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On the one hand, Dean is pretty damn grateful that Amara decided to interfere one last time, get rid of Lucifer’s kid, revive Cas, and try to save Crowley.
Only that... well, he’s learned the hard way that her gifts tend to go wrong, so he’s not in the least surprised when this newly human Crowley looks around and exclaims “What.... you... where am I?”
“I know it’s a bit confusing, but basically – “
“Where did the demon drag me?” he interrupts him, looking frantic, in a New York accent.
And that’s how they learn that the one Amara resurrected is not their kind of friend but the literary agent the demon possessed all these years ago.
Dean thinks of Mom and sighs. There are just some things God’s sister doesn’t get.
They try to bring him up to speed, but it’s clear he can only stomach so much before freaking out.
Having no alternative, they take him to the bunker. Tobias James might be still on the missing persons’ list, but he has no family, and not only can’t they come up with an easy explanation where he’s been the last eight years, every demon on this earth will go after him out of principle.
He complies immediately, probably still working through the whole possession thing, getting in the back with a now also human Cas.
The first few days are difficult to say the least. Tobias jumps at every shadow, and Dean...
It’s kind of like looking at the Bobby from another universe. He looks like he’s the guy they knew so well but isn’t, and Dean is still waiting for him to drawl “squirrel” and pull a flask of Craig out of his pocket.
Sam and Cas have similar problems; sometimes the former angel still studies Tobe (as Dean quickly dubs him) as if he’s waiting for him to betray them, and Sam never turns his back on him.
He can tell the poor guy’s pretty spooked at all of that, so Dean makes an effort.
“So, Tobe” he begins one day at breakfast, “Do you have any questions?”
He blinks.
“About what exactly? My life? What’s going to happen? The world at large? The demons who might come to kill me?”
It sounds sarcastic enough to come from Crowley himself, and Dean is oddly disappointed when no nickname follows Tobias’s questions.
He shrugs.
“Just an offer, man. take all the time you need”.
He looks down at his plate.
“I apologize for my outburst”.
Alright, that couldn’t sound less like Crowley if he tried, and Dean tries to take some consolation from that. It doesn’t really work.
Over the next few days, Tobe at least opens up a little. He spends a lot of time in the library, reading; Dean assumes it has to do with him being a literary agent. He’d just used to having a lot of books around him, most likely.
He’s easy to be around, at least. He soon ditches the suit for t-shirts and jeans (causing each of them to do a double-take when he enters the kitchen) and is always ready to help, whether it’s with making dinner or getting groceries.
Even the other hunters they meet warm up to him in a matter of seconds, which is no big surprise considering he can be pretty charming if he wants to.
“Actually I should probably have a problem with this guy because the demon who dragged him across the world once tried to kill Jody” Claire tells them, “But he’s way too nice to hate”.
Also, he has to admit, guy’s a fast learner.
He’s soon able to join their discussions about lore because “I read that book” and he’s pretty clever.
A little too clever, now that Dean’s thinking about it.
And there’s this other small thing.
Tobias isn’t angry at them in the slightest when he really has every reason to be. They knew Crowley for eight years and worked with him instead of trying to exorcise him even once, and yet he acts as if they had no choice. As if it’s totally understandable they didn’t try to help the poor guy stuck in his own body.
Also, on some days, his nice facade slips a bit, and he ends up a bit more sarcastic than usual. Dean doesn’t mind – it actually reminds him of Crowley, which is not a bad thing at all, if he’s being honest.
What he doesn’t get is why Tobe tries so hard to stay pleasant and polite all the time. He can’t think they’ll throw him out because he makes a few jokes at their expense, surely?
And then there’s the thing with the accent.
Growing up, Dean was fascinated how different people could sound while using the same language. He never really told anyone because it’s a pretty stupid talent to have, telling where exactly someone’s from by hearing only three words, but the thing is, he knows his accents.
Granted, he hasn’t spend a lot of time in the big Apple or around New Yorkers. But he still knows what they sound like.
And Tobe... well, he’s off sometimes, Dean can’t really describe it. Sure, he sounds like he’s about to start bitching about the Yankees most of the time, but now and then, his accent’s suddenly a lot less thick than it was five minutes ago until he slips right back in, as if he has to remind himself about it.
And that’s what makes Dean suspicious.
“Cas” he says one day, when Sam and Tobe are on a milk run, “There’s something... I know this will sound crazy”.
He immediately turns of Netflix.
“What is it, Dean?”
“Like I said, I know you might think I’m going insane, but... could this be Crowley? Human, definitely, but Crowley?”
Cas looks at him.
“I don’t know” he finally replies. “But you knew him best. What makes you think that?”
Dean shrugs helplessly.
“It’s mostly just a feeling... He caught up on lore a little too quickly, almost as if he already knew it. And he’s way too happy to live in the bunker for someone who’s used to New York. And what’s with the accent?”
After a pause, Cas says, “In a way, all human speech is a strange language to me. I know you’re much better at things like this than I or Sam.”
Sometimes Dean forgets Cas put him back together again.
“But if it is Crowley, why would he lie?”
Dean’s been thinking about that, too.
“Remember when you didn’t think you had a place here?”
“Of course. But you assured me – “
“We did. And it’s true. But think about it – Crowley showed up on the last day of his life and all I did was punch him in the face and threatening to kill him. He then offed himself for us, and suddenly he was back, human. Why would he – “
“You think he wouldn’t have believed he was welcome here”.
“Yes. And he had no other place to go. If demons are probably ready to go after his meat suit, imagine what they would do to their former king”.
Cas nods.
“So he lies, says he’s the poor literary agent that Crowley possessed. And off to the bunker he goes”.
“Do you think he has a plan?”
The thought never occurred to Dean.
“No. I think he just... wants to belong. His son and his mother are dead, we are all he has now”.
“Do you plan on confronting him about it?”
“Eventually. When I’m sure. Because if this is Tobias James after all, I don’t want to remind him of the decade he lost because a demon decided he liked his suit”.
Cas nods.
Later, Dean shares his views with Sam, but his brother hasn’t noticed a thing about Tobias.
“Crowley was a pretty big bastard; I don’t really see him acting that nice”.
Only he never killed his mother, Dean could say, and he wanted to save his son. And I am rather sure he did care about us in his own way.
He doesn’t.
It’s difficult to explain.
It only figures that it all comes out after a hunt.
They usually leave Tobias in the bunker to man the phones, and this time is no exception.
Only difference is that the vamps whose nest they are cleaning out have guns too, and Dean takes a through-and-through to his right biceps.
Quite frankly, he’s had worse, and he doesn’t even lose that much blood.
But it still prompts Tobias to show his cards.
Because the second he steps into the bunker, he comes towards them.
“I was starting to think you’d stopped for the night – Squirrel, what happened?”
“What?” Sam asks.
“I meant – “
“Crowley” Dean says tiredly, “Do you really think you can save this?”
He stops talking and nods.
“I’ll be gone in the morning”.
“Why?” Cas asks.
“I assume you won’t – “
“Shut up and get me a glass of water” Dean murmurs, “I could need it”.
“You could say please”.
“I just got shot”.
“Basically, what we’re all trying to say here” Sam explains, “If you want to”.
“We’ll talk later about your act” Dean mutters as Crowley helps him to the kitchen.
They both know they won’t.