This chapter takes place during Season 6 Episode 15 and then through Episode 21 because I have no regard for the canon timeline this season LoL. I am not responsible for spoilers in the comments.
After a few weeks, Marley was bored out of her mind. With their focus so heavily on Purgatory and finding Eve, which Marley was happy about, there were very few other monster hunts they were going on. Which meant she couldn't kill anything. She went from hunting and killing pretty much every day, to sitting in a study reading books for hours on end. Sure there had been the occasional case, but even then it wasn't guaranteed that she would get to make a kill. She knew that she was doing what Crowley wanted- gathering information on Purgatory, tracking down their best lead... but it freaking sucked.
So when Bobby announced that he was going on a supply run in the middle of a torrential rainstorm, Marley volunteered to go with him. Apparently they were out of beer, and as opposed to waiting until the storm was over, they couldn't last that long without their "hunter's helper" so they would be braving the storm. The boys stayed behind to continue researching, but Marley was going to lose her freaking mind if she had to stay in that house any longer.
They decided to head to the local Gas 'N Sip for the beer and some snacks- because Marley was starving and Dean wanted pie. The fact that they made it to the gas station alive was a miracle in and of itself considering the windshield wipers trying to keep up with the rain was like watching a high schooler keep up with Usain Bolt. The gears grinded as Bobby shifted the half a century year old truck into park. Under the canopy of the gas station, the thundering of the rain pelting the metal roof sounded like someone was dumping golf balls onto it.
As the walked into the gas station, the attendant raised his eyebrows in disbelief that there were idiots actually out in this weather. Bobby headed for the beer while Marley walked over to their pie display. Her eyes scanned over the selection before landing on a mini blueberry pie. She stared at it and her hand reached up to scratch the back of her head in an attempt to satisfy the itch in her brain. Suddenly, it felt like her body couldn't bring in air, like being slammed with the coldest bucket of ice water imaginable. She stumbled backwards, away from the pie, the mark on her arm flared with a pain that she hadn't felt since the beginning. The memory hit her with such force that she felt like she was watching it play out in front of her like some out of body experience.
"So tell me what kind of person sees a shredded guy on the floor and less than an hour later is ready to eat pie?"
She snuck a glance at him out of the corner of her eye, finding his hard green eyes on her. He was studying her, clearly not having bought her cover story. Sure he was attractive, anyone with eyes could see that, but she didn't care. Her only goal was to get the heck out of this gas station and never see anyone in it ever again. Although she did have to give him props for trusting his gut and not just believing her.
Marley chuckled at his question despite herself and picked up a mini blueberry pie. "That's the funniest thing you said so far."
Her gray eyes sparkled with mischief as she saw him floundering at her response. She was proud of herself. So far he'd been one of the few people she'd met that could keep up with her sarcasm. She smirked at him as she walked away and out the door, his voice calling behind her.
"I wasn't- that was a serious question!"
Marley's hand was gripped onto the shelf behind her, her breaths coming out in gasps. She had had memories resurface before, but not like this. This memory... she hadn't remembered it until now, it was like she had forgotten about it. But how could she forget meeting them? A groan of pain escaped her and she grabbed her wrist that was beginning to feel like a freaking flamethrower. Why hadn't she remembered that?
"Marley?"
Her eyes shot up, wide with panic for a moment, her brain still too split for her Hound side to take control and give her composure. With Bobby there as a distraction now, the pain subsided and she could feel her brain start working again.
"I'm good." His eyes were narrowed at her and he didn't take any steps closer to her, so she continued. "Just thought I saw Crowley for a second. PTSD crap, it happens sometimes."
"Uh huh."
Well that's a total vote of confidence right there. She quickly moved and grabbed 4 pies, apple, pecan, cherry, and shoofly. She started walking to the register, her eyebrows raising as she asked Bobby if he was ready.
The drive back was filled with the sound of rain and dead silence. About halfway back, Marley finally spoke up, feeling that it was necessary to try and gauge where Bobby was at.
"Are we okay? It just seems like you've been waiting for the shoe to drop or something since I got back."
Bobby didn't take his eyes off the road, which honestly was probably a smart move considering the road condition. He also didn't speak at first, and Marley thought he was going to ignore her.
"Just worried about ya, kid."
And that was it. That was all he said, and yet Marley felt like he was holding back and she didn't know why. But she let it go, not wanting to press him and make herself look suspicious.
In the less than 10 seconds it took to get from the truck to the porch, Marley was drenched. Once under the covering of the porch, which to be fair did have some holes that were leaking water, she shook her her head like a dog, water spraying in every direction. Bobby sent her a weird look, but walked into the house without a word, Marley following behind.
