Hear Both Sides | NC17 | 3.4/4
Part Four
Sam thought that he knew, maybe not everything, or even the tip of the iceberg, but at least the most important things about Gabriel and Crowley after living with them for almost a year, and having been seeing them for three years, but apparently there had been one thing that Sam hadn't really known. Sure he'd suspected it, there had been little signs here and there - like Crowley growling whenever they happened to go out and someone (anyone) looked in Sam's general direction - but he'd not really thought it was too bad.
And then Jess had invited him to go out with them before they would have to basically have to become hermits as they studied for their finals and then would be going back home - and not going out to dinner with Jess' parents. Or even going out of their way to see them - so Sam had said yes, and invited Janey along as well because he figured he might need the back up. Why that meant invite Janey, he wasn't too sure, but considering he would have to leave the house in the next ten minutes if he wanted to get to where he was meeting Janey on time.
Which was where he was now realising just how ridiculous his lovers were when it came to their overly possessive natures and he could honestly blame them if he was late. And Pavlov wasn't helping either. Though they had at least broken the puppy of its separation anxiety issues.
"Would you stop muttering and growling and tell me where you've hidden my wallet?" Sam asked in exasperation as he started to look in all the cupboards in the kitchen, growling and muttering under his own breath when he turned and almost tripped over Pavlov. He didn't even feel the slightest bit of guilt when the stupid mutt yelped because Sam had stepped on one of his paws.
Well, maybe a little guilt.
"I don't think it's a good idea that you go! For once, I'm in complete agreement with Crowley," Gabriel told him, sitting indian style on the kitchen side, whilst Crowley stood in the doorway, neither one looking as though they were about to help him at all. Sam wondered if throttling either one would make any difference at all.
"Why the hell not?! You were fine with the idea when I brought it up last week! In fact you," Sam pointed at Gabriel, who widened his eyes and looked a little startled, "told me that it was about time I went out with my friends at college again! You were all up for me and Jess catching up because we hadn't had much chance this year! And when you found out Janey was going, that was even better! So what's changed?!"
"You didn't tell us that that bloody moron was going!" Crowley exploded. Sam had wondered when he was going to join the argument again. He'd been far too quiet up to that point.
"So, because I didn't tell you that Brady might be going, you were happy for me to go, but now that you know, you're all against it? Why? It's not like he's gonna beat me up for being gay in public! And anyway, he's been a little odd and actually seems hurt that I chose not to room with him again this year! So clearly he's over the fact I like men!" Sam exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air when his argument didn't seem to be swaying either man at all.
"And the last time you went out to a place he was, you were drugged!" Gabriel pointed out, actually seeming to live up to his archangel claim by looking like he wanted to smite Brady just for the memory of how they found Sam.
"And then I came home and you screwed me! Why are you complaining?!" Sam asked, knowing that that probably wasn't going to help matters but he really was reaching his wits end and he was now down to five minutes before he had to leave.
"Oh great! That's your argument! That's settled it! You're not going! No way, no how!" Crowley growled, moving towards Sam and backing him into the counter. Sam just glared down at him, in no mood to bow to Crowley's will. He really, really wanted to just enjoy what was possibly one of his last nights of freedom before he had to chain himself to his books.
"If you don't let me out, I'm reading the Bible! In Latin! Out loud!" Sam screamed in Crowley's face, both men ignoring the surprised snort Gabriel gave. Crowley on the other hand was less than amused and just shoved Sam and growled loudly.
"Listen, Moose! I promised that I'd keep you safe and protect you! This is me protecting you, you bloody ignorant fool! You go out there tonight and that little dipshit will try to drug you again for whatever purpose and how are we gonna know?!" Crowley hissed, prodding Sam's chest with his finger at each word. Sam just slapped the finger away and then shoved at Crowley, moving from the counter and heading towards the door.
"You're a demon and a freaking archangel, I'm sure if you put your minds together, then you can work out a way! I'm going out! And next time you hide my wallet in your jacket, don't corner me!" Sam snarled, waving the wallet he'd lifted from Crowley's pocket as he grabbed his coat and left the kitchen; Crowley and Gabriel silently gaping at his back as he did.
Sam chuckled as Janey collapsed into the seat next to him where he had been chatting to Jess, who was also getting increasingly more drunk like Janey. Sam however had decided to stay sober for that night, happy enough to just spend time with his friends. Plus he wasn't too sure he trusted Brady either. Sure, no one had proof that he had been the one to drug Sam, but Sam knew Brady had been the only one to buy Sam drinks.
"Sam! How come your lovely men aren't here! I know you're still keeping them away from me so I don't get to meet them! The lovely Jess here has told me all about them!" Janey slurred into Sam's shoulder, Jess giggling next to him and nodding her head quickly in agreement. Something that told Sam she really wouldn't have any idea as to why he was glaring at her if she could focus long enough that is.
"Well, isn't Jess great? Besides, you might meet them in a little bit, since I'll probably have to ring one of them to come collect me and give you two a lift back to halls," Sam told her, grinning when Janey patted his cheek and pressed a sloppy kiss to the underside of his chin, which was as far as she could reach.
"You're so pretty! We goin' home then?" Janey asked him. Sam just rolled his eyes before he nodded his head. He looked over Jess' head to see if he could see anyone they'd come with and noticed Brady lingering nearby. Getting his attention, Sam waved him over, trying to extract himself from both women so that he could stand up.
Finally somehow managing to convince Jess to let go of his arm, and ignoring Janey's unimpressed whine, Sam stood up and scooted around the table to talk to Brady, who was smirking at him for some reason, which Sam really didn't want to find out.
"You're lookin' cozy there! You sure this whole gay thing isn't a lie so that women feel more comfortable with you and drape all over you, you dog?" Brady asked, smirk just growing wider as he playfully punched Sam on his shoulder. Sam just rolled his eyes and settled with a glare at Brady.
"I'm definitely gay, but thanks for thinking I'm low enough to do something like that. Anyway, I called you over just to let you know that I was gonna get these two home before they get even more drunk. Can you maybe help me get them outside?" Sam asked, not too sure he wanted Brady's help but he couldn't actually see anyone else they had come with, so he didn't really have a choice.
"You leaving now? It's only… what time is it?" Brady asked, looking blearily at his watch and trying to work out the time. Sam just rolled his eyes again, absently wondering if he would get eye strain one day from the amount of times he did roll them, and looked at his phone.
"It's twenty past one. So yeah, I'm leaving and I just need a bit of help getting Jess and Janey outside so we can wait for our lift," Sam told him, grimacing as Brady blinked at him and nodded, grinning as he threw an arm over Sam's shoulder. Sam just sighed and left it there, instead choosing to quickly send a text to Crowley, figuring one of them would show up and Crowley had been the last one he'd texted and therefore easier to find in his phone.
"Right, yeah! Sure, sure! Who's pickin' you up? Your boyfriend?" Brady asked, looking for all the world like it had physically pained him to ask that without a sneer. Sam didn't know whether to laugh at the sour lemon face he'd pulled or cheer him for managing to say it without anything homophobic thrown on the end.
"Yeah, sure, my boyfriend," Sam agreed, even if he'd mentally agreed with himself that neither of his lovers really came under the description of boyfriend. Neither were boys for one. Or human. He didn't want to get into a discussion with Brady over that though, he just knew it would be the start of a bitch of a headache were he to try.
"Cool, cool. So they pickin' you up outside of here?" Brady asked him, grinning as he helped Jess stand, Sam having automatically decided that Brady would help with Jess seeing as Janey couldn't stand Brady and was fully in agreement with Crowley and Gabriel that he had been the one to drug Sam. At Brady's question, Sam checked his phone and gave a nod.
"Yeah, said he'd meet us just down from the taxi pick up point. If you could just help me get them to there, that'd be great. There's a bench near there, I think, so if Ley isn't there when we get there, then we can sit them down on there and wait. We should be fine then, so you won't have to wait with us if you don't want to," Sam said, almost to himself given he hadn't raised his voice and the music was so loud, he didn't have any idea why he called Crowley 'Ley' though. Possibly because Crowley was something of a strange name and definitely sounded more like a surname and really, Sam did not want Brady to go on and on claiming that Sam was clearly the fuckbuddy of Crowley given he didn't know the man's real name. Still, Brady nodded his head and followed Sam's lead as they began to lead the two drunken girls out of the club.
