latter. "Hey, are you alright?" he inquired gently.
"I- I want to be mad at him, I really do."
"But?"
"But I can't."
"Why not?"
"I- It- Castiel was only with me for a little while, not even half an hour Mom says, and yet it feels like it was so much longer. I don't know how to describe it."
"That's okay, you don't have to. You remember it then?"
"No, not most of it, no, but I do remember some of it and he genuinely didn't want to take Dad back if Dad didn't want him."
"But your father would never leave you like that."
"I know. I- Did, I get Dad killed, Dean?"
The question startled and shocked Dean. "What? No!"
"Are you sure? If it had been me and Castiel instead of Dad-"
"Then it would be you that's dead now instead of him. It wouldn't have made any difference, trust me."
There were tears in her eyes now and Dean felt his heart break for her. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm sorry," he said, pulling her close.
Claire's hands fisted in his shirt as she cried into his chest. Dean made nonsensical little sounds as he held her close and stroked one hand up and down her back.
"Sorry," Claire mumbled, embarrassed as short while later when she pulled back.
"Don't be," Dean responded. "You've got every reason to cry. I cried when I lost my Dad."
"You did?"
"Yeah."
"It's all just so much. Sometimes I think of that night and..."
"And what?"
"I don't know, I can't explain it. Mom's tried to get me to talk about it, but I can't."
"Do you mean when Cas took you as his vessel?"
"Yes."
"Then it's probably because you've never been aware of yourself as a soul before."
"What?"
"When Cas took you, it felt like you were being pushed down into yourself, right? And his Grace came to wrap around you when you lost contact with your mea- body."
"That was his Grace?"
"Yep."
The idea awed her, Dean could tell when she turned to look at Castiel once more. For some reason the thought stirred up some jealousy within him. It was totally irrational, he knew, but it was there nonetheless. She'd experienced his husband in a way he'd rather no one else ever did. He tried to shove it aside, knowing that it wasn't even an experience she'd enjoyed, much less cherished.
"Oh," Claire said. "How do you know about all of that?"
"Because I'm a vessel too."
"You are? For who?"
"Michael."
Claire's eyes went wide in shock once more but Dean was glad to see that there was no disbelief there.
"Michael? The archangel? The fighter of demons, holy force against evil, the-"
"Yes," Dean interrupted. "Yes, that Michael."
"And he's been with you?"
"More than once."
"Then where is he now?"
"He's probably in Heaven at the moment. And before you ask, the whole situation's pretty complicated, but do you understand what I meant earlier? About the soul?"
"Not really."
"When an angel takes you as their vessel, your soul is separated from your body and they keep it safe within their Grace. That's probably why you were having such a hard time putting the experience into words. See, you've never known your soul before, at least not separately from your body anyway. That's what you were experiencing when Cas took you."
"My soul?"
The awe from his Michael revelation had morphed into a different kind of awe and Dean was glad for it. Let her bask in the fact that she was one of a really small group of people alive today who'd actually experienced their own soul.
"So you've touched Michael's Grace?" Claire asked. "I mean feeling Castiel's was already too much for me and I just..."
"Went under? As for Michael, well as both an archangel and one of the most powerful of them, Mike's even more overwhelming than a seraph."
"Wow, he must have pushed you under pretty quickly then."
"The first time he did," Dean agreed. "Since then though I've managed to stay awake."
"Really? So you're just stuck watching?"
"No, see both Michael and Lucifer are strong enough to be able to interact with their vessels, so Mike and I talk."
Dean hadn't been quite sure how Claire would take that information, more than a little worried that she might get upset or angry that her father hadn't been able to experience the same thing, but not wanting to lie to her either. Despite all of that, what he totally hadn't been expecting was for horror and dismay to flood her face.
"You're aware of him like that the whole time?" Claire demanded urgently.
"Yeah, Claire's what's wrong?"
Claire frowned at his calm reaction. "Wait, you're aware the whole time and that's fine with you?"
"Sure, it means that I know what's happening. Why? Wouldn't you want to be awake and aware?"
