When The Blue Irises Are Born Again - Ch. 3 [Spn]

Dean found Castiel standing in the backyard as Gabriel had told him. The light breeze made the angel trench coat flutter, the sound reminding the hunter of wings flapping. The creature was completely still, apparently lost in his own thoughts, and did nothing as he approached him, but the older Winchester knew that the other was aware of his presence. Cas always was for some odd reason. He stopped his tracks only when he was standing almost by the side of the creature he used to consider his best friend.

“Castiel,” he called after some more moments of silence, without looking at him. His voice was cold, but emotionless. He saw the angel immediately turning towards him with the corner of his eye, but he kept his gaze in front of him, showing no intention to make eye contact as he usually would. “Walk with me.”

He moved forward without waiting for an answer but Castiel instantly followed, striding silently next to him, his pace matching the human’s perfectly. They weren’t touching, but as usual they were closer than necessary, and in that moment the fact annoyed Dean more than it usually did. He couldn’t stand the fact that, after everything that he had done to them, the angel still acted as if they were cool. He was aware that the other probably didn’t know any other way to behave around him, but that knowledge made his irritation grow even more instead of soothing it. The bastard wasn’t even trying to be different, to show some shame. It was like Castiel didn’t understand the seriousness of what he had done, the real extent of the harm he had caused.

A part of him was aware that it wasn’t true, had caught the deep hurt and the burning regret in the angel’s stormy eyes, had seen his desperate need of forgiveness. However, he had shut it up, ignoring it. He was furious, and he needed a scapegoat on which he could unload his anger and sorrow. And Cas was the perfect target. He was guilty and persuaded that he deserved the insults and the blame, which meant that he wouldn’t even fight back or try to answer his accusations. Dean would be able to unload all his anger and frustration and he would be told that he had all the rights to behave in that way. The opportunity was just too good, he couldn’t find the strength to stop himself from exploiting it.

“Dean…” Castiel tried after some minutes of silence, as they walked slowly among the rusty, destroyed cars.

“Don’t. Just don’t. I don’t want to hear it, whatever you are going to say,” the hunter interrupted curtly, his voice almost shaking with all the emotions that were fighting each other inside him. He turned towards his speaker just in time to see him slumping his shoulders and lowering his gaze. His annoyance grew even more at the sight, even if he also felt his stomach tightening lightly. He had never seen his friend looking more broken than in that moment. Apart from when Zachariah had sent him in that crazy post-apocalyptic future. The memory made him feel uncomfortable and he quickly shoved it away, narrowing his eyes. “Don’t you dare to look like that. You have no right to. You’re not the victim here” he accused in a even harsher tone. “You messed up and now you must face the consequences of your actions.”

“I am sorry, Dean,” the angel mumbled again, but his eyes stayed fixed on the ground. He could feel the human’s burning stare on him and the hurt hidden under all that anger made him feel unworthy and deeply ashamed of his whole existence. He had failed completely, both himself and the people who trusted him. His best friend was right, he had didn’t deserve any kind of compassion and not even to ask for it.

“Being sorry is not enough, Castiel. Do you know what you have done? Can you understand it? Or your fucking being-an-angel-of-the-Lord shit doesn’t allow you to get the real meaning of your actions? Look at me, dammit!” Dean attacked him again, stopping abruptly and grabbing his shoulder to force the other to face him. He wanted to punch him, to dig his nails in his flesh until he drew blood out of it. The angel could have easily overpowered him, but he knew that right now he would have just taken anything without complaining. The only thing that stopped him from physically trying to harm the creature in front of him was the awareness that he would have just ended up hurting himself instead. “Damn you, Castiel! You…” He stopped and threw his hands in the air. He was so upset that he couldn’t even find the words to express it.

He looked down at the ground for some moments, taking in a deep breath before speaking again. “Everyone in my fucking life has let me down. My father, my brother, the people I’ve worked with, the few serious relationships I had. And then…Then you came, straight out from freaking Heaven. You’ve pulled me out of Hell, you’ve given up everything for me. You’ve fucking fought your own kind for my sake! And you’ve always believed in me, no matter what, even when I stopped believing in myself. And so I thought…” He stopped for a moment, taking a breath to prevent his voice from starting to shake. “I thought that finally I had met that one person that I could trust without doubt or hesitation. I considered you my best buddy, despite your fucked-up way of being. I even dared to call you family…” He trailed off once again, biting down the inside of his cheek until the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.