"Nah, man, I think I'm gonna wait with you. I wanna meet the guy you're gay for!" Brady claimed once they had gotten outside and Sam was now experiencing the unpleasant feeling of hearing everything under water because the music had been so loud. Upon hearing Brady's decision, Sam cringed, not too sure he wanted Crowley and Brady to meet. Ever.
"Oh um… great," Sam said, not sounding at all convinced that it was in fact great. As luck would have it, Janey seemed to take that moment to become a little more cognisant and show that she'd been silently listening in on the conversation.
"We meetin' your lover?" Janey asked, still somewhat slurred and leaning heavily on Sam as she blinked up at him with a wide smile on her face. Sam just gave a small smile even as he nodded and tried to convince her to walk a little quicker to the meeting spot.
"Sure we are. You'll love him, I'm sure. Just a little bit further to go and then you can sit down. Okay?" Sam asked, making sure that he had a good hold around Janey's waist when she stumbled a little and giggled to herself.
Sam gave a small sigh of relief when they finally managed to get two very uncooperative drunken females to the bench that Sam had decided they would wait at, and having not seen Crowley's car anywhere, let them both slump down onto the seat. He then turned to Brady and gave him an awkward and uncomfortable smile. He just wasn't too sure how to act around the man anymore and wasn't too sure he really cared enough to try.
"So this… lover of yours. What's he like?" Brady asked him, moving to lean agains the back of the bench behind Jess, who had now slumped to the side and was dozing on Janey's shoulder. Janey on the other hand was watching Sam and Brady with a drunken awareness that only a sober person can achieve, which made Sam feel a little foolish for not noticing. And for dragging her sober ass from the club to the bench. He was so giving her the wrong answers in their first final.
Sam narrowed his eyes at Janey before turning back to Brady to answer his question, shrugging first as he tried to think of what to tell him. "He's… older. And British. Very British," Sam told him, mentally hoping that it was Crowley that would be coming to get them. Loki's English accent even made Sam wince.
"Huh, didn't take you as the type to be attracted to an older man." Sam didn't think pointing out that Brady hadn't even considered Sam to be one attracted to any man, older or otherwise, would be all that productive in the grand scheme of things and thankfully didn't have to answer anyway as he noticed a car pull up out of the corner of his eye.
Grinning widely, Sam spun to face the car, grin somehow growing even wider when he saw it was Crowley's car, though his grin dimmed a little when both Crowley and Gabriel got out of the car. And froze and glanced at one another over the hood of the car before making their way over to Sam and company.
"Uh oh. This is going to be fun," Janey muttered under her breath when the two men got close enough to notice the thunderous looks on both their faces. Sam winced and couldn't help but agree with Janey's sarcasm.
"Sam! Let's help you get Jess and Janey into the car!" Gabriel said with a bright - and forced - smile. Sam just narrowed his eyes at him but moved to help Jess stand, not surprised in the least when Janey managed to stand unassisted.
"What's up with you two?" Sam muttered to Gabriel as the man moved to Jess' other side, grinning brightly at Janey, who just grinned back and followed the two to the car. Gabriel shook his head to Sam's question and quietly helped Sam get Jess into the car, before looking over his shoulder and narrowing his eyes at where Crowley and Brady were still standing. Sam closed the door behind Jess and followed Gabriel's gaze, wondering just what Crowley and Brady were talking about.
"Come on, let's go thank Brady for staying with you and get Crowley. You two going to be alright in the car for a minute or two?" Gabriel asked them, getting a nod from Janey whilst Jess just blinked at him before slumping to lean against Janey.
"What's going on, Gabriel?" Sam muttered as they walked away from the car and made their way back to Crowley and Brady, the latter of which was starting to look nervous.
"Brady's not… who you perhaps thought he might be," Gabriel murmured back, getting a startled look from Sam.
"Seriously? Who is human that I know? This is getting quite ridiculous. So what or who is Brady?" Sam asked, sounding and feeling more exasperated than scared by this point. Mostly because Brady hadn't actually done anything to harm him thus far, so he figured Crowley and Gabriel were indeed keeping him safe. Or Brady was a shitty bad guy. Not that he'd admit it to Crowley or Gabriel, but Sam was leaning more towards that being the reason.
"He's being possessed by a demon with links to another demon. We're going to deal with Brady and then maybe we should have a talk when we get back after dropping Jess and Janey off. First though, let's stop Crowley from scarring Janey for life, doubt Jess would notice a nuclear holocaust by this point," Gabriel added, throwing a wry look over his shoulder in the direction of the car with the near-paralytic girl inside. Sam just chuckled weakly and shook his head, moving forwards once more to stand next to Crowley, frowning at Brady in confusion.
"You're a demon?" Sam asked, dragging Brady's attention from Crowley and whatever he had just said before Gabriel and Sam had gotten there. Brady just sneered at him and crossed his arms over his chest, seemingly growing a spine since Sam's arrival.
"Never would have guessed that little Sam Winchester, son of John Winchester - hunter extraordinaire - would shack up with a demon and… what's he?" Brady asked, nodding to Gabriel who just snorted and shook his head at Brady's false bravado.
"I'm Loki. Little above you in the pecking order, demonling. So shut it. Crowley, we should deal with him so we can get Sam's friends back to halls before they start to get antsy," Gabriel said, making sure not to take his eyes off of Brady. Sam just looked from Brady and back to Gabriel and Crowley, completely at a loss as to what was actually happening between them all.
"Fine, fine. Get rid of him so we can make a move," Crowley muttered, Gabriel grinned and practically bounced on the balls of his feet as he gave a quick glance over his shoulder in the direction of the car before turning back to Brady. With a malicious grin and a quick wink, Gabriel clicked his fingers and Brady gave a startled yell before disappearing from where he had been standing.
Sam just gaped at the now empty spot before turning to Gabriel and Crowley, both of whom were watching him warily, obviously worried about his reaction to what had just happened.
"Sam?"
"No, seriously, who the hell actually is human around here?!" Sam exclaimed, throwing his arms up in exasperation before huffing and crossing them over his chest, pouting a little when Gabriel grinned cheekily at him.
"It's California, that question is shockingly harder to answer than you'd think. Come on, let's go back to the car and get Jess and Janey to halls. We can have a chat in the morning once you've had time to sleep on the events of tonight, alright?" Gabriel asked. Sam just gave a tiny sigh and nodded his head before leading the way back to the car, wondering just why Crowley had been pretty much silent since sending Brady away.
Crowley glanced at Sam, who had passed out with exhaustion and then glanced over at Gabriel, who just gave a silent nod and placed a hand over Sam's forehead. Crowley quickly but carefully got out of bed, even though Sam shouldn't wake up now before either he or Gabriel allowed it. He glanced over and saw Pavlov - and still he mentally rolled his eyes at the name Sam had given the dumb mutt every time he said it - sitting patiently by the door, having learnt his lesson not to go into the room when his owners were making loud noises very early on into his time with them.
"Oi, Mutt. Here. Stay with the Moose. Guard him. Don't let anyone near him until either me or Gabriel get back. Got me?" Crowley asked, not feeling stupid at all for talking to a dog. It was a hellhound, Crowley was well aware of how much they understood. As though to prove that, Pavlov gave a small growl of agreement and jumped on the bed, lying right up next to Sam's body. Gabriel, who had finished relaxing Sam and had snapped some clothes on, snorted from where he was standing by the bed and rolled his eyes when Pavlov gave him a doggy sneer before licking Sam's hand and whining a little when Sam didn't react. "He's sleepin', Mutt. Don't try to wake him, just guard him. We'll be back later."
With that last message to Pavlov, who just huffed loudly but didn't bug Sam anymore other than moving to rest his head on the blanket over Sam's thigh, Crowley glanced at Gabriel and then left the room with only the sound of shuffling to announce his leaving.