"No! I don't want to be rude or anything, but I don't think that I could have handled being that close to Castiel. At least not without going insane."
"Really? Huh," Dean replied, looking over to his husband.
Personally he couldn't imagine not wanting to be as close as he was to his angel now, and that was a damn site closer than what Claire was talking about. In a way it pleased him as it meant others wouldn't try and steal Castiel away, futile an endeavor as it would be. The rest of him, though, couldn't help but wonder if this was yet another way in which he differed from normal people, or rather from normal vessels. It just figured that he'd be the exception to the exception.
Dean briefly wondered if this had anything to do with Sam acting the way that he was, but then he put the thought aside for later consideration. It wasn't something he wanted to rush and Claire deserved his full and complete attention at the moment.
"No, I can't say that it was anything like that for me," Dean stated.
"Then you're lucky. Castiel was... was foreign but I could tell there was this immense drive to protect and serve," Claire frowned. "And that sounds like some bad cop flick tag line, but what I meant is that there was this drive and determination along with anger, all like nothing that I've ever even come close to feeling before."
The strength and foreign nature of it were off a bit, but Dean was pretty sure that he knew what Claire meant. It had just never seemed all that overwhelmingly strong to him. So was it Claire who couldn't relate due to her personality or him that was somehow skewed in the angel direction from normal?
The interaction between Castiel and Amelia had changed and Dean was pretty sure that they were finishing things up so he shifted gears as there was one more thing that he wanted to do.
"Sorry but that's not how it seemed to me," Dean said with a shrug. "Now, before I forget, do you have a cell phone, Claire?"
"Sure, why?"
"How about I give you our numbers? Just in case you want to talk or something comes up?"
"Castiel has a cell phone?"
"Yeah, he was always flying off all of the time and Sam and I needed a way to contact him.
/
"What on Earth happened to you?"
The unexpected voice in the otherwise deathly silent room made Dean jump in his chair, knocking it down and making him flounder for balance.
"Very elegant, cupcake," Crowley applauded. "With such agility and grace, it's no wonder angels are lusting after you."
"Crowley," Dean growled, tugging at the bond to ensure that his husband heard it as well. He had promised Castiel that he wouldn't meet the demon alone. "What are you doing here?"
"Why, answering your multiple- and increasingly profane I might add- calls on my voicemail," Crowley replied easily.
"So you just show up here?"
"What can I say? I missed our conversations."
"Bite me, Crowley."
"I doubt your angel would approve, cupcake."
"Touch him and die, Crowley," Castiel stated, suddenly appearing in-between them.
Dean had to choke back a laugh at the words. He really did love his husband, but there were times where he could hardly believe the things that came out of Castiel's mouth. And the worst part was that his angel wasn't even trying to be clichéd or anything as he was pretty sure that his husband had never even seen a movie or TV show that used that line.
The expected reply from Crowley never came and when Dean glanced over at the demon, it was to find that Crowley was staring at Castiel in shock. Shit! He'd totally forgotten that Crowley wasn't aware of his husband's promotion to archangel. Not that it really mattered as Lucifer and Simiel were already aware of it, but he was just more annoyed with himself for not having thought of it.
"Well this is an unpleasant surprise," Crowley finally stated. "This have anything to do with your changes, Deano?"
"My changes?" Dean questioned.
"I'm not blind, cupcake. Or is this your doing, Castiel? Did you feel the need to mark up your little pet? Perhaps to warn the other angels that he's now officially off limits?"
"Hey! I-"
"The bond," Castiel whispered straight into his mind.
"-object to that statement," Dean finished instead. "I'm not a pet!"
Crowley snorted. "To something this powerful you could hardly be anything else. Just be thankful you're not a disposable plaything."
"Demons tend not to fare all that well either," Castiel deadpanned.
"I've been helping you out, twinkle toes."
"Which is the only reason that you're still alive right now."