"We got pie!" She yelled when she didn't see the boys sitting in the study anymore.
A muffled response back came up from the basement, causing her and Bobby to share a look of confusion before heading down there, supplies ditched on the dining room table. The wooden steps creaked beneath their weight as they walked down, still not seeing the boys until they turned and saw them in the panic room. Weirdos.
"What are you idjits doing down here?"
Sam looked up from the book they were both studying. "Dean thought he remembered reading something about Purgatory in a book in here one time, so we're trying to find it."
"We've been looking for Purgatory for how long and you only just now thought of this?" Bobby's voice was exhausted but there was a tinge of amusement in it.
"What can I say? Sometimes I'm an idiot." His voice was slightly harder than normal, so Marley figured they'd been looking for awhile and he was getting frustrated.
"Well now there's two more of us, so we should be able to find it pretty quick." Marley offered him a small smile of reassurance, but Dean didn't even look up to see it.
"I'm gonna go grab us some beers." Sam spoke as he stood up, the wooden chair screeching slightly on the cement as he did so.
He walked past her and out of the room. A second later Bobby spoke up from behind her.
"There's a box of books that I had moved out of here a little while back, lemme go grab those in case it's in there."
And then Bobby was gone too. Marley walked over to Dean and sat beside him on the cot, the mattress dipping slightly, causing Dean's body to lean more in her direction.
"So you really think you're going to find Purgatory with whatever's in this book?" The hope in her voice wasn't fake, she genuinely hoped that they were closing in on it.
She watched Dean's body as he took a deep breath before turning to her with a smile. "That's the hope. Did you get pie?"
"Of course." She grinned at him and Dean scooted himself further away from her, causing the smile to fall off her face. "Did I do something?"
There was the slightest flash of panic in his eyes before he shook his head, his nose scrunching. "You kind of smell like wet dog though."
A short laugh escaped her before she could stop it and the smile was back on her face. "Jerk."
Dean offered her a small smile before standing to his feet. "I'm gonna go grab some pie. You want any?"
"Apple, please."
Marley smiled at him, for once not exposing her canines, and her happiness reaching her eyes. It was enough to make Dean pause for an extra moment before he walked towards the exit. Marley's eyes fell down to the book Dean had been reading.
Traces of these beliefs survive in the later Abrahamic religions that came to dominate the region. Ghosts were thought to be created at time of death-
What the heck? Ghosts? Ghosts were just about the one thing they hunted that wasn't a monster that would go to Purgatory. So why the-
With a clang that felt like it reverberated in her head, the door to the panic room slammed shut. Marley was on her feet instantly, but when she tried to open the door, it wouldn't budge. She tried again, using every ounce of strength that she had. Nothing. She took a breath, keeping any panic at bay.
"Hey Dean! I think the door accidentally locked itself." She waited, but there was no response. "Dean!" Nothing, so she tried again. "Sam! Bobby! Anybody?"
But there was no response. She shifted into her Hound form to give herself full access to her increased senses, and focused her hearing. She could hear Dean pacing on the floor in the study. His boots sounded slightly lighter than Sam's and too fast for Bobby's. That combined with the changing in depths of thuds told her he was walking partly on the wooden floorboards and partly on a rug. Their voices were slightly muffled through the iron clad panic room, but she could still hear the arguments.
"We don't know if it's true." Dean snapped. "It was an alternate reality, okay, who knows if any of it actually had to do with our lives!"
"Dean," Sam's voice was soft. "Even you gotta admit she's been off from the jump."
"So what? She spent a year with Crowley in Hell, of course she's going to be off." Even from this far down, she could hear the emotion in his voice.
Bobby finally spoke up, his voice soft but unwavering. "Look, I know this is hard for you to admit because of what it means, especially about the past couple of weeks, but that thing down there isn't Marley, it's Crowley." Dean had stopped pacing finally, so Bobby continued on, his voice laced with the slightest bit of pain, knowing how hard this was for his boy. "So go do whatcha gotta do, because if Crowley's still out there, he's still looking for Purgatory, and we gotta stop him."
Then there was silence, and Marley thought that was the end of it. It had the note of finality from Bobby. But then Sam spoke, his voice hesitant, not because of what he was saying, but because he was worried about the reaction it would bring out.
"I could make her tell us the truth. Tell us everything she knows about Crowley's plan so we can get ahead of him."
"No."