“Dean…” Castiel whispered, finally lifting his eyes to meet Dean’s, his voice full of sorrow and guilt. “I…”

“Shut the fuck up! I’m not done, you fucking angel.” The young man growled angrily, once again interrupting before the angel could even start his sentence. “And don’t you dare to look away. I want people to look at me while I’m talking to them.” He dug his fingers deeper in the other’s shoulder, hard enough to bruise. “I was wrong about you, I was wrong to trust you. Because you’ve let me down in the worst way possible. You played me and my family. You used us, lied to us, while you were plotting with a demon. You didn’t bring Sam back for me, you did it because you needed someone to get the Alphas for you so that you could find your precious Purgatory!”

In a surge of anger, he released his grip and shoved the angel away, unable to bear touching him any longer, even if it wasn’t just disgust what he was feeling. “I didn’t want to believe it when Bobby and Sam told me that you were trying to trick us. I argued with them, I stood up for you because I couldn’t accept the truth. And what was your way to show me gratitude? You destroyed my brother’s mind just because we have tried to make you see that your fucking plan was a folly! Why didn’t you listen to me, just for once? No, you needed the fucking Messenger of God to come back from the dead and kick your ass!”

He shook his head, exasperated. He had gone against the two people who had always been there for him to protect the one who had turned out to be a liar. He was furious with himself because he had been so stupid to put all his trust in someone who wasn’t even human. He should have known better. But the truth was that he had behaved like that because he had needed Castiel to be that one person he could trust when he couldn’t even trust himself. He still needed him to be, even if it was now too late.

Castiel remained silent this time, forcing himself not to look away, even if every atom of his essence just wanted him to spread his wings and fly away. He couldn’t bear those words and especially he couldn’t bear the dark emotions that they carried with them. They burdened his chest and each one felt like an angelic blade stabbing him. The urge to disappear got stronger and stronger at each word, but he couldn’t give into it. Dean was right, he had to face the consequences of his actions. He would take all the pain and the hatred that the hunter would give him if it could help soothing the other’s suffering. The only thing he could offer now was himself as a target for the human’s destructive emotions. And no matter how much it would make him suffer. He would let each word sink deeply inside him and would watch his chances to be forgiven crumble without fighting for them. Because, perhaps, he didn’t deserve anyone’s forgiveness. Neither his Father’s nor, especially, Dean’s. That was the price for being guilty of hubris.

“Tell me. How can I be sure now that all your previous sacrifices didn’t have an ulterior reason? How can I know that all your words aren’t just lies and deceits? How can I trust you again?” the older Winchester went on, clenching his fists until his nails were drawing blood on his palms. He knew that all those words wouldn’t lead them nowhere, but he couldn’t stop. He needed to let them out or he would explode. “How can I trust anyone just a little now that you, the one who was supposed to be my guardian, the only person that I fully trusted in my sorry life, have betrayed me so deeply?” He opened his arms widely, his desperation starting to sip through his voice. “Now I see shadows everywhere. I have to check everything myself before being sure that it’s actually true. I can’t trust anyone to watch my back on a hunt, not even Sam. Can you see what you have done to me, Castiel, angel of the Lord?”

The title was spat out in a cruel mocking tone that made the angel internally wince. The memory of their first true meeting came to his mind, clear and vivid. Back then he had introduced himself with those exact words. Dean had claimed that there were no such things as angels and had stabbed him with the knife he and Sam used to kill the demons. So much time had passed since that day, they had been through so much. When he had first laid his hand on Dean in Hell to save him, he could have never imagined that things would go that way between the two of them. He, who had always been a perfect, loyal soldier of Heaven, had found himself playing the part of the rebel to stand by a human’s side, had found himself falling because of that same human and not minding it as much as he should have. He had died twice for him and he was ready to do it again. Through Dean he had learnt what Lucifer had never been able to see and what his brothers and sisters couldn’t really understand. Thanks to the hunter he now knew why his Father had loved humankind so much, despite all its faults and flaws.