As threats went it wasn't terribly original, but Dean could tell that it was effective nonetheless. When you had as much power as his husband did now, it didn't take much. Well, at least as long as you didn't run into someone as stubborn and foolhardy as himself anyway. But that hardly mattered now because while Crowley might well be the former, he most definitely wasn't the latter. No, the crossroads demon had far too good of a survival instinct for that and was therefore keenly aware of how outclassed he suddenly was.
"Good, now that's been established, how about you answer my question, Crowley?" Dean stated.
"I already did."
"Why not just call me back?"
"Because I prefer face to face, lets me check in on my investments."
"Dean is not some soul that's been bartered to you," Castiel stated.
"No, but I've put my lot in with you two so I want to check on how things are going. It's my ass on the line here too and its far too fine of one for me to risk it carelessly."
"How the hell did you even find me here?" Dean demanded.
It wasn't like he'd ever been here before and he'd driven quite a distance from the apartment. Father Mancini had called to tell him that they'd heard of a catholic in Arizona who possessed a large private collection of religious texts and he'd driven right over. The chance to get out of the apartment after several weeks of nonstop research had been exactly what he'd needed, especially since it meant that he wasn't actually slacking off even if it would have been faster to ask for a lift via Angel Air.
"I took the time to get your license plate number the last time we met," Crowley explained.
"You what?" Dean thundered. "Never mind, how'd you get my location from that?"
"I put out an APB on your car as a person of interest."
"You drew legal attention my way?"
The next thing that Dean knew, Castiel had Crowley by the lapels up against one of the walls. "You endangered Dean?"
"No! No, of course not," Crowley replied instantly. "That'd be like shooting myself in the foot. I need your little pet, Castiel. Like I said, I made it out like he was a person of interest, a witness, and I only used a contact of mine to do so. It was nothing more."
In a way it was awesome to see the demon so rattled and Dean was tempted to let Castiel keep him on the edge like that. It would probably do Crowley wonders, though he knew any hope for the improvements to be permanent were nothing but a pipe dream. Still, it was a nice thought and one he wanted to savor, but they had neither the time nor the opportunity at present. The only way he'd gotten access to this private collection was by using his Vatican ID and claiming that he was here on official church business. Not only could the guy return at any time, but he still had a ton of books to look through as well.
He really hated this Apocalypse.
"Next time you want to meet, you call me, got it, Crowley?" Dean demanded.
For a moment it looked like the demon might protest, but then Castiel's wings rose threateningly, essentially cutting Crowley off from everything else and Dean heard the demon sigh.
"Alright, alright, no more dropping in unannounced with your pet," Crowley stated.
Apparently appeased for now, Castiel released Crowley and stepped back. Dean relaxed slightly at that, glad that he didn't need to intervene. It was the last thing that he wanted to do, but he was afraid of being caught with the two of them and needing to come up with some explanation for how they'd gotten into the secure and environmentally controlled room with only one entrance which was computer monitored.
"So do you actually have anything for us?" Dean asked shortly, fingers itching for a salt round filled shotgun.
Just one shot would make him feel really good right about now. Just one. Honest.
"Nothing concrete. There are a lot of rumors flying around that something big is coming and to be ready," Crowley replied.
"And you came here to tell me that?"
"If you'd let me finish, cupcake, then you'd know that there's a little more."
"Yeah? What?"
"Something about some farmer down South somewhere. I'm not entirely sure why this person is of such interest, but there's apparently been some pretty high level interest in him."
"A potential vessel you think?" Dean questioned, looking at his angel.
"It is a distinct possibility," Castiel replied. "I do not know of anyone of the Campbell line in the part of the country, but I shall have Xarael look into it."
"I'll see if I can't learn anything else about them or get a more specific location," Crowley stated.
"How are you doing on the other front?" Dean asked. "Any luck stirring up a rebellion?"
Crowley's face twisted into a sneer. "Do you have any idea how dangerous a process that is? One misstep and I've got a one way ticket right back to Hell if I'm lucky. If not, it's Lucifer's personal attentions."
"My heart bleeds for you."