Crowley reappeared in a desolate, unused factory and smirked when he saw Brady sitting in the middle of the large room, tied to a chair. Not saying a word, Crowley just slowly started to prowl towards his soon to be victim, smirk firmly on his face. He'd promised not to physically touch Brady or start with the questioning before Gabriel got there, but that didn't mean he could have a little fun watching the little shit piss himself as he realised just how much trouble he was in. Glancing to the side at the tables with some select items on that Crowley usually used when getting information from certain individuals, Crowley smirked and grabbed the bucket of blessed salt water.
Ensuring that he was standing well out of the splash range, Crowley gave a positively evil grin and threw the water over Brady, chuckling when the demon woke and began to scream and struggle against his bonds, trying to get away from the liquid burning him. Crowley knew when the demon had noticed Crowley standing there by the screams abruptly stopping and the struggles slowly becoming just the occasional twitch. Brady was warily watching Crowley, black eyes half shut as the demon visibly tried to ignore the pain he was in.
"Well well, you picked the wrong baby-hunter to prey on, didn't you? Really does suck. Maybe you should have asked for a raise. Of course, I'm dyin' to know just who you'd be askin' for a raise from and what it is they're getting you to do, but well, we should really wait for Sam's other other half. Suppose you could say he's mine as well, but that's not something I really want to own up to, ya know? A demon's gotta keep his reputation in tact and shackin' up with a bloody trickster would be a way to tarnish it right quick!" Crowley said, carefully circling the bound demon, making sure not to step into the water. Really ruined the whole 'fear me' routine when the torturer's feet hissed and steamed because he'd foolishly stepped into holy water.
"Honey! I'm home!" Crowley rolled his eyes at Gabriel's holler and spun neatly on his heels to face the menace as he walked further into the factory, the grin on his face quickly turning into a pout when he saw the burns on Brady. "I told you to wait!"
"I did! I just had to wake him up! I ain't done anything else! We were good and waited patiently for you," Crowley assured him, walking the rest of the way around Brady so that he stood in front of Gabriel and grinned when Gabriel just huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "The mutt still doing his job when you left?"
"He's got a name, you know. Sam will cut your balls off with a salty knife if you don't stop calling him 'mutt'. Just warning you," Gabriel pointed out, making both Crowley and Brady wince just at the thought. Crowley decided not to respond to that though and just turned his full attention back to Brady.
"Well, we should really get a move on, don't want to leave Sam for too long. Can't be that healthy to be forced to sleep longer than necessary," Crowley pointed out, moving around Brady and passed Gabriel to get to the table. He lightly trailed his fingers over the many items there, ignoring the sting of the ones that had been soaked in holy water or were rubbed in salt, as he tried to think what they should do first. Gabriel soon proved that he was on the same wavelength as him with his next question, something that sent a wave of cold fear down Crowley's spine. No one needed to be on the same wavelength as Gabriel.
"So, what we starting on? Should we be keeping the meatsuit intact? Oi, Demon-Brady, is the actual Brady even alive inside there?" Gabriel asked Brady, nudging him with his foot when Brady took too long to answer.
"Depends. What you gonna do to me if he is?" Brady asked, looking up at Gabriel with a barely concealed sneer, which just told Crowley that the demon was a moron who didn't know when he should be truly scared for his life. Never a wise idea to piss off an archangel or a Trickster and especially not the one being who could truthfully own up to being both.
"Oh now, that would ruin the suspense and the surprise of the whole evening! Don't want to be doing that now, do we? So? Gonna share or should we just start on the main event for the night?" Gabriel asked in his disturbingly cheerful tone of his that would put anyone at ease were they not tied to a chair and currently covered in second degree burns. Or Crowley.
"I say we don't give him a say in the matter. Here, cut him with this for me. I think it needs more salt. Can't remember when I last forced someone to rub it with some," Crowley said, handing a large dagger with a lethal looking serrated blade to Gabriel, who gave a maniacal giggle when he took it and skipped over to Brady.
"Why don't you just let me go and I promise not to even look at Sam Winchester ever again, deal?" Brady suddenly piped up suddenly when he saw the weapon that Gabriel was holding.
"I'm the only one in this room that can make a decent deal and stick with it, mate. You don't have a chance. Besides, we really wanna know just what it was that you wanted from Sam. No demon lingers around a hunter for three years for no reason," Crowley pointed out, ignoring the fact that he had technically done the same thing. Though he was getting regular sex from Sam, so he could legitimately use that were anyone to bring it up.
"The Master of the Realm has spoken, Minion! And now all of your secrets shall be our-oops. You didn't tell me this was really sharp!" Gabriel muttered, barely heard over Brady's loud cursing screams. Crowley had no idea what the idiot had done but given the impressively inventive cursing Brady was shouting, he imagined that the demon was at least missing something.
"It's a weapon. Who keeps blunt weapons?" Crowley asked absently, not turning around or his attention fully away from where he was categorising his weapons and trying to decide which ones they should definitely use and which ones he hadn't used for a while and wanted to use again.
"We're torturing here! Blunt torture implements just make the screams that little but more delicious," Gabriel bitched back, Crowley heard a muffled thump and Brady's cursing abruptly stopped, which made Crowley roll his eyes and finally turn his attention back to the menace. He just shook his head and sighed when he saw Brady - now missing an ear - slumped unconscious in the chair.
"Very Tarantino," Crowley drawled with a sigh, shaking his head as he caught Gabriel's false guilty look. "What did you do to him?"
"He was giving me a headache! Now, whilst he's asleep, let's see what you've got over there. You got anything Kray-inspired?" Gabriel asked as he moved over to the table and looked over the items. Crowley rolled his eyes again and turned back to stand next to Gabriel.
"That. I gave a similar one to Ronnie once when he was lookin' for a more inventive way to get some answers," Crowley muttered, pointing to something that looked like a crochet needle. It actually was a crochet needle, but Ronnie hadn't needed to know that at the time.
"What's it do?" Gabriel asked, picking it up and inspecting it closely as though it would give him all the answers he sought.
"Quite literally pulls the answers you're looking for out of the person. Well, if you use it right. If not, it does make a fetchin' scarf," Crowley admitted with a grin and a shrug, taking the needle out of Gabriel's hand and handing him a large, heavy-duty file.
"You make scarves? Well, you really do learn something new every day. So what's this one do then?"
"Files. It's got crushed diamonds embedded in the iron, so it really makes the demons scream whilst also neatly smooths off any rough edged bones. Or limbs. Or anything else that you feel the need to file down," Crowley added absently, looking at Gabriel with a grin before turning his attention back to the table. "So, we gonna go Cockney old school on him then?"
"Sure, if you want. What else do you have? Anything of the Norse persuasion?" Gabriel asked with a wicked grin on his face, which just grew when Crowley huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
"No I bloody don't! Uncouth and unimaginative lot, you were! Ooh, look, I've got an 'ammer! See me smash shit with it and hope I don't smash his chest cavity in before I get the right answers. No idea of the delicate art of torture! Just because you have a couple of worshippers and your Viking lot were the most feared people of their time, you think you're the be all and end all of torture and war. Now, we Brits, we can tell you a thing or two about using the nearest things you have at hand! We're resourceful!" Crowley exclaimed, waving his hands around and ignoring the amused expression on Gabriel's face. Bloody vikings and their boats.
"Right, so you don't like Vikings. Got ya. So you're telling me that all of this is British inspired? Because I know for a damn fact that is French," Gabriel said, pointing to a large four spiked tong-like item. Crowley just shrugged, not denying it.
"Most of it is British. Well, most of it is used in Britain," Crowley muttered, scowling when Gabriel just seemingly ignored him and skipped over to a wooden wheel propped against the table.
"This! This is Germanic! Which is sorta Norse,"
"No, it's not! Germany and Norway are nothing alike! Don't be stealing German weapons just because you only have a hammer and an axe!" Crowley exclaimed. There was a small voice in the back of his mind - that sounded a lot like Sam - that was pointing out that he was arguing with Loki about torture weapons, but he ignored it and went with glaring at Gabriel.
"Fine, but you need to accept that most of these are not British and that the Brits don't have the monopoly of twisted torture methods," Gabriel stated, placing the pear device that he'd been looking at back on the table. "Do you have a Judas cradle?"
