The Runt of the Litter

Pain Is Pain Is Pain

There were very few options when she got right down to it.

So, Anna spread the ingredients before her and went about putting together a summoning spell.

She felt a bit ill prepared as she struck the match, but it was too late to turn back. And anyway, it wasn't like the demon on the other end of her spell was all that dangerous. Just a smartass obnoxatron with an accent. She dropped the flame into the bowl and stepped back, being careful not to scuff the lines of her devil's trap she'd created out of rice krispies. There hadn't been any better materials available that she could sweep up without the boys ever noticing it had been there. Plus, if they saw an empty cereal box in the cupboard, they might think she'd eaten today.

As the flame hit the rest of the ingredients, a reddish light emitted from the bowl with an airy sound. Anna looked up to see a short man in a black suit standing before her. She swallowed and waited for him to turn around.

"Hi, Crowley," she said seriously, hands twisting nervously into one another behind her back. She itched to pull the demon-killing knife out of her boot, but there was no reason. She didn't know why she felt so unsafe when it was only Crowley. She'd just never summoned anything by herself before. It was rare that she ever be alone with a demon, angel, or monster at all, Castiel excluded. She knew how to hide her nerves, though, so she clenched her jaw and locked her knees.

Crowley pivoted around to look at her. "Cub," he greeted, sounding and looking surprised. He made a face and turned in a circle, looking around the room in confusion. "Where's Squirrel? And Moose?"

Anna cleared her throat, trying to ignore his implication that she was some kind of child in need of supervision-- even if she was, in some ways, still a kid and did, under some circumstances, still need to be supervised. "They're not here," she said evenly, her voice strong.

"They're not... here," Crowley repeated slowly and with caution. "Is this a trap?"

"You're standing in a trap, Crowley. Why would I need to set another one?"

"You really summoned me? Just you?"

Anna scoffed, offended. "Are you kidding me right now? Just me? I can recite an exorcism or stab a demon as well as the next Winchester, Crowley, so you might think about modifying your tone."

"My tone," Crowley half-shouted. "You might think about the way you're speaking to the King of Hell, Little Girl."

Anna rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, yeah, I owe all the respect in the world to the demon king. So, you sign on the dotted line when some lowlife trades his soul for ten million. I'm not impressed."

Crowley stared at her, face slightly red. "Teenagers," he finally said and sighed. "You might have chosen another demon to throw a tantrum for. I'm a busy man."

"Yeah, I'd like to know what exactly it is you're busy doing, Crowley, because my brothers have been calling you almost every night waiting for you to say you've got your hands on something helpful and you've given us shit for answers."

"Is that what this is about? You might try learning a bit of patience." His voice raised in volume as he continued, "It's not like I'm picking up ketchup at Costco, I'm looking for the bloody First Blade. There'll be a bit of a wait."

Anna huffed angrily and shook her head. She couldn't argue with his point very well. After all, she didn't know how to get to the First Blade. Thanks to her having been shoved as far from the hunt for Abaddon as possible by two overprotective giants dressed in flannel, she hadn't even known it existed until now. But it was probably a weapon capable of killing Abaddon. That was what it sounded like. Anna had thought that the Colt would be able to take her out, though, and they wouldn't have to get nearly as close to use that as they would to use a blade of some kind.