FADED ▷ Sam Winchester [2]

26 | LEVEL OF CONCERN

"Crowley, shut up," the elder Winchester says. "Seriously." He begins to shine his light at the ground. After walking a little bit, we find a dead guy on the ground. Has to be Marcus, Gwen's boyfriend.

"Ramsey dragged him back to her den," Crowley says. Dean shines the light ahead.

"Well, it's empty," he says. "So where is she now?"

•••

By the time we get to Sam and Gwen, he's already taken care of Ramsey. He wasn't hurt; neither was Gwen. However, the Hellhound did put a dent in the hood of the impala.

"And this is why you don't drive," Dean bitches.

"Just be happy they're safe, dumbass," I hit Dean's shoulder again. He looks at me funny.

"Ow! Stop doing that!" He says.

"So, it's over?" Gwen asks.

"It's over," Crowley repeats. I laugh when Gwen steps over and gives Crowley a hug from the side.

"Thank you," she says.

"Ah, dog dead," Crowley says when she pulls away. "Must be going."

"Hey, Crowley, wait a second," Sam says. "Thank you."

There's a pause when Crowley just looks at him, before disappearing completely.

"He seems nice," Gwen says.

"Yeah," Dean says, rolling his eyes. "Lets get in. Hopefully it still runs." He gestures to the car. It's got a crack in the windshield as well as the dent. Oh, well.

•••

"Cas, what's up?" Dean puts his phone on speaker as we walk down the steps into the bunker.

"Hey, I think I have a lead on Kelly Kline," Castiel says over the phone.

"Yeah?"

"She's with Dagon. Prince of Hell."

"All right, what do we know about him?" Sam asks.

"Actually, it's a her, and not much," Cas says. "It's just rumors and stories. Dagon is mostly known for her psychotic savagery."

"Great. So where's Kelly?" Sam asks, setting his duffel bag on the table.

"Well, she was in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Now I'm not sure."

"All right, we'll spread the word," Dean says. "Let us know if you find anything."

"Of course."

They hang up the phone. Dean looks at it curiously for a moment. "Did he sound weird to you?"

But Sam doesn't answer because his phone buzzes and he turns to look at it.

"Oh is that your computer talking to you again?" Dean asks.

"Sweet, another one!" I rub my hands together. "I get the shower first this time." I walk away before they can argue with me.

By the time I get washed and put clean clothes on, Sam is knocking at my room door.

I open it, raising my eyebrows. "Uh, you don't have to knock," I say. He smiles about halfway.

"Right," he says, stepping inside.

"So where's the next case?"

"Um..." he starts. He sounds nervous. I look at him.

"Sam, what's up?" I say, taking a seat at the edge of my bed.

"I haven't been getting cases from the computer," he says. I raise my eyebrows.

"Okay?" I say, not seeing where he is going.

"Uh... I've been working with the British Men of Letters for the past couple of weeks," he admits.

"Huh?" I say, too dumbfounded to say anything else.

"Well, you know, because of Mick and his guys, the Alpha vamp is dead," he points out. "They get results."

"Oh," I say, folding my arms and standing. "Oh, Sam, this is awesome!" I put my hands on his shoulders. "We're so lucky that we can get results now, instead of running around with our heads up our asses! It's just wonderful!"

I take my hands off his shoulders and the smile is off my face. "You're mad," he says.

"I hate them, Sam," I say, trying to keep my cool. "Do you remember what they did to you? If someone did that to my foot, I would probably take their heads off, and you wanna work with them? You're crazy six ways from Sunday."

"We just worked a case with Crowley," Sam points out. "We don't like him. Hell, you told me you've worked with Lucifer. They can't be as bad as him."

I put my hands on my hips and exhale deeply, not knowing what to say. "I hate that you brought that up. I'm older and wiser now. I can't make those kinds of mistakes again."

"It's not a mistake, Bailey," he says, this time putting his hands on MY shoulders. "I don't like everything they do either, but dammit, they ARE getting results. Faster than we do. Just give them a chance. Please."

"Hmm," I say, wondering. "Give me a kiss." That was very brave of me, and I'm a little surprised when he leans in and presses his mouth to mine. It's a short sweet one, and when he pulls away, I smile sheepishly. "Okay. But I don't have to like it, do I?"

He laughs, and I'm glad the mood got lighter, and he leans in to kiss me again.