That thought left a bittersweet taste on his tongue. He had learnt to love mankind and for that reason he couldn’t let Raphael start the Apocalypse again and bring Heaven on Earth. It would be the destruction of the world as Dean and the others knew it. Their kind was already suffering too much, he couldn’t allow more destruction and sorrow to fall on its shoulders. They deserved a second chance to build their own paradise, without the angels having a say in it. After all he and his sibling had been given the task to protect humans, not to rule over them. And that had been the purpose behind his actions of the past month, or so he had believed. Now he saw that he had just obtained to force himself on his friends, showing himself to be not so different from the brother he was fighting. But his intentions had been good.

“Answer me, Castiel!” Dean almost yelled, interrupting the trail of his thoughts without warning. “I should have known, shouldn’t I? I’m aware that angels are all motherfuckers, but I wanted to believe that you were different. That you were a bastard, but a nice one. I was wrong, wasn’t I? You’re exactly like the others!”

“I am not!” The angel exclaimed, raising his voice in turn, the words leaving his lips before he could stop himself. His tone was darker than usual and he was starting to feel his own anger blooming among the shame. That was too much. “I am guilty, Dean. I am not denying it. I have sinned, I have mistaken, I have betrayed. But I didn’t mean any harm. All I wanted was to prevent Raphael from starting the Apocalypse again. All I wanted was to protect you.”

His reaction made Dean’s rage flare up even more. The hunter grabbed him by his coat and pulled hard. “How? By playing God?” He snorted, shoving him away once again. “What would have happened if that damned Trickster hadn’t showed up? What would have you done?”

The older Winchester turned his back to the angel and took some steps away from him. “You said you’d have fixed Sam. But can you blame me for not believing you? What if all that power had gone to your head?” He questioned again. His voice was lower, but still desperately angry. “You would have become just another monster we’d have to destroy. I don’t care if your intentions were good. I don’t fucking care. The only thing that’s clear to me is that you don’t value us…me enough to come and tell me everything. You felt the need to act behind my back and didn’t trust my word on the matter at all.” He turned around again, but kept his eyes on the ground. He couldn’t look at his speaker anymore. “You lied to me and then tried to force me to do what you wanted. You threatened me. You don’t do that to family, Cas.” He lifted his gaze to the sky, his tone losing any trace of emotion for a moment. “I myself have once told you that maybe you should be the one to play the sheriff up there. I said that because I trusted the person I thought you were. But apparently I have no idea of who you really are.”

That last sentenced hit Castiel so hard that his whole Grace trembled for a moment. There was so much sentence in the other’s voice, so much hurt that he couldn’t take it. He took a step forward and reached out for the hunter. “Dean, I know I don’t deserve to ask your forgiveness, and I won’t. But, please, you have to believe me when I say that everything I have done I did it also for you,” he pleaded, his voice faltering. “I repent of my errors and I am asking for your help to fix them. Do this for me and I will disappear from your life. You will never see me again.”

“Don’t touch me!” The hunter growled, slapping the angel hand away, almost disgusted. Then he let out a bitter laugh. “You really don’t understand, do you? I’ve already made a deal with that prick of your brother, so I’ll help you with the Leviathans. But I’m not doing it for you, I’m doing it because saving people is my job. It won’t fix things between us. Nothing will.” He kicked a rock out of his way. “Even if you disappeared, it wouldn’t be enough. God, even if you died it wouldn’t change anything. What is done is done, Cas. You can’t erase it.”

“What do you want me to do then?” The angel asked opening his arms in surrender. “How can I sooth your sorrow? I would give my life for you, Dean, and you know it.”

The older Winchester shot him a nasty look. He would never understand how that guy could say those embarrassing things with so much ease. And using that card against him right now was really cheating. He looked away, feeling frustrated. He knew that Castiel was telling the truth. The angel’s devotion for him was still strong and there, even after all he had just said, and he couldn’t stay untouched by that. He ran a hand on his face. “There’s nothing you can do, Cas,” he answered in a quiet tone. “I…I just want my nerdy, awkward angel friend back. But you aren’t him. Not anymore.”

The other just stared at him blankly, but Dean could easily read the confusion in his posture. He wasn’t surprised to see that the creature hadn’t understood what he meant. He had always been quite clueless when it came to deep human meanings. Once he found it quite amusing, but now it was painfully exasperating. “Listen, Castiel…” He started with a sigh, but he was interrupted.