That was all Dean said, but he said it with such a tone of finality and certainty that he didn't need to say anything else. And that caused Marley to cock her head. This was a war between them, or at least a very intense game of chess, either way, they should be taking every advantage they had to win. They had just captured the queen or the General, depending on your preferred analogy, who knew the plan of attack and knew what was behind enemy lines. She was the literal answer to all of their problems and questions, and yet Dean had said no without blinking.
"I can at least tell her she has to-"
"We're not telling her to do anything!" Dean snapped before his voice became sightly quieter. "I'm not doing that to her."
"It might be what's best for her." There was a pause where she imagined Dean sending Bobby a very betrayed look before the old man continued speaking. "If it's going to keep her safe from Crowley-"
"She's as safe from Crowley as she can be in that room, but we are not controlling her."
There was almost an anger in his voice that left Marley incredibly confused at why he was turning on his own family for her and why he was so adamantly against getting answers. But she shook it off as she heard Dean coming down the stairs.
Marley shifted back, preparing for the showdown that was about to happen. Even if she could somehow convince them that she was herself and Crowley wasn't involved, they were too suspicious of her. They weren't going to tell her anything, which meant she was done. Crowley would want her pulled out at this point, but that would mean she had failed him. So when the little window on the door opened, Marley had solidified her plan.
"Dean," Her eyes were wide with confusion. "What's going on?"
He didn't respond, he just stared at her. Marley opened her mouth to ask again, planning on sounding broken this time to try and elicit some emotion from him, but he beat her to the punch.
"How long?" His voice was hard, matching the mask that he currently wore, but there was just the slightest hint of a waver to it, a crack.
Marley's brow pinched together, her facial expression saying that she thought maybe he had gone a little unhinged. "How long what?"
"How long has Crowley been controlling you?"
Marley let a few seconds go past after he had snapped at her. Partly because she was genuinely surprised that this was the question he was asking. If he really wanted the answer, why wasn't Sam down here demanding she answer truthfully? But she also allowed the time to pretend like she was processing his question before allowing a look of hurt to flash across her face.
"You think Crowley is controlling me?" Her voice had lowered to a whisper that was tinged with sadness.
Dean's eyes searched her face before he let out a scoff, shaking his head, and running a hand down his face. "No, no I'm not falling for this crap." He locked his eyes with her once again, but the angry mask was beginning to crack, and beneath it was something even deeper than sadness, it was pain. "Answer the dang question!"
"He's not controlling me Dean!" Her voice came out in a cry, desperate for him to believe her. "I know I've been a little different since I've been back, but if you knew the things he had me do..."
"Like what?" Dean threw his hands out to the side, looking at her with exasperated expectancy. "Cause you haven't told me crap about your time with him."
"It's..." Her voice cracked, tears shining in the back of her eyes. "It's not something I really want to talk about."
"It doesn't matter if you want to!" Dean's voice had risen, desperation was beginning to peak through. "You're the one that said you wanted to make us work. You're the one that said we need to talk to each other about stuff. So don't give me this bull crap that the reason you haven't talked about Hell with me is because you didn't want to. We're supposed to be able to talk to each other about the hard stuff Marley!"
"I'm sorry." Marley whispered, a tear falling down her face. "Look if you want to talk, we can talk, but you gotta open the door. I'll tell you anything you want."
"What? Like you love me?" Dean's voice cracked and so did the mask, his pain suddenly overwhelming every feature on his face. He looked like he'd been punched in the gut by his dead mom. His voice lost its volume, falling to a quiet, broken tone that should have broken her heart. "Did he tell you to tell me that? Or was that some kind of sick twisted game that you came up with on your own?"
"No." Marley shook her head, coming closer to the door to emphasize her truth. "Crowley had nothing to do with that, okay? I do, I love yo-"
"Don't lie to me!" He slammed his hand into the iron door so hard that it sent shocks the whole way up his arm. The anger was back, but he left the pain mixed in. "We went on our first date together. You showed me your house. You told me you loved me." His eyes were beginning to brim with tears as he finally faced the truth that he had so desperately wanted to avoid. "And it turns out you really were a wolf in sheep's clothing. Just following Crowley's orders." He shook his head in disgust, his green eyes never leaving hers. "I slept with a freaking monster."
He held her gaze for a moment longer before slamming the little window shut, right before a tear slipped down his face.
"Dean!" She cried out, her voice cracking at just the right moment. "Dean, please. Please just listen to me." A sob escaped her and the last thing she spoke came out quieter. "I really do love you."
But there was no response, and Marley was left to sit alone in the panic room. After a few minutes and the door still not opening, Marley let out a huff, annoyance replacing the other emotions on her face. Welp. She had tried her best.
