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Dean’s been acting weird for a while now.
No, Sam concedes, that’s not exactly true. If he was acting weird, both him and Cas would do their utmost to find out why and whether he was under any supernatural influence. So Dean’s not been acting weird, he’s just... been spending more time on his own, taking long drives. The thought that he might have a girlfriend has crossed Sam’s mind now and then, but why would he hide his relationship from his brother and his best friend? Surely that’s nothing to be ashamed of.
They didn’t really pay much attention to it, since the rest of the time, Dean was more relaxed and happier than ever, now that Cas was returned to them one last time to deal with the Nephilim. So Satan’s kid died at the hands of the angel he had lied to, and they returned to the bunker. True, Cas came back with diminished powers and needed to eat and sleep now and then, but that only led to his officially moving into the bunker. But it also means that he can’t deal them as he used to, which is why they’re busy trying to ensure Dean doesn’t bleed out from a thigh wound.
“I’m okay” Dean slurs, “just need a band aid”.
“You need more. Cas, we need to get him to a hospital.”
The angel nods grimly, still unable to fly. Dean’s phone rings, Sam answering automatically.
“Squirrel, I was wondering – “
“Crowley?” he blurts out, even Cas looking up from the wound briefly. A pause. “Crowley, if that is you, Dean has been hurt, he needs to –“
The next moment, the demon is standing next to him. “Told that idiot he should be careful” he grumbles. “See you in the nearest hospital.”
He and Dean vanish.
“Did – did he just – “
“Sam, we have to go,” Cas tells him.
Sam nods. He can’t help but feel worried that Crowley lied. After all, in a way they were responsible for his death. But why did he call Dean? And why did he come immediately to their aid? If he really brought Dean to the hospital, that is.
It turned out that he did. Doctors were already working on Dean, who Crowley had actually put down as his nephew (Sam doesn’t want to think about that, not now and not ever).
“So,” he says once everything’s died down and they have been told that Dean will make it, “You’re back”.
Crowley actually slumped down on a chair after they got the news, just like Sam and Cas themselves. He looks up. “How very observant of you, Moose,” he drawls.
A part of Sam actually missed the nickname. “How come you were calling Dean?”
“He told me you were working a case near my cabin and that he might be able to drop in later.” He shrugs.
“Dean has been visiting you?” Cas asks. “He told us he was just driving around..”
“Told him to keep my resurrection a secret.”
“Why?” Sam wants to know. He actually feels a little bit angry at being left out of the secret.
“I was just trying to lie low.”
“You accomplished that. So what have you and Dean been up to?”
In the past, him going alone with Crowley had some pretty bad consequences, so he’s certainly not expecting the answer he gets.
The demon shrugs. “Fishing. Watching movies. Hanging out at bars”.
“No, seriously, what have you been doing?”
“I just told you”.
“Sam,” Cas says quietly, “he’s not lying”.
Cas worked with Crowley for a year. He knows the demon almost as well as Dean does.
“Alright, so you have been... hanging out”.
“Yes, and you’re lucky we did, otherwise your brother would be toast now.”
“That’s true. Thank you for bringing him here.”
As he remembers from when they hunted Lucifer’s hellhound, Crowley is taken aback by his gratitude.
“Well, you two – three knuckleheads have saved the world so many times, it’s hardly a good idea to let any of you die.”
“I guess,” Sam agrees.
Silence falls between them.
Eventually, Cas asks, “Where are you staying?”
“Small cabin about two hours from the bunker.”
For someone who didn’t want them to know he was alive, he had settled pretty close to them.
“And you contacted Dean?” Cas wants to know.
“No. Matter of fact, there’s a small lake not far away from my place. It’s a good place to think. Turns out, Dean has been coming there regularly too. He stumbled across me one day.” After a pause he adds, almost in awe, “He was actually glad to see me.”
“For what it’s worth,” Sam says, “I’m pretty glad you were there, too.”
He nods and gets up, apparently eager to leave the awkward conversation behind, but grimaces and sinks back on his chair.
“What...”
“Dying left some traces” Crowley mumbles. “I’m not nearly as powerful as I used to be.”
Saving Dean must have taken a lot out of him, then. “Stay. He’ll probably want to see you, anyway.”
If Dean is ready to pretend he’s been driving around for hours just to meet up with his friend (good God, he probably actually considers him one now) he must enjoy a visit from him while he’s in the hospital.
“If you’re sure...”
“We are,” Cas tells him.
Sometime later, he and Sam get coffee for lack of anything better to do. Crowley stays behind in case there’s news.
“Why do you think he never told us?” he asks as soon as they are out of earshot.
“I think it might as simple as Crowley asking him not to,” Cas answers. “Dean has always been a loyal friend.”
He nods. True enough. “I just don’t understand what he’s getting out of this. As far as I know, Crowley hasn’t helped him on cases, instead they... went fishing?”
“Dean likes fishing. Dreaming about it relaxes him.”
“Yes, but it’s Crowley.”
“He’s not the King of Hell anymore. He resigned,” Cas reminds him.