"Yeah, somewhere. I think it's in the corner near the Iron Maiden, why?"
"Never used one, just thought it might be nice to try something new," Gabriel told him with a small shrug, looking around the room before he obviously spotted where the Iron Maiden, and therefore the Judas Cradle was.
"Well, we can set it up, if you want. Oh! The Brits are the ones that used paint strippers to get answers by melting away the flesh of peoples ankles!" Crowley announced proudly when he tripped over an old paint stripper and grinned when Gabriel shot him a disturbed look.
"Okay… fine, the Brits are disturbing with their need to use household objects to cause pain. Now, what's this?" Gabriel asked, holding up a heavy iron item that looked like a flat, spiked claw.
"Cat's paw. Rips the skin off the back of whoever you're using it on. Or, you blunt the edges and add a bit of spice in the bedroom. I've got one at the house," Crowley told him with a shrug, moving past Gabriel so that he could see just how much setting up the Judas Cradle would need. He wrinkled his nose when he realised that it would need quite a bit. Still, Crowley considered as he glanced at a distracted Gabriel, it did help when his accomplice could do most things with a click of his fingers. "Right, needs settin' up, which you can do in your own special way, then we can either leave it til last or strap him in it now. Up to you."
"Hmm, what do you think? If we leave it til last, then we don't have to worry about getting him back down again and tying him up, but if we don't use it now, then he might break before we get the chance," Gabriel murmured, almost to himself which took away the whole point of asking Crowley opinion in the first place if he couldn't hear it. Still, Crowley did see Gabriel's point.
"Well, nothing says we can't still put him in it anyway even if he has squealed," Crowley pointed out, getting a vicious grin from Gabriel for his efforts.
"Good point! Well, in that case I say we use that last then," Gabriel announced, clicking his fingers and grinning when the Judas Cradle was set up instantly. Crowley just rolled his eyes and walked back to the table.
"You sure you're Gabriel?" Crowley muttered, trailing his fingers over the weapons and devices as he tried to work out what they should use first.
"Yep. So, we going to start small and work our way up? Or start with recent torture methods and work our way back?" Gabriel asked, moving to stand next to Crowley and grinning widely.
"Small and work our way up, I say," Crowley said with a decisive nod. Gabriel just looked at him and then snorted.
"You just want to use the paint stripper."
Three hours later and Brady still hadn't really spilled anything important, and Crowley was really beginning to think the demon deserved the raise he wouldn't be getting. Still, they did know that he was definitely working for someone and that the plans were coming to an end. They just didn't know who the main guy was. Though they both had a good idea as to who, given Sam seemed to be in the centre of all the plans.
"Right, I say we can strap him up to the Judas Cradle now," Crowley announced, grinning when Brady shot them a horrified look. Clearly he knew what a Judas Cradle was. Which didn't surprise him given Crowley knew for a fact that they had them down below.
"No, no, no! Wait! Wait! I'll tell you! I'll let you know everything!" Brady shouted when Gabriel had stepped up with a wide grin on his face. Gabriel pouted, but took a small step backwards, looking to Crowley to see what he thought. Crowley had actually been surprised that Gabriel had been willing to take his lead on all of this, he'd thought Gabriel would be much more interested in leading and not listening to anything Crowley suggested.
"Should we listen?"
"No harm in it, I suppose," Crowley admitted with a shrug. He walked over so that he was standing in front of Brady, who was now missing a few fingers and looking somewhat worse for wear, looking blearily up at Crowley and breathing heavily. And completely pointlessly, proving to Crowley that he was a new demon as he clearly hadn't worked out that they don't need to breath.
"Fine. So, you finally gonna tell us who you're working for?" Gabriel asked, not even bothering to hide his disappointment at having to wait a bit longer before being able to use the one thing he'd wanted to use. Brady visibly slumped in relief on the chair and glanced up at Gabriel.
"Azazel. He wants to remind Sam that he can't escape what he is and that he belongs to him," Brady admitted with a tired voice. Crowley just sneered whilst Gabriel stiffened in anger.
"Well, that's wrong. For one, Sam hasn't forgotten he's a hunter, he's just taking a… sabbatical. And most importantly? Azazel does not own Sam. Sam's ours. Has been since Crowley first claimed him and then allowed me to join in on the Samsquatch action!" Gabriel sneered, kicking some spilt salt in Brady's direction and grinning when it landed in the exposed bone of his ankle and made Brady give a muffled whine of pain.
"Loki's right, Sam belongs to us now," Crowley added, deciding that he should back up Gabriel's claim, just in case Brady thought he could say something about it.
"Not. Yours. He's got-got-" Brady gasped in pain, gritting his teeth from screaming out when Gabriel apparently got bored or too angry and began to flick little splashes of holy water on Brady.
"Loki, let him speak. I wanna hear why he thinks we don't have a claim on Sam."
"Fine, speak up, demonling. Then we can get back to having some fun," Gabriel announced, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as his eyes drifted over to the Judas Cradle.
"Blood! He was fed Azazel's blood!" Brady gasped out, slumping in the seat when Gabriel and Crowley froze and exchanged glances.
"Right, gotta sort that one out then. Well, I think that's all we need to know. Guess we can put him in the cradle now, Loki," Crowley said, not letting any of his feelings on what they'd just learnt be heard in his voice and smirking when Gabriel cheered and Brady whimpered.
"You promised!"
"I did no such thing! I said we'd listen, didn't say anything about not putting you in it once you'd shared what we wanted to know!" Crowley pointed out, grinning when Gabriel just got bored and clicked his fingers, strapping Brady into the cradle without actually having to put any effort into it. They both grinned when Brady finally couldn't stop himself from screaming as he was lowered onto the wide spike.
Crowley and Gabriel arrived back at their home a few hours later, freshly cleaned of any blood and having sent what was left of Brady down to Hel to play with for as long as she wanted until she got bored. Gabriel mentioning that the demon had been playing Sam and had planned to hurt Sam had made a disturbing gleam enter the Norse goddess' eyes.
Entering the master bedroom, Crowley smirked upon seeing Sam still fast asleep - not that he expected whatever Gabriel had done to fail - and Pavlov practically lying on top of Sam. The hellhounds tail thumped lazily against the bed as soon as he noticed Crowley had returned and yawned widely.
"Good mutt. You can sleep now, if you want," Crowley muttered quietly, glancing at Sam before looking back to Pavlov, who just yawned again and then moved into a more comfortable position and soon feel asleep pressed against Sam, large head resting over Sam's chest. Crowley just rolled his eyes, the dumb mutt really would have failed miserably as a proper working hellhound.
"He alright?" Gabriel whispered, stepping into the room and glancing at Sam, visibly breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Sam hadn't really moved all that much since they'd left him. Gabriel moved onto the bed and ran his hand over Sam's face before looking up at Crowley. "He's sleeping naturally now. Does he have a Final tomorrow, do you know?"
"Nah, he's got a couple of weeks before they start. I think he went out tonight because he's gonna be basically shut away revisin' and shit for the next couple of weeks. Think he'll be alright after finding out what Brady was?"
"No idea. Hard to tell with Sam sometimes. I do think we need to figure out what to do about what Brady told us though. I don't see a reason why he'd lie about Azazel feeding Sam his blood, and it makes sense with what little I've heard about future plans. Can you think of anything we can do?" Gabriel asked, running his fingers through Sam's hair absently whilst looking at Crowley. Crowley just sighed and sat down on the other side of Sam, huffing when that put Pavlov between the two.
"Haven't a clue. But I do think we need to talk to Sam about going back to hunting. And probably take him away to Bobby's once he's finished with college. Get him out of here for a while. Could probably get the older hunters opinion on things," Crowley muttered, thinking about the things that they would need to do and just what plans might need to be stepped up.
"Good idea. Think we should tell Sam about the blood thing?"
"Maybe ask Bobby about it first. We should probably tell Sam about the rest though, just so we can give a reason for why we're heading to Bobby's and convincing Sam to get back into hunting," Gabriel pointed out, making Crowley grimace as he acknowledged the truth in that.
"Fine. He's not gonna be happy about this, is he?"