Dean was sure that Crowley had a few choice words for him in response to that, but a quick glance towards Castiel clearly was enough to change the demon's mind. He'd have to keep this in mind for the next time that they met. He could have a lot of fun with this. How far could he push before Crowley snapped, archangel nearby or not? It would be informative, he told himself. They had to know their demonic alley, after all. Right?
"Just find something to use against Lucifer," Crowley snapped before he vanished.
"Well that went well, don't you think, Cas?"
"He brought you to the attention of the police once more," Castiel replied.
"Yeah, I'm not thrilled with that either, but at least we don't need to worry about anyone connecting it with the FBI's old files."
"I still do not like Crowley."
"Me neither, but look on the bright side."
"What bright side?"
"If we get through this and stop Lucifer, then we both know Crowley will be more than willing to give us the excuse you need to smite him."
The thought definitely pleased his husband and Dean smiled as he turned his attention back to the medieval text that he'd been reading.
Chapter 147
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 3,221
Summary: Dean's conversation with Claire.
PAST
As Dean followed Claire into the living room, he silently hoped that Amelia wouldn't be too harsh on Castiel. So far she'd taken things far better than he'd thought that she would, but then he supposed that she had had a few years to get used to the idea after discovering that her husband really hadn't been crazy after all. And seeing how she'd come through that particular ordeal with her faith intact (as evidence by the little golden crucifix that she wore), he figured that she wouldn't totally lose it now. If only because to do so would mean that she'd spent her entire life worshipping, and lost her husband to, a false God.
"Will you get him?" Claire asked.
"Sorry, what?" Dean replied, moving to sit next to Claire on the couch so that he wouldn't tower over her.
"The one who killed my father, will you get him?"
Ah, crap. "Oh, eh, we kinda already did."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Do you remember that massive power failure along the entire eastern seaboard last year?"
"That was you?"
"No, that was the archangel that killed your father. The dic- bad angels are kinda flashy like that."
"What happened?"
"In addition to what he'd done to Cas and Jimmy, this angel had information that we needed so Cas and I tricked him into a ring of Holy oil which I then put on fire."
"Is that bad?"
"No angel can cross Holy fire."
"Oh, okay. Why... Why do they need vessels? Why can't they just be amongst us as they are?" Claire questioned after a moment of silence.
"You don't know?"
"No. When I gave Castiel permission to take me, I was already tied up and trapped. I didn't take the time to question him once he said that he could save Mom and me."
"Okay. Well the reason is because only a few special people can stand to see or hear an angel's true form and voice. The rest of us would go blind or deaf and them die if exposed to it for too long."
Claire's eyes went wide. "Really? Are you one of them, those special people?"
"Me, nah. When Cas was first on Earth after he saved me, he tried to talk to me twice, but all he succeeded in doing was to shatter all of the glass in the room and make my ears bleed."
"So he needed to come get Dad."
Dean winced, having never quite thought of it like that. "Yeah, I guess. Sorry."
Claire looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before turning to observe Castiel in the next room and Dean couldn't help but wonder at how oddly she was handling all of this. He'd pegged her as a teenager now but she definitely wasn't acting like one. Was this due to his husband's influence? Of having been a vessel? Or had Claire simply always been far more mature than her age?
Dean desperately hoped that it was the latter. "Hey, are you alright?" he inquired gently.
"I- I want to be mad at him, I really do."
"But?"
"But I can't."
"Why not?"
"I- It- Castiel was only with me for a little while, not even half an hour Mom says, and yet it feels like it was so much longer. I don't know how to describe it."
"That's okay, you don't have to. You remember it then?"
"No, not most of it, no, but I do remember some of it and he genuinely didn't want to take Dad back if Dad didn't want him."
"But your father would never leave you like that."
"I know. I- Did, I get Dad killed, Dean?"
The question startled and shocked Dean. "What? No!"
"Are you sure? If it had been me and Castiel instead of Dad-"
"Then it would be you that's dead now instead of him. It wouldn't have made any difference, trust me."
There were tears in her eyes now and Dean felt his heart break for her. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm sorry," he said, pulling her close.