“No. You are right, Dean” Castiel stated quietly, his blue eyes were now shining with a new determination. “I know what I need to do. I will be back once I will be ready.” And he disappeared in a flap of wings, leaving a very astonished hunter behind.

The older Winchester let out a groan. What the hell was that idiotic angel thinking now? They were about to face another conflict, he couldn’t just wander off like that. Where had he gone? And what had he meant with those last words? He cursed under his breath, looking around in the vain hope that the other hadn’t really left

“Castiel! Come back! Whatever you’ve understood, it’s not what I meant!” He called out, even if he had the feeling that he wouldn’t get an answer. “What about the Leviathans? Damn you, Cas! You can’t just leave again! Come back!”

He slammed his fist in the nearest thing he found, letting out another heavy curse both for the pain and the frustration. Fucking angel. He never did what he expected him to do. He wandered around the yard for a while, restless, but in the end he had come to terms with the fact that Castiel wasn’t coming back any soon. The other was gone only God-knew-where and he couldn’t do anything about it. He had better find something else to do. Like checking on his brother. He realised in that moment that he had completely forgotten about Sam and mentally punched himself. How could he have let the fact that his younger sibling was stuck alone with a Trickster slip away from his mind? Castiel was really driving him crazy, more than he usually did.

He turned around and walked quickly towards the house, hoping that Sam hadn’t been in need of his help while he was busy arguing with his former best friend. Gabriel could have claimed that he was on their side, but he didn’t trusted the archangel’s word at all. He had gone through too much by his hand to be that stupid. He growled. If something had happened to his sibling he would have never been able to forgive himself.

When he crossed the threshold the house was completely silent, but it didn’t reassure him at all. Quite the contrary. In his job, silence usually meant troubles and corpses. Trying not to imagine the worse, he immediately headed downstairs and, without bothering to knock, he unlocked the door of the panic room, flinging it open, ready to shoot if it had turned out to be necessary.

However, the sight that met his eyes was the last thing he would have expected to see and it left him completely speechless. His brother was sprawled on the folding bed, eyes closed and crumpled sheets covering his most likely otherwise naked body, while Gabriel was sat at the end of the mattress, his back against the wall and a huge amused smirk adorning his face.

Dean gaped at them for some moments, his mind putting the pieces together, and then an horrified expression spread on his face. “What the actual fuck?!” He exclaimed incredulously once he had found his voice.

The archangel bit down his lip not to laugh and Sam cracked one eye opened to look at him, disturbed by noises that had interrupted the peaceful silence of the room. The younger Winchester blinked a couple of times and then beamed in recognition, something Dean hadn’t seen him doing since when they were kids. “Hey, Dean!” He greeted dreamily, waving a hand at him.

The older hunter remained at loss of what to do for a moment and then turned towards Gabriel. Yelling at the archangel was surely easier than facing his stoned sibling at the moment. “You freaking son of bitch!” he roared, sounding astonished and furious at the same time. “You…You fucked my little brother?!”

“I didn’t,” the former Trickster denied quickly, shaking his head in the attempt to deny the obvious, which was completely vain since in the same moment Sam claimed in a cheerful voice: “Oh yeah, he did.”

“It’s better if you go back to sleep, Sammy, isn’t it?” Gabriel mumbled, glaring at the younger hunter who smiled meekly at him in response, not really aware of the tension that had filled the room. He reached out for the human’s forehead, but Dean’s voice stopped him before he could touch it.

The older Winchester’s stare had become if possible even more murderous. “What have you done to him, you prick?” He growled taking a step towards the shorter man. “And don’t you dare to put him to sleep with one of your angel tricks!”

“It’s just the side effect of the Grace I used to heal him. I repaired his soul, he doesn’t even need that stupid wall again now! He’ll have his hard time dealing with the bad memories, but he’ll get through it now that his soul is intact again,” the archangel explained calmly, opening his arms. He had no idea of what kind of picture Dean had in his head, but it was clearly the wrong one. “He will be himself again in a few hours. No need to get so pissed off, Winchester!”

“Oh, I’m not pissed! I’m fucking going to kill you! You took advantage of Sam!” he shouted, pointing at his brother, who looked between them confused, clearly not understanding why they were fighting.

“I didn’t take advantage of him!” Gabriel protested loudly, incredulous. That was offensive. He would never do such a thing. Both because he really didn’t need to and because it was everything but fun. “Who do you think I am? Trickster or not, I’m still an angel. I don’t go around raping people to pass the time!”