"Probably not."
Next
Previous
Sam thought that he knew, maybe not everything, or even the tip of the iceberg, but at least the most important things about Gabriel and Crowley after living with them for almost a year, and having been seeing them for three years, but apparently there had been one thing that Sam hadn't really known. Sure he'd suspected it, there had been little signs here and there - like Crowley growling whenever they happened to go out and someone (anyone) looked in Sam's general direction - but he'd not really thought it was too bad.
And then Jess had invited him to go out with them before they would have to basically have to become hermits as they studied for their finals and then would be going back home - and not going out to dinner with Jess' parents. Or even going out of their way to see them - so Sam had said yes, and invited Janey along as well because he figured he might need the back up. Why that meant invite Janey, he wasn't too sure, but considering he would have to leave the house in the next ten minutes if he wanted to get to where he was meeting Janey on time.
Which was where he was now realising just how ridiculous his lovers were when it came to their overly possessive natures and he could honestly blame them if he was late. And Pavlov wasn't helping either. Though they had at least broken the puppy of its separation anxiety issues.
"Would you stop muttering and growling and tell me where you've hidden my wallet?" Sam asked in exasperation as he started to look in all the cupboards in the kitchen, growling and muttering under his own breath when he turned and almost tripped over Pavlov. He didn't even feel the slightest bit of guilt when the stupid mutt yelped because Sam had stepped on one of his paws.
Well, maybe a little guilt.
"I don't think it's a good idea that you go! For once, I'm in complete agreement with Crowley," Gabriel told him, sitting indian style on the kitchen side, whilst Crowley stood in the doorway, neither one looking as though they were about to help him at all. Sam wondered if throttling either one would make any difference at all.
"Why the hell not?! You were fine with the idea when I brought it up last week! In fact you," Sam pointed at Gabriel, who widened his eyes and looked a little startled, "told me that it was about time I went out with my friends at college again! You were all up for me and Jess catching up because we hadn't had much chance this year! And when you found out Janey was going, that was even better! So what's changed?!"
"You didn't tell us that that bloody moron was going!" Crowley exploded. Sam had wondered when he was going to join the argument again. He'd been far too quiet up to that point.
"So, because I didn't tell you that Brady might be going, you were happy for me to go, but now that you know, you're all against it? Why? It's not like he's gonna beat me up for being gay in public! And anyway, he's been a little odd and actually seems hurt that I chose not to room with him again this year! So clearly he's over the fact I like men!" Sam exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air when his argument didn't seem to be swaying either man at all.
"And the last time you went out to a place he was, you were drugged!" Gabriel pointed out, actually seeming to live up to his archangel claim by looking like he wanted to smite Brady just for the memory of how they found Sam.
"And then I came home and you screwed me! Why are you complaining?!" Sam asked, knowing that that probably wasn't going to help matters but he really was reaching his wits end and he was now down to five minutes before he had to leave.
"Oh great! That's your argument! That's settled it! You're not going! No way, no how!" Crowley growled, moving towards Sam and backing him into the counter. Sam just glared down at him, in no mood to bow to Crowley's will. He really, really wanted to just enjoy what was possibly one of his last nights of freedom before he had to chain himself to his books.
"If you don't let me out, I'm reading the Bible! In Latin! Out loud!" Sam screamed in Crowley's face, both men ignoring the surprised snort Gabriel gave. Crowley on the other hand was less than amused and just shoved Sam and growled loudly.
"Listen, Moose! I promised that I'd keep you safe and protect you! This is me protecting you, you bloody ignorant fool! You go out there tonight and that little dipshit will try to drug you again for whatever purpose and how are we gonna know?!" Crowley hissed, prodding Sam's chest with his finger at each word. Sam just slapped the finger away and then shoved at Crowley, moving from the counter and heading towards the door.
"You're a demon and a freaking archangel, I'm sure if you put your minds together, then you can work out a way! I'm going out! And next time you hide my wallet in your jacket, don't corner me!" Sam snarled, waving the wallet he'd lifted from Crowley's pocket as he grabbed his coat and left the kitchen; Crowley and Gabriel silently gaping at his back as he did.
Sam chuckled as Janey collapsed into the seat next to him where he had been chatting to Jess, who was also getting increasingly more drunk like Janey. Sam however had decided to stay sober for that night, happy enough to just spend time with his friends. Plus he wasn't too sure he trusted Brady either. Sure, no one had proof that he had been the one to drug Sam, but Sam knew Brady had been the only one to buy Sam drinks.
"Sam! How come your lovely men aren't here! I know you're still keeping them away from me so I don't get to meet them! The lovely Jess here has told me all about them!" Janey slurred into Sam's shoulder, Jess giggling next to him and nodding her head quickly in agreement. Something that told Sam she really wouldn't have any idea as to why he was glaring at her if she could focus long enough that is.
"Well, isn't Jess great? Besides, you might meet them in a little bit, since I'll probably have to ring one of them to come collect me and give you two a lift back to halls," Sam told her, grinning when Janey patted his cheek and pressed a sloppy kiss to the underside of his chin, which was as far as she could reach.
"You're so pretty! We goin' home then?" Janey asked him. Sam just rolled his eyes before he nodded his head. He looked over Jess' head to see if he could see anyone they'd come with and noticed Brady lingering nearby. Getting his attention, Sam waved him over, trying to extract himself from both women so that he could stand up.
Finally somehow managing to convince Jess to let go of his arm, and ignoring Janey's unimpressed whine, Sam stood up and scooted around the table to talk to Brady, who was smirking at him for some reason, which Sam really didn't want to find out.
"You're lookin' cozy there! You sure this whole gay thing isn't a lie so that women feel more comfortable with you and drape all over you, you dog?" Brady asked, smirk just growing wider as he playfully punched Sam on his shoulder. Sam just rolled his eyes and settled with a glare at Brady.
"I'm definitely gay, but thanks for thinking I'm low enough to do something like that. Anyway, I called you over just to let you know that I was gonna get these two home before they get even more drunk. Can you maybe help me get them outside?" Sam asked, not too sure he wanted Brady's help but he couldn't actually see anyone else they had come with, so he didn't really have a choice.
"You leaving now? It's only… what time is it?" Brady asked, looking blearily at his watch and trying to work out the time. Sam just rolled his eyes again, absently wondering if he would get eye strain one day from the amount of times he did roll them, and looked at his phone.
"It's twenty past one. So yeah, I'm leaving and I just need a bit of help getting Jess and Janey outside so we can wait for our lift," Sam told him, grimacing as Brady blinked at him and nodded, grinning as he threw an arm over Sam's shoulder. Sam just sighed and left it there, instead choosing to quickly send a text to Crowley, figuring one of them would show up and Crowley had been the last one he'd texted and therefore easier to find in his phone.
"Right, yeah! Sure, sure! Who's pickin' you up? Your boyfriend?" Brady asked, looking for all the world like it had physically pained him to ask that without a sneer. Sam didn't know whether to laugh at the sour lemon face he'd pulled or cheer him for managing to say it without anything homophobic thrown on the end.
"Yeah, sure, my boyfriend," Sam agreed, even if he'd mentally agreed with himself that neither of his lovers really came under the description of boyfriend. Neither were boys for one. Or human. He didn't want to get into a discussion with Brady over that though, he just knew it would be the start of a bitch of a headache were he to try.
"Cool, cool. So they pickin' you up outside of here?" Brady asked him, grinning as he helped Jess stand, Sam having automatically decided that Brady would help with Jess seeing as Janey couldn't stand Brady and was fully in agreement with Crowley and Gabriel that he had been the one to drug Sam. At Brady's question, Sam checked his phone and gave a nod.
"Yeah, said he'd meet us just down from the taxi pick up point. If you could just help me get them to there, that'd be great. There's a bench near there, I think, so if Ley isn't there when we get there, then we can sit them down on there and wait. We should be fine then, so you won't have to wait with us if you don't want to," Sam said, almost to himself given he hadn't raised his voice and the music was so loud, he didn't have any idea why he called Crowley 'Ley' though. Possibly because Crowley was something of a strange name and definitely sounded more like a surname and really, Sam did not want Brady to go on and on claiming that Sam was clearly the fuckbuddy of Crowley given he didn't know the man's real name. Still, Brady nodded his head and followed Sam's lead as they began to lead the two drunken girls out of the club.