Claire's hands fisted in his shirt as she cried into his chest. Dean made nonsensical little sounds as he held her close and stroked one hand up and down her back.
"Sorry," Claire mumbled, embarrassed as short while later when she pulled back.
"Don't be," Dean responded. "You've got every reason to cry. I cried when I lost my Dad."
"You did?"
"Yeah."
"It's all just so much. Sometimes I think of that night and..."
"And what?"
"I don't know, I can't explain it. Mom's tried to get me to talk about it, but I can't."
"Do you mean when Cas took you as his vessel?"
"Yes."
"Then it's probably because you've never been aware of yourself as a soul before."
"What?"
"When Cas took you, it felt like you were being pushed down into yourself, right? And his Grace came to wrap around you when you lost contact with your mea- body."
"That was his Grace?"
"Yep."
The idea awed her, Dean could tell when she turned to look at Castiel once more. For some reason the thought stirred up some jealousy within him. It was totally irrational, he knew, but it was there nonetheless. She'd experienced his husband in a way he'd rather no one else ever did. He tried to shove it aside, knowing that it wasn't even an experience she'd enjoyed, much less cherished.
"Oh," Claire said. "How do you know about all of that?"
"Because I'm a vessel too."
"You are? For who?"
"Michael."
Claire's eyes went wide in shock once more but Dean was glad to see that there was no disbelief there.
"Michael? The archangel? The fighter of demons, holy force against evil, the-"
"Yes," Dean interrupted. "Yes, that Michael."
"And he's been with you?"
"More than once."
"Then where is he now?"
"He's probably in Heaven at the moment. And before you ask, the whole situation's pretty complicated, but do you understand what I meant earlier? About the soul?"
"Not really."
"When an angel takes you as their vessel, your soul is separated from your body and they keep it safe within their Grace. That's probably why you were having such a hard time putting the experience into words. See, you've never known your soul before, at least not separately from your body anyway. That's what you were experiencing when Cas took you."
"My soul?"
The awe from his Michael revelation had morphed into a different kind of awe and Dean was glad for it. Let her bask in the fact that she was one of a really small group of people alive today who'd actually experienced their own soul.
"So you've touched Michael's Grace?" Claire asked. "I mean feeling Castiel's was already too much for me and I just..."
"Went under? As for Michael, well as both an archangel and one of the most powerful of them, Mike's even more overwhelming than a seraph."
"Wow, he must have pushed you under pretty quickly then."
"The first time he did," Dean agreed. "Since then though I've managed to stay awake."
"Really? So you're just stuck watching?"
"No, see both Michael and Lucifer are strong enough to be able to interact with their vessels, so Mike and I talk."
Dean hadn't been quite sure how Claire would take that information, more than a little worried that she might get upset or angry that her father hadn't been able to experience the same thing, but not wanting to lie to her either. Despite all of that, what he totally hadn't been expecting was for horror and dismay to flood her face.
"You're aware of him like that the whole time?" Claire demanded urgently.
"Yeah, Claire's what's wrong?"
Claire frowned at his calm reaction. "Wait, you're aware the whole time and that's fine with you?"
"Sure, it means that I know what's happening. Why? Wouldn't you want to be awake and aware?"
"No! I don't want to be rude or anything, but I don't think that I could have handled being that close to Castiel. At least not without going insane."
"Really? Huh," Dean replied, looking over to his husband.
Personally he couldn't imagine not wanting to be as close as he was to his angel now, and that was a damn site closer than what Claire was talking about. In a way it pleased him as it meant others wouldn't try and steal Castiel away, futile an endeavor as it would be. The rest of him, though, couldn't help but wonder if this was yet another way in which he differed from normal people, or rather from normal vessels. It just figured that he'd be the exception to the exception.
Dean briefly wondered if this had anything to do with Sam acting the way that he was, but then he put the thought aside for later consideration. It wasn't something he wanted to rush and Claire deserved his full and complete attention at the moment.
"No, I can't say that it was anything like that for me," Dean stated.