“He’s telling the truth, Dean. I agreed to this,” Sam stepped in, grinning widely. All that yelling was giving him headache, but the lightness inside his chest didn’t allow him to feel upset about everything. “And it was awesome! The best sex I had in my life.”

Dean’s eyes widened in horror once again and he groaned, covering his eyes with a hand. “I didn’t need to know that” he muttered exasperated. That was definitely not his day. Then he turned towards the archangel. “I changed my mind,” he claimed in a calmer tone, but he was visibly about to lose it. “Put him to sleep, my mental sanity doesn’t need other shocks.”

“With pleasure,” the former Trickster answered and he rested to fingers on the younger hunter’s forehead, making him fall asleep instantly.

The older Winchester paced around the room for a minute, trying to calm himself down. Hadn’t the fight with Castiel been enough bad news? Now he had a stone brother who had, for some obscure reason, agreed to have some weird ritual sex with an archangel. He had claimed that they would have found a way to cure Sam, at any cost, but that wasn’t surely what he had meant.

“I will need time to digest…this,” he spoke in the end, waving a hand in the direction of the bed. “So let’s not talk about it again for now. Or I’ll go get the holy oil and trap you in a circle of fire for the rest of eternity.” He licked his lips, turning his head towards Gabriel and seeking his eyes. “Just…Did it work? Is he fine now?”

The archangel nodded, his golden orbs holding the hunter’s gaze. “Yes. He’s good. No more too realistic nightmares or comas or hallucinations or whatever,” he assured in a serious tone, getting up in turn. He was quite happy to let the subject go. He didn’t want the human to ruin his good mood more than he had already done. “He just needs to sleep. And some therapy, but he’ll be fine, Deano. I promise.”

“Good.” Dean nodded, the firmness of the creature’s tone chasing away any doubts. His instinct told him that Gabriel wasn’t lying. He glanced at his sleeping brother again. Seeing him so relaxed and peaceful made him smile in spite of everything. Sam had been looking troubled and tormented for too much time during the previous years, since Jessica’s death. He deserved a break from all the shit they had to face every day. “Let’s let him rest then.”

The former Trickster nodded and followed him out of the room, shutting the door behind them. “Speaking of younger brothers, where’s mine?” He questioned then, raising an eyebrow. He couldn’t feel Castiel’s presence anywhere in the property and he didn’t like it. “You weren’t wearing a happy face when you have joined us.”

Dean couldn’t meet his eyes and let his own drop on the floor instead. “Cas is… He is gone,” he answered in a low voice, but he knew that he would be heard anyway.

Gabriel stared at him, incredulous. “Gone? What do you mean by gone?” He exploded, grabbing the older Winchester’s arm and pulling it, to force the other to face him. “You let him wander off by himself with all those angels who want him dead? How much stupid can you be?!”

The hunter struggled to break free from his iron grip, but in vain. “Listen, it wasn’t my fault! We were talking and then…He said something weird and just disappeared,” he tried to explain then, feeling the nervousness growing inside his chest. He knew that Gabriel could smite him in every moment and tear him apart in pieces so small that no one, apart maybe for God, would be able to put him together again. “I don’t know where he is. And I didn’t tell him to leave, before you ask. I…I’m furious with him, but I don’t want him to die.”

“But you don’t care enough to prevent him from risking his life” the archangel snorted harshly, rolling his eyes and letting go of the human, for the latter’s relief. He needed to stay calm even if in that moment he just wanted to send him back to Hell. Both Sam and Castiel would kick his ass if he harmed the older hunter in some way. “What have you told him to make him react that way? Apart from your usual Winchester shit.”

“I…I just told him that he couldn’t do anything to fix what he had done and that I wished I could have the old Cas back,” the hunter answered, his voice suddenly becoming slightly unsure. “He said something about knowing what to do and that he would come back and then disappeared. I’ve got no idea of what he was talking about.”

Gabriel growled in exasperation. “Oh, just great. Well done, Winchester,” he commented sarcastically, glaring at the other, his eyes shining with power. “I swear that, if something happens to Castiel, I’ll consider you personally responsible for it. And you’ll have to deal with me.” And he was gone without waiting for an answer.

