Strange Relations

Chapter 8

Dean jumped up from the bed while shoving his phone into his pocket and grabbing the keys to the Impala. "Crowley has Dale!"

Sam looked up from his laptop. "I thought you sent her for ice?"

"That was apparently over an hour ago."

"Huh." Sam looked at his watch. "Oh, wow, it was."

Dean grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. "Now, Sammy, let's go!"

"Oh, yeah, right, I'm coming! How did we not notice she was gone for so long?"

"Because we're shitty brothers," Dean told him as they got into the car and he started the engine.

Sam made a face at him. "I wouldn't go that far, maybe slightly distracted brothers?"

"We lost Adam to Michael and now Crowley has Dale, what would you call us?" Dean replied as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Sam considered the question for a moment, but figured no answer was a good one. "How do you know Crowley has her?"

"Despite the fact that we suck, our sister is every bit a Winchester, she called me from Crowley's office."

"Wait, he wouldn't let her use the phone. This is probably a trap."

"Yeah, I don't think the word 'let' was in there, it sounded like Dale did exactly as she pleased and there was no asking involved. She pretended she was ordering a pizza and called my cell."

Sam burst out laughing. "She's a Winchester all right."

Dean grinned. "She is."

***

Dale twisted around and glanced at the office door. "What is that?"

Crowley ignored her.

She stared at the door, frowning. "Do I hear singing?"

"Ignore it," he muttered without looking up.

She cocked her head to one side. "It is singing. Are those demons?"

"They're new, ignore them," he grumbled. "Stupid accident, bloody Disneyland. Shouldn't send new crossroads demons to make contracts," he muttered.

She chose, instead, to ignore him, she stood and crossed to the door, pulling it open. She was hit by a blast of loud music. She took a step back, glancing over her shoulder at him. "You have got to be kidding me? I've heard of using music to torture people but you've taken it to an all time low."

"Not my idea, trust me. I am the only one being tortured on a daily basis by that infernal noise."

She looked back into the corridor, only to see several demons dance past down the hallway while singing It's A Small World. Very slowly, she closed the door. "That has got to be the strangest thing I've ever seen and I'm currently sitting in the King of Hell's office."

"It gets stranger trust me, you haven't been here for musicals night," he commented.

"I think you've lost control of Hell, are you sure it wouldn't be better to abdicate and let someone else take control?" She dropped back into her seat. "I can recommend a few replacements."

He looked up at her. "You are ever entertaining, love, but no. I can choose to ignore the small faction of rabble-rousers in favor of the greater good. Besides, they're new and they'll soon learn the consequences of their actions."

She drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair in boredom and wished her brothers would hurry up and get here. She leaned forward and picked up a picture from the corner of his desk and turned it so she could look at it. The image was of a blond girl, hair up in a ponytail, wearing a white blouse, pink poodle skirt, and an adorable little white sweater.