"Then you're lucky. Castiel was... was foreign but I could tell there was this immense drive to protect and serve," Claire frowned. "And that sounds like some bad cop flick tag line, but what I meant is that there was this drive and determination along with anger, all like nothing that I've ever even come close to feeling before."
The strength and foreign nature of it were off a bit, but Dean was pretty sure that he knew what Claire meant. It had just never seemed all that overwhelmingly strong to him. So was it Claire who couldn't relate due to her personality or him that was somehow skewed in the angel direction from normal?
The interaction between Castiel and Amelia had changed and Dean was pretty sure that they were finishing things up so he shifted gears as there was one more thing that he wanted to do.
"Sorry but that's not how it seemed to me," Dean said with a shrug. "Now, before I forget, do you have a cell phone, Claire?"
"Sure, why?"
"How about I give you our numbers? Just in case you want to talk or something comes up?"
"Castiel has a cell phone?"
"Yeah, he was always flying off all of the time and Sam and I needed a way to contact him.
/
"What on Earth happened to you?"
The unexpected voice in the otherwise deathly silent room made Dean jump in his chair, knocking it down and making him flounder for balance.
"Very elegant, cupcake," Crowley applauded. "With such agility and grace, it's no wonder angels are lusting after you."
"Crowley," Dean growled, tugging at the bond to ensure that his husband heard it as well. He had promised Castiel that he wouldn't meet the demon alone. "What are you doing here?"
"Why, answering your multiple- and increasingly profane I might add- calls on my voicemail," Crowley replied easily.
"So you just show up here?"
"What can I say? I missed our conversations."
"Bite me, Crowley."
"I doubt your angel would approve, cupcake."
"Touch him and die, Crowley," Castiel stated, suddenly appearing in-between them.
Dean had to choke back a laugh at the words. He really did love his husband, but there were times where he could hardly believe the things that came out of Castiel's mouth. And the worst part was that his angel wasn't even trying to be clichéd or anything as he was pretty sure that his husband had never even seen a movie or TV show that used that line.
The expected reply from Crowley never came and when Dean glanced over at the demon, it was to find that Crowley was staring at Castiel in shock. Shit! He'd totally forgotten that Crowley wasn't aware of his husband's promotion to archangel. Not that it really mattered as Lucifer and Simiel were already aware of it, but he was just more annoyed with himself for not having thought of it.
"Well this is an unpleasant surprise," Crowley finally stated. "This have anything to do with your changes, Deano?"
"My changes?" Dean questioned.
"I'm not blind, cupcake. Or is this your doing, Castiel? Did you feel the need to mark up your little pet? Perhaps to warn the other angels that he's now officially off limits?"
"Hey! I-"
"The bond," Castiel whispered straight into his mind.
"-object to that statement," Dean finished instead. "I'm not a pet!"
Crowley snorted. "To something this powerful you could hardly be anything else. Just be thankful you're not a disposable plaything."
"Demons tend not to fare all that well either," Castiel deadpanned.
"I've been helping you out, twinkle toes."
"Which is the only reason that you're still alive right now."
As threats went it wasn't terribly original, but Dean could tell that it was effective nonetheless. When you had as much power as his husband did now, it didn't take much. Well, at least as long as you didn't run into someone as stubborn and foolhardy as himself anyway. But that hardly mattered now because while Crowley might well be the former, he most definitely wasn't the latter. No, the crossroads demon had far too good of a survival instinct for that and was therefore keenly aware of how outclassed he suddenly was.
"Good, now that's been established, how about you answer my question, Crowley?" Dean stated.
"I already did."
"Why not just call me back?"
"Because I prefer face to face, lets me check in on my investments."
"Dean is not some soul that's been bartered to you," Castiel stated.
"No, but I've put my lot in with you two so I want to check on how things are going. It's my ass on the line here too and its far too fine of one for me to risk it carelessly."
"How the hell did you even find me here?" Dean demanded.