Dean stared at the spot where the former Trickster had been, a dreadful feeling spreading in his stomach. He sighed, mentally cursing the day in which he had discovered that Heaven existed and that the angels were all assholes. He lingered on the stairs for some more moments, but then he climbed them heading for in the living room. Once there grabbed a random bottle of whiskey and opened it, without bothering to get a glass. If Sam could spend his day of rest enjoying happy angel-induced sleep, he could freely waste himself with alcohol. He needed to forget about everything for a while, especially about a pair broken sky-blue eyes.

ж ж ж ж ж

Charlene pulled out the keys of her small apartment from her bag and unlocked the door with a sigh. Once inside she removed her wet jacket and hanged it in the corridor, throwing her Star Wars umbrella on the floor. She didn’t mind the rain, but she totally hated it when it started to fall without warning, threatening to soak not only her but her laptop as well. She carefully extracted the latter from its case and put it on the table. It seemed fine and dry. Luckily for her the tragedy had been avoided once again.

She nodded satisfied and headed for the bathroom, getting rid of her wet clothes in the process. The water became hot in a short time and she spent a good half an hour enjoying a nice shower. The heat washed away the cold and the tension from her limbs, leaving her relaxed and much happier. She enjoyed working for the Richard Roman Enterprises, but at times she couldn’t help thinking that her bosses were constantly breathing down her neck and it made her nervous. Despite her laid-back attitude, she was a private person and she didn’t like when someone intruded into her life without her consent. Especially considering her past and her not-so-legal extra-curricular activities.

With a content sigh, Charlie got out of the shower and wrapped a big fluffy yellow towel around herself. She smiled at her reflexion in the mirror, winking at it as she rubbed her hair with another one. She had already finished her work for the day, which meant that she could spend the whole evening taking care of her hobbies and finally watching the newest episode of Games of Thrones. The file had been waiting for her on her personal hard disk for almost three days.

She left the bathroom tying her hair up in a messy, still half-wet chignon and stopped in the kitchen to make herself some hot chocolate. The floor was cool under her feat, but she didn’t mind. The air in her apartment was always warm enough for her not to feel cold.

Once the drink was ready, she moved back in the small living room with the steaming cup in her hand, eager to switch her TV on. She didn’t really remember the last time she had had a free evening all for herself. In the last period, if she hadn’t had to work, she had gone out for some kind of event. Quiet nights at home had suddenly become just a memory and she had to say that she had missed them. But now, finally she would get to relax properly. Or so she had thought. What she hadn’t expected was to find out that her living room was no longer empty when she walked back inside.

A man in his late forties was standing in front of one of her posters, studying the drawing attentively. He was wearing a fine black suit that fitted his somehow regal posture and a pair of shoes that surely cost twice times the girl’s cheap furniture. Charlie let out a surprised gasp and gripped at the edge of her towel with one of her hand, not wanting it to slide down and discover her body. The last thing she needed right now was to find herself suddenly naked.

The stranger turned around and offered her a smile that looked more like a dark malicious grin. “What interesting pieces of…art you have here, Miss Middleton,” he commented gesturing towards the posters. “But they are not exactly my cup of tea.”

The young woman stared at him for some more seconds, then she let out a deafening scream and threw the still steaming cup at him. Who the hell was that man? And how did he know her real surname? A person shouldn’t just break into someone’s apartment, subtly insult the decorations and look like a freaking mafia assassin. She felt a surge of panic at that consideration. Had she pissed off the mafia? Maybe she had hacked some account or spread by mistake some reserved information. She really couldn’t recall.

The sounds of the cup crushing against the wall in front of which the man had been standing until a second before brought her back to reality. Charlene looked around, eyes wide in surprise. The stranger had disappeared before her eyes. And she had just destroyed her favourite Lord of the Rings mug.

A polite fit of coughing made her spin around and she found herself once again facing the mystery man. He was still wearing his sinister smile and she could have sworn that his eyes were glowing with a soft red light.

“Is this how you usually welcome guests, Miss?” He asked, mockingly, but for her relief he didn’t sound too annoyed about the attack. “I guess that part of it it’s my fault, since I have showed up uninvited and without introducing myself. My name is Crowley and I run Hell. That Hell, before you ask.”