"Nah, man, I think I'm gonna wait with you. I wanna meet the guy you're gay for!" Brady claimed once they had gotten outside and Sam was now experiencing the unpleasant feeling of hearing everything under water because the music had been so loud. Upon hearing Brady's decision, Sam cringed, not too sure he wanted Crowley and Brady to meet. Ever.
"Oh um… great," Sam said, not sounding at all convinced that it was in fact great. As luck would have it, Janey seemed to take that moment to become a little more cognisant and show that she'd been silently listening in on the conversation.
"We meetin' your lover?" Janey asked, still somewhat slurred and leaning heavily on Sam as she blinked up at him with a wide smile on her face. Sam just gave a small smile even as he nodded and tried to convince her to walk a little quicker to the meeting spot.
"Sure we are. You'll love him, I'm sure. Just a little bit further to go and then you can sit down. Okay?" Sam asked, making sure that he had a good hold around Janey's waist when she stumbled a little and giggled to herself.
Sam gave a small sigh of relief when they finally managed to get two very uncooperative drunken females to the bench that Sam had decided they would wait at, and having not seen Crowley's car anywhere, let them both slump down onto the seat. He then turned to Brady and gave him an awkward and uncomfortable smile. He just wasn't too sure how to act around the man anymore and wasn't too sure he really cared enough to try.
"So this… lover of yours. What's he like?" Brady asked him, moving to lean agains the back of the bench behind Jess, who had now slumped to the side and was dozing on Janey's shoulder. Janey on the other hand was watching Sam and Brady with a drunken awareness that only a sober person can achieve, which made Sam feel a little foolish for not noticing. And for dragging her sober ass from the club to the bench. He was so giving her the wrong answers in their first final.
Sam narrowed his eyes at Janey before turning back to Brady to answer his question, shrugging first as he tried to think of what to tell him. "He's… older. And British. Very British," Sam told him, mentally hoping that it was Crowley that would be coming to get them. Loki's English accent even made Sam wince.
"Huh, didn't take you as the type to be attracted to an older man." Sam didn't think pointing out that Brady hadn't even considered Sam to be one attracted to any man, older or otherwise, would be all that productive in the grand scheme of things and thankfully didn't have to answer anyway as he noticed a car pull up out of the corner of his eye.
Grinning widely, Sam spun to face the car, grin somehow growing even wider when he saw it was Crowley's car, though his grin dimmed a little when both Crowley and Gabriel got out of the car. And froze and glanced at one another over the hood of the car before making their way over to Sam and company.
"Uh oh. This is going to be fun," Janey muttered under her breath when the two men got close enough to notice the thunderous looks on both their faces. Sam winced and couldn't help but agree with Janey's sarcasm.
"Sam! Let's help you get Jess and Janey into the car!" Gabriel said with a bright - and forced - smile. Sam just narrowed his eyes at him but moved to help Jess stand, not surprised in the least when Janey managed to stand unassisted.
"What's up with you two?" Sam muttered to Gabriel as the man moved to Jess' other side, grinning brightly at Janey, who just grinned back and followed the two to the car. Gabriel shook his head to Sam's question and quietly helped Sam get Jess into the car, before looking over his shoulder and narrowing his eyes at where Crowley and Brady were still standing. Sam closed the door behind Jess and followed Gabriel's gaze, wondering just what Crowley and Brady were talking about.
"Come on, let's go thank Brady for staying with you and get Crowley. You two going to be alright in the car for a minute or two?" Gabriel asked them, getting a nod from Janey whilst Jess just blinked at him before slumping to lean against Janey.
"What's going on, Gabriel?" Sam muttered as they walked away from the car and made their way back to Crowley and Brady, the latter of which was starting to look nervous.
"Brady's not… who you perhaps thought he might be," Gabriel murmured back, getting a startled look from Sam.
"Seriously? Who is human that I know? This is getting quite ridiculous. So what or who is Brady?" Sam asked, sounding and feeling more exasperated than scared by this point. Mostly because Brady hadn't actually done anything to harm him thus far, so he figured Crowley and Gabriel were indeed keeping him safe. Or Brady was a shitty bad guy. Not that he'd admit it to Crowley or Gabriel, but Sam was leaning more towards that being the reason.
"He's being possessed by a demon with links to another demon. We're going to deal with Brady and then maybe we should have a talk when we get back after dropping Jess and Janey off. First though, let's stop Crowley from scarring Janey for life, doubt Jess would notice a nuclear holocaust by this point," Gabriel added, throwing a wry look over his shoulder in the direction of the car with the near-paralytic girl inside. Sam just chuckled weakly and shook his head, moving forwards once more to stand next to Crowley, frowning at Brady in confusion.
"You're a demon?" Sam asked, dragging Brady's attention from Crowley and whatever he had just said before Gabriel and Sam had gotten there. Brady just sneered at him and crossed his arms over his chest, seemingly growing a spine since Sam's arrival.
"Never would have guessed that little Sam Winchester, son of John Winchester - hunter extraordinaire - would shack up with a demon and… what's he?" Brady asked, nodding to Gabriel who just snorted and shook his head at Brady's false bravado.
"I'm Loki. Little above you in the pecking order, demonling. So shut it. Crowley, we should deal with him so we can get Sam's friends back to halls before they start to get antsy," Gabriel said, making sure not to take his eyes off of Brady. Sam just looked from Brady and back to Gabriel and Crowley, completely at a loss as to what was actually happening between them all.
"Fine, fine. Get rid of him so we can make a move," Crowley muttered, Gabriel grinned and practically bounced on the balls of his feet as he gave a quick glance over his shoulder in the direction of the car before turning back to Brady. With a malicious grin and a quick wink, Gabriel clicked his fingers and Brady gave a startled yell before disappearing from where he had been standing.
Sam just gaped at the now empty spot before turning to Gabriel and Crowley, both of whom were watching him warily, obviously worried about his reaction to what had just happened.
"Sam?"
"No, seriously, who the hell actually is human around here?!" Sam exclaimed, throwing his arms up in exasperation before huffing and crossing them over his chest, pouting a little when Gabriel grinned cheekily at him.
"It's California, that question is shockingly harder to answer than you'd think. Come on, let's go back to the car and get Jess and Janey to halls. We can have a chat in the morning once you've had time to sleep on the events of tonight, alright?" Gabriel asked. Sam just gave a tiny sigh and nodded his head before leading the way back to the car, wondering just why Crowley had been pretty much silent since sending Brady away.
Crowley glanced at Sam, who had passed out with exhaustion and then glanced over at Gabriel, who just gave a silent nod and placed a hand over Sam's forehead. Crowley quickly but carefully got out of bed, even though Sam shouldn't wake up now before either he or Gabriel allowed it. He glanced over and saw Pavlov - and still he mentally rolled his eyes at the name Sam had given the dumb mutt every time he said it - sitting patiently by the door, having learnt his lesson not to go into the room when his owners were making loud noises very early on into his time with them.
"Oi, Mutt. Here. Stay with the Moose. Guard him. Don't let anyone near him until either me or Gabriel get back. Got me?" Crowley asked, not feeling stupid at all for talking to a dog. It was a hellhound, Crowley was well aware of how much they understood. As though to prove that, Pavlov gave a small growl of agreement and jumped on the bed, lying right up next to Sam's body. Gabriel, who had finished relaxing Sam and had snapped some clothes on, snorted from where he was standing by the bed and rolled his eyes when Pavlov gave him a doggy sneer before licking Sam's hand and whining a little when Sam didn't react. "He's sleepin', Mutt. Don't try to wake him, just guard him. We'll be back later."
With that last message to Pavlov, who just huffed loudly but didn't bug Sam anymore other than moving to rest his head on the blanket over Sam's thigh, Crowley glanced at Gabriel and then left the room with only the sound of shuffling to announce his leaving.