It wasn't like he'd ever been here before and he'd driven quite a distance from the apartment. Father Mancini had called to tell him that they'd heard of a catholic in Arizona who possessed a large private collection of religious texts and he'd driven right over. The chance to get out of the apartment after several weeks of nonstop research had been exactly what he'd needed, especially since it meant that he wasn't actually slacking off even if it would have been faster to ask for a lift via Angel Air.
"I took the time to get your license plate number the last time we met," Crowley explained.
"You what?" Dean thundered. "Never mind, how'd you get my location from that?"
"I put out an APB on your car as a person of interest."
"You drew legal attention my way?"
The next thing that Dean knew, Castiel had Crowley by the lapels up against one of the walls. "You endangered Dean?"
"No! No, of course not," Crowley replied instantly. "That'd be like shooting myself in the foot. I need your little pet, Castiel. Like I said, I made it out like he was a person of interest, a witness, and I only used a contact of mine to do so. It was nothing more."
In a way it was awesome to see the demon so rattled and Dean was tempted to let Castiel keep him on the edge like that. It would probably do Crowley wonders, though he knew any hope for the improvements to be permanent were nothing but a pipe dream. Still, it was a nice thought and one he wanted to savor, but they had neither the time nor the opportunity at present. The only way he'd gotten access to this private collection was by using his Vatican ID and claiming that he was here on official church business. Not only could the guy return at any time, but he still had a ton of books to look through as well.
He really hated this Apocalypse.
"Next time you want to meet, you call me, got it, Crowley?" Dean demanded.
For a moment it looked like the demon might protest, but then Castiel's wings rose threateningly, essentially cutting Crowley off from everything else and Dean heard the demon sigh.
"Alright, alright, no more dropping in unannounced with your pet," Crowley stated.
Apparently appeased for now, Castiel released Crowley and stepped back. Dean relaxed slightly at that, glad that he didn't need to intervene. It was the last thing that he wanted to do, but he was afraid of being caught with the two of them and needing to come up with some explanation for how they'd gotten into the secure and environmentally controlled room with only one entrance which was computer monitored.
"So do you actually have anything for us?" Dean asked shortly, fingers itching for a salt round filled shotgun.
Just one shot would make him feel really good right about now. Just one. Honest.
"Nothing concrete. There are a lot of rumors flying around that something big is coming and to be ready," Crowley replied.
"And you came here to tell me that?"
"If you'd let me finish, cupcake, then you'd know that there's a little more."
"Yeah? What?"
"Something about some farmer down South somewhere. I'm not entirely sure why this person is of such interest, but there's apparently been some pretty high level interest in him."
"A potential vessel you think?" Dean questioned, looking at his angel.
"It is a distinct possibility," Castiel replied. "I do not know of anyone of the Campbell line in the part of the country, but I shall have Xarael look into it."
"I'll see if I can't learn anything else about them or get a more specific location," Crowley stated.
"How are you doing on the other front?" Dean asked. "Any luck stirring up a rebellion?"
Crowley's face twisted into a sneer. "Do you have any idea how dangerous a process that is? One misstep and I've got a one way ticket right back to Hell if I'm lucky. If not, it's Lucifer's personal attentions."
"My heart bleeds for you."
Dean was sure that Crowley had a few choice words for him in response to that, but a quick glance towards Castiel clearly was enough to change the demon's mind. He'd have to keep this in mind for the next time that they met. He could have a lot of fun with this. How far could he push before Crowley snapped, archangel nearby or not? It would be informative, he told himself. They had to know their demonic alley, after all. Right?
"Just find something to use against Lucifer," Crowley snapped before he vanished.
"Well that went well, don't you think, Cas?"
"He brought you to the attention of the police once more," Castiel replied.
"Yeah, I'm not thrilled with that either, but at least we don't need to worry about anyone connecting it with the FBI's old files."
"I still do not like Crowley."
"Me neither, but look on the bright side."
"What bright side?"
"If we get through this and stop Lucifer, then we both know Crowley will be more than willing to give us the excuse you need to smite him."
The thought definitely pleased his husband and Dean smiled as he turned his attention back to the medieval text that he'd been reading.
Chapter 147