Charlie blinked at him, confused. For a moment she thought that she had had misunderstood, but the expression that the man, Crowley, was wearing chased away that doubt. “Wait a moment. Is this some kind of reality show? A trick?” She questioned then suspiciously. “And, besides, I’ve always thought that the Devil’s name was Lucifer.”

“Well, Lucifer is back in his Cage, so I took the leadership in his place. You know, if you are smart enough you can have a successful carrier in Hell too. All you need are the right qualities and the right allies,” Crowley explained nonchalantly, waving a hand as if he was explaining something obvious. “And no, my dear Charlene, this is not a show, it’s reality. I’m here because you’ll soon be able to offer me some valuable help. May I sit down? And you don’t mind if I have a drink, do you? I guess you don’t have any fine liquor here.”

She shook her head, gesturing him to make himself at home since she didn’t know what else to do, and took some steps back to let Crowley go past her. His eyes never left her as he took a sit on the small green sofa and made himself comfortable. He waved his hand again and this time a bottle of Craig scotch appeared on the plastic coffee table together with two already filled glasses. He took one and pushed the other towards Charlie, who however made no move to take it.

“If you really are the new Devil, I guess there’s no point in asking you how you know my real name,” she said carefully, approaching the couch a bit. What she had just heard should clearly be impossible, since Hell should be just a fable, but she had just seen the man teleporting himself from one side of the room to the other. She didn’t know what demons could do, assuming that the creature in front of her was a real demon, but she was sure that no human could make something appear from nowhere. Devil or psychopath with paranormal powers, she knew only one thing: the person in front of her was surely dangerous and so the best thing she could do was trying not to piss her unexpected guest off. Which meant playing his game.

She cleared her throat a bit, clenching at her towel lightly. “I…I don’t understand,” she spoke in the end, in a hesitant tone. “What could an IT employee do for the…ruler of Hell?”

“Well, I’d really like to create some kind of informatics database to help me classifying the souls and the demons that are under my watch, but this isn’t why I came here” Crowley replied as he sipped his drink, in a conversational tone that prevented the young woman from understanding if he was kidding or not. “I’m interested in your boss, Mr Roman.”

“I…I’ve never met him in person,” she quickly informed him. She had had the suspicion that the great boss wasn’t completely clean, but he had to have done something really big to catch the interest of the King of Hell. Assuming that the man in front of her was the real new Lucifer. She smiled awkwardly, her lips stretching hysterically. “I’m just an employee, and he is the owner of the company. I just get his emails, from time to time. The kind of emails that they send to all the employees, you know.”

“I know. But he’ll contact you soon once he’ll have noticed your unique brilliance. Well, it won’t be exactly him the one to contact you but those are details,” the demon said cryptically, putting on a frown. “Anyway. I want you to inform me when it happens. And to let me in on their plans. Obviously, I don’t expect you to work for me for free. We can negotiate your reward. I’m pretty powerful, so you can ask almost whatever you want. And, of course, you’ll have my protection against any possible threat while working on the job.”

Charlene raised her hands to stop him, now completely confused. “Wait a second…Mr Crowley. Their plans? And what did you mean when you said that it won’t be exactly Roman to contact me? What’s going on?”

“Oh, you are as smart as I thought. Good. I don’t like dealing with dumb people. It’s frustrating” Crowley commented, sounding oddly satisfied. He joined his fingertips in front of him. “You see, my dear, yesterday a friend of mine…Well, he’s not exactly a friend, more of an enemy actually. But this mustn’t interest you. Anyway, he opened the Door of Purgatory and freed some creatures called Leviathans. They are pretty powerful and I wish to have…how to say…the right means to offer them my partnership. As the King of Hell, I need to preserve myself and my influence here on Earth. And with the Leviathans around it would be difficult, unless I team up with them. Can you understand? It’s pure business we’re talking about.”

The young woman stared at him for a long time, digesting the information she had just received, while the demon kept politely quiet, busying himself with his glass of scotch. In the end she took a deep breath and finally reached for her own drink taking a big gulp, which caused her to cough for a while.

“So, let me see if I got it right,” she managed to say, her voice still a bit hoarse for the liquor. “This Leviathan, which has taken Richard Roman’s place, will call me to force me to work for them. And you want me to double-cross them so that I can inform you of what they want to do. With that information you’ll be able to come up with something that will allow you to do business with them. Like a spy in a rival company. But with monsters”. She blinked at the nod of approval she received. “Are you sure that this is real life? Because I’m starting to think that I passed out in the shower and that I’m leaving a very weird dream.”