Crowley reappeared in a desolate, unused factory and smirked when he saw Brady sitting in the middle of the large room, tied to a chair. Not saying a word, Crowley just slowly started to prowl towards his soon to be victim, smirk firmly on his face. He'd promised not to physically touch Brady or start with the questioning before Gabriel got there, but that didn't mean he could have a little fun watching the little shit piss himself as he realised just how much trouble he was in. Glancing to the side at the tables with some select items on that Crowley usually used when getting information from certain individuals, Crowley smirked and grabbed the bucket of blessed salt water.
Ensuring that he was standing well out of the splash range, Crowley gave a positively evil grin and threw the water over Brady, chuckling when the demon woke and began to scream and struggle against his bonds, trying to get away from the liquid burning him. Crowley knew when the demon had noticed Crowley standing there by the screams abruptly stopping and the struggles slowly becoming just the occasional twitch. Brady was warily watching Crowley, black eyes half shut as the demon visibly tried to ignore the pain he was in.
"Well well, you picked the wrong baby-hunter to prey on, didn't you? Really does suck. Maybe you should have asked for a raise. Of course, I'm dyin' to know just who you'd be askin' for a raise from and what it is they're getting you to do, but well, we should really wait for Sam's other other half. Suppose you could say he's mine as well, but that's not something I really want to own up to, ya know? A demon's gotta keep his reputation in tact and shackin' up with a bloody trickster would be a way to tarnish it right quick!" Crowley said, carefully circling the bound demon, making sure not to step into the water. Really ruined the whole 'fear me' routine when the torturer's feet hissed and steamed because he'd foolishly stepped into holy water.
"Honey! I'm home!" Crowley rolled his eyes at Gabriel's holler and spun neatly on his heels to face the menace as he walked further into the factory, the grin on his face quickly turning into a pout when he saw the burns on Brady. "I told you to wait!"
"I did! I just had to wake him up! I ain't done anything else! We were good and waited patiently for you," Crowley assured him, walking the rest of the way around Brady so that he stood in front of Gabriel and grinned when Gabriel just huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "The mutt still doing his job when you left?"
"He's got a name, you know. Sam will cut your balls off with a salty knife if you don't stop calling him 'mutt'. Just warning you," Gabriel pointed out, making both Crowley and Brady wince just at the thought. Crowley decided not to respond to that though and just turned his full attention back to Brady.
"Well, we should really get a move on, don't want to leave Sam for too long. Can't be that healthy to be forced to sleep longer than necessary," Crowley pointed out, moving around Brady and passed Gabriel to get to the table. He lightly trailed his fingers over the many items there, ignoring the sting of the ones that had been soaked in holy water or were rubbed in salt, as he tried to think what they should do first. Gabriel soon proved that he was on the same wavelength as him with his next question, something that sent a wave of cold fear down Crowley's spine. No one needed to be on the same wavelength as Gabriel.
"So, what we starting on? Should we be keeping the meatsuit intact? Oi, Demon-Brady, is the actual Brady even alive inside there?" Gabriel asked Brady, nudging him with his foot when Brady took too long to answer.
"Depends. What you gonna do to me if he is?" Brady asked, looking up at Gabriel with a barely concealed sneer, which just told Crowley that the demon was a moron who didn't know when he should be truly scared for his life. Never a wise idea to piss off an archangel or a Trickster and especially not the one being who could truthfully own up to being both.
"Oh now, that would ruin the suspense and the surprise of the whole evening! Don't want to be doing that now, do we? So? Gonna share or should we just start on the main event for the night?" Gabriel asked in his disturbingly cheerful tone of his that would put anyone at ease were they not tied to a chair and currently covered in second degree burns. Or Crowley.
"I say we don't give him a say in the matter. Here, cut him with this for me. I think it needs more salt. Can't remember when I last forced someone to rub it with some," Crowley said, handing a large dagger with a lethal looking serrated blade to Gabriel, who gave a maniacal giggle when he took it and skipped over to Brady.
"Why don't you just let me go and I promise not to even look at Sam Winchester ever again, deal?" Brady suddenly piped up suddenly when he saw the weapon that Gabriel was holding.
"I'm the only one in this room that can make a decent deal and stick with it, mate. You don't have a chance. Besides, we really wanna know just what it was that you wanted from Sam. No demon lingers around a hunter for three years for no reason," Crowley pointed out, ignoring the fact that he had technically done the same thing. Though he was getting regular sex from Sam, so he could legitimately use that were anyone to bring it up.
"The Master of the Realm has spoken, Minion! And now all of your secrets shall be our-oops. You didn't tell me this was really sharp!" Gabriel muttered, barely heard over Brady's loud cursing screams. Crowley had no idea what the idiot had done but given the impressively inventive cursing Brady was shouting, he imagined that the demon was at least missing something.
"It's a weapon. Who keeps blunt weapons?" Crowley asked absently, not turning around or his attention fully away from where he was categorising his weapons and trying to decide which ones they should definitely use and which ones he hadn't used for a while and wanted to use again.
"We're torturing here! Blunt torture implements just make the screams that little but more delicious," Gabriel bitched back, Crowley heard a muffled thump and Brady's cursing abruptly stopped, which made Crowley roll his eyes and finally turn his attention back to the menace. He just shook his head and sighed when he saw Brady - now missing an ear - slumped unconscious in the chair.
"Very Tarantino," Crowley drawled with a sigh, shaking his head as he caught Gabriel's false guilty look. "What did you do to him?"
"He was giving me a headache! Now, whilst he's asleep, let's see what you've got over there. You got anything Kray-inspired?" Gabriel asked as he moved over to the table and looked over the items. Crowley rolled his eyes again and turned back to stand next to Gabriel.
"That. I gave a similar one to Ronnie once when he was lookin' for a more inventive way to get some answers," Crowley muttered, pointing to something that looked like a crochet needle. It actually was a crochet needle, but Ronnie hadn't needed to know that at the time.
"What's it do?" Gabriel asked, picking it up and inspecting it closely as though it would give him all the answers he sought.
"Quite literally pulls the answers you're looking for out of the person. Well, if you use it right. If not, it does make a fetchin' scarf," Crowley admitted with a grin and a shrug, taking the needle out of Gabriel's hand and handing him a large, heavy-duty file.
"You make scarves? Well, you really do learn something new every day. So what's this one do then?"
"Files. It's got crushed diamonds embedded in the iron, so it really makes the demons scream whilst also neatly smooths off any rough edged bones. Or limbs. Or anything else that you feel the need to file down," Crowley added absently, looking at Gabriel with a grin before turning his attention back to the table. "So, we gonna go Cockney old school on him then?"
"Sure, if you want. What else do you have? Anything of the Norse persuasion?" Gabriel asked with a wicked grin on his face, which just grew when Crowley huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
"No I bloody don't! Uncouth and unimaginative lot, you were! Ooh, look, I've got an 'ammer! See me smash shit with it and hope I don't smash his chest cavity in before I get the right answers. No idea of the delicate art of torture! Just because you have a couple of worshippers and your Viking lot were the most feared people of their time, you think you're the be all and end all of torture and war. Now, we Brits, we can tell you a thing or two about using the nearest things you have at hand! We're resourceful!" Crowley exclaimed, waving his hands around and ignoring the amused expression on Gabriel's face. Bloody vikings and their boats.
"Right, so you don't like Vikings. Got ya. So you're telling me that all of this is British inspired? Because I know for a damn fact that is French," Gabriel said, pointing to a large four spiked tong-like item. Crowley just shrugged, not denying it.
"Most of it is British. Well, most of it is used in Britain," Crowley muttered, scowling when Gabriel just seemingly ignored him and skipped over to a wooden wheel propped against the table.
"This! This is Germanic! Which is sorta Norse,"
"No, it's not! Germany and Norway are nothing alike! Don't be stealing German weapons just because you only have a hammer and an axe!" Crowley exclaimed. There was a small voice in the back of his mind - that sounded a lot like Sam - that was pointing out that he was arguing with Loki about torture weapons, but he ignored it and went with glaring at Gabriel.
"Fine, but you need to accept that most of these are not British and that the Brits don't have the monopoly of twisted torture methods," Gabriel stated, placing the pear device that he'd been looking at back on the table. "Do you have a Judas cradle?"