And, Sam suddenly remembers, Dean even grieved for him. All these little moments when he looked sad even though Cas returned to them, and Sam thought it was only about Mom... it must have been about the demon, too.
“I just... all these years I never thought Dean would need a holiday from this,” he admits.
Because that’s what his days with Crowley sound like. Just a man and his bestie, living the life as if nothing’s wrong.
“I think it’s more complicated than that” Cas supplies rather unhelpfully.
“Isn’t it always?” Sam asks.
The angel shrugs – Sam can’t help but wonder when he learned that particular gesture from them. “Crowley has been much more than our enemy for a long time. It’s typical of Dean that he would be the first to realize that.”
In a way, he is right. Dean’s instincts are rarely wrong, and he was the one who usually called Crowley when they needed help.
“He seems really worried about Dean, too.”
“We all were”.
It’s then that Sam realizes Cas is already considering Crowley part of their team, and in a way... He can’t say he’s wrong. “Alright then”.
They don’t say anything else.
Crowley’s still there when they get back, looking a bit confused. Sam can’t blame him; the guy started out as their enemy and is now waiting for news as their uncle of all things.
“Here. Got you a coffee, too.”
“Thank you.”
Crowley looks surprised and Sam is reminded of how unaccustomed he is to having friends, period. Who but Dean would actually hang out with him just to have fun, anyway?
“You’re welcome.”
After they have been told that all Dean now needs is rest, and that he’ll be allowed to go home soon, Crowley asks, “Should I bring you back to the Impala, or to the bunker?”
Dean has been singularly responsible for the warding in the bunker for a while now, Sam suddenly remembers. Small wonder Crowley is able to get in.
“I think we’ll go to the bunker” he says.
He and Cas share a look.
“You can stay too, if you want,” Sam finally says.
Crowley studies him. “If you’re sure...”
“We are”.
And that’s how Crowley ends up in the bunker again. Sam is surprised how little it annoys him. It’s almost like he grieved for Crowley too, just a little, without even realizing.
“So what have you been up to?” Sam asks.
“I told you...”
“But surely you can’t just have –“
“Trust me, Sam. I remember him doing that before,” Cas says suddenly, and Sam needs a moment to remember that he was God at one point.
Their lives are weird.
“Alright. I just don’t get why you wouldn’t want us to know”.
Now it’s Crowley’s turn to look utterly baffled, and Sam remembers that he didn’t even tell Dean. He was convinced they wouldn’t care, Sam realizes.
“Anyway, when I asked what you were up to, I meant what you were doing while hiding. You must have been doing something.”
Now Crowley looks decidedly uncomfortable. Is he… Yes, he’s even shuffling his feet. “What – “
“Manning the phones, alright?” he mumbles. “For a bunch of hunters. Dean suggested it”.
Of course he did.
“Do they know – “
“No. Just that Dean gave them the number for emergencies.”
“Why?”
“Why not? I abdicated. It’s pretty clear I’m not on Hell’s side anymore.” After a pause he adds, “I don’t think I ever was.”
“Dean has a way of making you realize that,” Cas agrees and Sam wonders when he agreed to turn this into a therapy session for supernatural beings affected by Dean Winchester. He nods because he doesn’t have any other answer.
He’s about to ask if they want to get dinner, despite not having to eat, when something licks his hand. He jumps.
“Juliet!” Crowley admonishes the happily barking hellhound.
“You brought your – “
“I can’t let her alone for too long. You’d miss Papa, wouldn’t you, my dear? Yes you would.”
Oh dear. They have a pet. An invisible pet. Dean is going to love that.
To his surprise, Juliet whines and Crowley explains, “I know, but he’ll be back soon.”
“Wait, she knows Dean?”
“Of course. She lives with me in the cabin. He’s adamant about not letting her into the Impala, though.”
At least that last thing makes sense.
“She has... grown very big,” Cas says carefully, studying the hellhound in front of him.
“What is it, Moose? I thought you always wanted a dog.”
“I prefer visible ones...”
Juliet nudges his hand and he does his best to scratch her behind the ears.
“Just takes some practice. Dean’s pretty good at it, now,” says Crowley.
Just how much time have they been spending together?
The next morning, Dean is awake and alert when they arrive at the hospital. “Hi guys – Crowley?”
“He brought you here,” Sam says. “I answered your phone out of reflex”.
Dean nods at his... friend. “Thanks, Crowley”.
“Don’t mention it,” Crowley replies.
The demon seems to realize they want to talk about him and so drags Cas away to “find some real coffee”.
“So,” Sam says, “you knew he was alive.”
“Yeah, but he asked me not to tell anyone. What was I supposed to do? The guy stabbed himself in the gut for us.”
Sam could get angry, but he’s tired of it all. Tired of secrets between them, tired of fighting. “So I guess we’ll let him live in the bunker, if he wants to.”
Dean raises an eyebrow. “Pretty sure he’d like that.”
Dean is proven right when he comes home two days later to find Crowley in the middle of moving in. How many Armani suits does one demon need, anyway?