“I’m pretty much sure that this is not a dream, my dear Charlene” Crowley answered, amused by her reaction. “Look at the bright sight. It means that you won’t wake up with a concussion.”

He smirked again. The girl had reacted pretty well, if he pretended to forget about the cup that had been thrown at him. She was quick and smart, so she would surely be up to the job. However, he had to be careful with her. Sure, she wouldn’t be happy to find out that the Leviathans had in store nothing good for the humans and that could make him lose his precious spy. But after all he himself knew very little about what the Purgatory creatures were up to. The only thing he could do was wait and see, and of course be prepared for anything. Patience had never been his better trait, but for once he would have to constrain his impatience and let the events do their course.

He sipped his drink. He was sure that Castiel and his companions would make their move soon, so he needed to be prepared. Then there was the question of what Raphael would do about the Leviathans issue. Knowing the archangel, she wouldn’t just sit and watch as they took possession of the planet, preventing her from starting her precious Apocalypse. There were many matters of uncertainty, and that was why he needed to choose his moves in advance. And Charlene Bradbury alias Celeste Middleton was one of them.

“So…?” the young woman offered tentatively after some minutes of silence, looking at him expectantly. She kept her voice low, not wanting to intrude too much, since her speaker looked very deep in his thoughts.

“So you need to tell me if you are in or out. Obviously once you say “yes” there’s no going back from our deal,” he answered matter-of-factly. “Do you need more persuasion? I can be pretty convincing. Shall we discuss your reward perhaps?”

Charlene shook her head. “Stop for a moment, Mr Devil,” she said crossing her arms on her chest. She was starting to feel cold, but there was no way that she would trust the King of Hell alone with her belongings. Besides, a part of her initial fear and disbelief had faded as soon as she had adapted to the strange presence that had invaded her living room and she was feeling more daring now. “I won’t agree to any deal until I have a better view of what is going on. I want to know what I’m getting myself into before playing the spy of the new Lucifer. We can discuss a trial period before signing a real deal. ‘Cause there’s no way I’m trusting the Devil, even if he is dressed so nicely and is so well-mannered. What do you say, Mr Crowley?”

The demon pretended to be considering her words for a moment. That was what he had feared. That human wasn’t so easily manipulated as her kind usually was. Not too bad, a good challenge was always nice from time to time. Besides, he could come up with other uses for her. Who knew, maybe she would turn out to be a useful weapon against the Winchesters too. He smirked to himself. He could afford to give her some more liberties.

“Alright, Charlene. You’ll have you trial period if this is what you need. However, I’d like you to do something for me in return. Just to make sure that you are up to the job,” he agreed in the end, joining the tips of his fingers again. “And please, you don’t need to use that “Mr”. We’ll be besties soon after all, don’t you agree?”

“Fine…Crowley” she nodded, feeling a bit awkward while pronouncing the name in such an informal manner. But who could blame her? The Devil had just asked her to call him as if he was one of her buddies. “What kind of job is it?”

The demon’s grin widened. “Nothing difficult or dangerous. I just want you to meet some people and make friends with them. I’ll give you the right cover,” he answered briefly. “You have the weekend free this week, haven’t you?”

Charlie bit back the urge to ask how he knew her timetables. “Yeah. Well, truth to be told I already have another engagement…”

Crowley raised an eyebrow at her before she could finish the sentence and she immediately made up: “But I can always cancel! I mean, it is just a stupid convention!” One she had been waiting for since her twentieth birthday, but she didn’t say that.

“Good. I’m sure we’ll get along, Charlene,” the King of Hell claimed satisfied as he got up. “Well, I guess I’ll leave you to your free evening, my dear. See you in two days.” He shot a look at her half-naked body. “And try not to catch a cold. It would be annoying.” And with that he was gone, together with the scotch.

The young woman let herself collapse on the sofa, letting out a breath she hadn’t realised she had been holding. That was pure madness. She had just been hired by the Devil. And she was starting in two days. In that moment the newest episode of Game of Thrones didn’t seem so important. She grabbed her laptop and switched it on. She had better do some research since she had the chance. She had no idea of what would happen next, but she had better prepare herself anyway.