"Yeah, somewhere. I think it's in the corner near the Iron Maiden, why?"
"Never used one, just thought it might be nice to try something new," Gabriel told him with a small shrug, looking around the room before he obviously spotted where the Iron Maiden, and therefore the Judas Cradle was.
"Well, we can set it up, if you want. Oh! The Brits are the ones that used paint strippers to get answers by melting away the flesh of peoples ankles!" Crowley announced proudly when he tripped over an old paint stripper and grinned when Gabriel shot him a disturbed look.
"Okay… fine, the Brits are disturbing with their need to use household objects to cause pain. Now, what's this?" Gabriel asked, holding up a heavy iron item that looked like a flat, spiked claw.
"Cat's paw. Rips the skin off the back of whoever you're using it on. Or, you blunt the edges and add a bit of spice in the bedroom. I've got one at the house," Crowley told him with a shrug, moving past Gabriel so that he could see just how much setting up the Judas Cradle would need. He wrinkled his nose when he realised that it would need quite a bit. Still, Crowley considered as he glanced at a distracted Gabriel, it did help when his accomplice could do most things with a click of his fingers. "Right, needs settin' up, which you can do in your own special way, then we can either leave it til last or strap him in it now. Up to you."
"Hmm, what do you think? If we leave it til last, then we don't have to worry about getting him back down again and tying him up, but if we don't use it now, then he might break before we get the chance," Gabriel murmured, almost to himself which took away the whole point of asking Crowley opinion in the first place if he couldn't hear it. Still, Crowley did see Gabriel's point.
"Well, nothing says we can't still put him in it anyway even if he has squealed," Crowley pointed out, getting a vicious grin from Gabriel for his efforts.
"Good point! Well, in that case I say we use that last then," Gabriel announced, clicking his fingers and grinning when the Judas Cradle was set up instantly. Crowley just rolled his eyes and walked back to the table.
"You sure you're Gabriel?" Crowley muttered, trailing his fingers over the weapons and devices as he tried to work out what they should use first.
"Yep. So, we going to start small and work our way up? Or start with recent torture methods and work our way back?" Gabriel asked, moving to stand next to Crowley and grinning widely.
"Small and work our way up, I say," Crowley said with a decisive nod. Gabriel just looked at him and then snorted.
"You just want to use the paint stripper."
Three hours later and Brady still hadn't really spilled anything important, and Crowley was really beginning to think the demon deserved the raise he wouldn't be getting. Still, they did know that he was definitely working for someone and that the plans were coming to an end. They just didn't know who the main guy was. Though they both had a good idea as to who, given Sam seemed to be in the centre of all the plans.
"Right, I say we can strap him up to the Judas Cradle now," Crowley announced, grinning when Brady shot them a horrified look. Clearly he knew what a Judas Cradle was. Which didn't surprise him given Crowley knew for a fact that they had them down below.
"No, no, no! Wait! Wait! I'll tell you! I'll let you know everything!" Brady shouted when Gabriel had stepped up with a wide grin on his face. Gabriel pouted, but took a small step backwards, looking to Crowley to see what he thought. Crowley had actually been surprised that Gabriel had been willing to take his lead on all of this, he'd thought Gabriel would be much more interested in leading and not listening to anything Crowley suggested.
"Should we listen?"
"No harm in it, I suppose," Crowley admitted with a shrug. He walked over so that he was standing in front of Brady, who was now missing a few fingers and looking somewhat worse for wear, looking blearily up at Crowley and breathing heavily. And completely pointlessly, proving to Crowley that he was a new demon as he clearly hadn't worked out that they don't need to breath.
"Fine. So, you finally gonna tell us who you're working for?" Gabriel asked, not even bothering to hide his disappointment at having to wait a bit longer before being able to use the one thing he'd wanted to use. Brady visibly slumped in relief on the chair and glanced up at Gabriel.
"Azazel. He wants to remind Sam that he can't escape what he is and that he belongs to him," Brady admitted with a tired voice. Crowley just sneered whilst Gabriel stiffened in anger.
"Well, that's wrong. For one, Sam hasn't forgotten he's a hunter, he's just taking a… sabbatical. And most importantly? Azazel does not own Sam. Sam's ours. Has been since Crowley first claimed him and then allowed me to join in on the Samsquatch action!" Gabriel sneered, kicking some spilt salt in Brady's direction and grinning when it landed in the exposed bone of his ankle and made Brady give a muffled whine of pain.
"Loki's right, Sam belongs to us now," Crowley added, deciding that he should back up Gabriel's claim, just in case Brady thought he could say something about it.
"Not. Yours. He's got-got-" Brady gasped in pain, gritting his teeth from screaming out when Gabriel apparently got bored or too angry and began to flick little splashes of holy water on Brady.
"Loki, let him speak. I wanna hear why he thinks we don't have a claim on Sam."
"Fine, speak up, demonling. Then we can get back to having some fun," Gabriel announced, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as his eyes drifted over to the Judas Cradle.
"Blood! He was fed Azazel's blood!" Brady gasped out, slumping in the seat when Gabriel and Crowley froze and exchanged glances.
"Right, gotta sort that one out then. Well, I think that's all we need to know. Guess we can put him in the cradle now, Loki," Crowley said, not letting any of his feelings on what they'd just learnt be heard in his voice and smirking when Gabriel cheered and Brady whimpered.
"You promised!"
"I did no such thing! I said we'd listen, didn't say anything about not putting you in it once you'd shared what we wanted to know!" Crowley pointed out, grinning when Gabriel just got bored and clicked his fingers, strapping Brady into the cradle without actually having to put any effort into it. They both grinned when Brady finally couldn't stop himself from screaming as he was lowered onto the wide spike.
Crowley and Gabriel arrived back at their home a few hours later, freshly cleaned of any blood and having sent what was left of Brady down to Hel to play with for as long as she wanted until she got bored. Gabriel mentioning that the demon had been playing Sam and had planned to hurt Sam had made a disturbing gleam enter the Norse goddess' eyes.
Entering the master bedroom, Crowley smirked upon seeing Sam still fast asleep - not that he expected whatever Gabriel had done to fail - and Pavlov practically lying on top of Sam. The hellhounds tail thumped lazily against the bed as soon as he noticed Crowley had returned and yawned widely.
"Good mutt. You can sleep now, if you want," Crowley muttered quietly, glancing at Sam before looking back to Pavlov, who just yawned again and then moved into a more comfortable position and soon feel asleep pressed against Sam, large head resting over Sam's chest. Crowley just rolled his eyes, the dumb mutt really would have failed miserably as a proper working hellhound.
"He alright?" Gabriel whispered, stepping into the room and glancing at Sam, visibly breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Sam hadn't really moved all that much since they'd left him. Gabriel moved onto the bed and ran his hand over Sam's face before looking up at Crowley. "He's sleeping naturally now. Does he have a Final tomorrow, do you know?"
"Nah, he's got a couple of weeks before they start. I think he went out tonight because he's gonna be basically shut away revisin' and shit for the next couple of weeks. Think he'll be alright after finding out what Brady was?"
"No idea. Hard to tell with Sam sometimes. I do think we need to figure out what to do about what Brady told us though. I don't see a reason why he'd lie about Azazel feeding Sam his blood, and it makes sense with what little I've heard about future plans. Can you think of anything we can do?" Gabriel asked, running his fingers through Sam's hair absently whilst looking at Crowley. Crowley just sighed and sat down on the other side of Sam, huffing when that put Pavlov between the two.
"Haven't a clue. But I do think we need to talk to Sam about going back to hunting. And probably take him away to Bobby's once he's finished with college. Get him out of here for a while. Could probably get the older hunters opinion on things," Crowley muttered, thinking about the things that they would need to do and just what plans might need to be stepped up.
"Good idea. Think we should tell Sam about the blood thing?"
"Maybe ask Bobby about it first. We should probably tell Sam about the rest though, just so we can give a reason for why we're heading to Bobby's and convincing Sam to get back into hunting," Gabriel pointed out, making Crowley grimace as he acknowledged the truth in that.
"Fine. He's not gonna be happy about this, is he?"
"Probably not."
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