"Hey squirrel." Her voice had lost any trace of sadness it had, her goal was to let him know she wanted to talk, and this seemed like her best shot. "You want to talk? Let's talk."
In all honesty, she was hoping that her original plan would have screwed with him a little more. But he was Dean freaking Winchester and he was a hard nut to crack. So she figured she'd try one last thing for Crowley's benefit, especially considering they'd undoubtedly figured her out.
But there was no response. She either had pissed Dean off, or he needed a break to regroup. Either way, she was stuck sitting there for hours. She ended up flopping down on the cot, staring up at the fan on the ceiling. How long were they going to leave her down here? If she were in their shoes she'd leave her down here until they found Purgatory. After all, Crowley and his demons couldn't get into the room so why interact with her at all? Because they were human. That was her thought as the little window opened, revealing Sam and Bobby on the other side. No Dean, interesting.
"If we come in there are you going to kill us?"
Marley couldn't tell if he was joking or not. Ultimately she decided on yes, but he was also hopeful that she would give a straight answer. So she did, because she knew it would mess with them, and she herself was hopeful about getting Sam into the room. She had to get him in here to have any hope of knocking him out so that she could escape. As long as he was out and about, all he had to do was say one word and she'd be stuck.
"No." She shook her head, her eyes locked with Sam's, holding an earnestness to them. "I would never hurt you."
Sam's brow furrowed as he looked at her. "You'll answer all of Bobby and my questions honestly." She nodded her head, only wanting to them the truth. "Would you really never hurt me?"
"My job is to protect you Sam." Marley shrugged. "A direct order to do otherwise, I don't know what wins. But I would try and find every loophole possible, and do whatever caused you the least amount of harm."
He stared at her for a moment, confusion flashing through his eyes at her words. Finally he glanced at Bobby for a second before back at Marley. "Step away from the door."
Immediately she obliged. Part of her was glad that she had a shot at getting out of here, but the other part of her knew the danger she was in with Sam trying to take over Crowley's orders. So she decided to give one last ditch effort to protect Crowley.
"You sure you want to do this?" They both looked at her in slight confusion and she arched an eyebrow. "Go behind Dean's back? He's gonna be pissed."
"He knows this is the best thing to do."
Marley hummed in amusement before strolling back to the cot and taking a seat criss cross applesauce. "Cause nothing says love quite like forcing someone to do something against their will."
"And yet that's exactly what Crowley's doing to you. We're doing this to get you out."
"Righteous Sam." Marley muttered before looking him dead in the eye. "So sure that you're on the right side. Remind me again how that worked out with Ruby?"
He let a sharp breath out his nose, his jaw tensing as he looked away from her. A smirk made it's way onto her face.
Bobby was the one that asked the first question considering Sam was still very much in his own head. "What's your guys' plan to find Purgatory?"
"Crowley doesn't tell me much. Even as his right hand, he's still a very close to the vest type of guy." Marley offered a shrug. "I think he's trying to find Eve, but he needs her alive to tell him where Purgatory is."
"Then why are you here with us?" Sam's arms were crossed across his chest, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Why aren't you out hunting Eve."
"Because you guys are." Marley said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Why waste time and resources trying to find the monster that the two idiots with a knack for hunting monsters are already hunting?"
"But that doesn't explain why he sent you here. He knows I can control you, so why risk it?"
Marley shrugged. She honestly had no clue why he would risk it. "Don't know. But I think his goal of me being here was to screw with Dean enough to knock him off the board."
Sam's face twisted in what almost looked like admiration. "You're a Trojan horse."
"Yup."
Bobby spoke up again, clearly having debated what question was going to give them an answer they needed. "What's something about Crowley's plan that you know, that we don't?"
Marley pursed her lips in thought for a moment before a grin spread across her face that sent chills down their spines. Now she hated having to give information away on Crowley, but she also wanted to make Sam happy. And there just so happened to be one thing she knew that she was all too happy to tell them.
"Castiel." She watched their facial expressions closely, taking note of the confusion. "You wanna know how we're always one step ahead, ask the angel you've been telling all your plans to."
"No." Sam shook his head. "Cas would never betray us, and he'd never work for Crowley."
"He's not working for him, he's working with him. He wants the souls in Purgatory just as bad as Crowley does so that he can win his civil war."
Bobby let out a small sigh and looked at Sam, his voice quiet. "Would explain why he accidentally burned the wrong bones and let Crowley walk."
Sam made an "I guess yeah" face as he tried to think about the past few months. "And why he only shows up to help when we're about to die."
"I'm sorry." Marley interjected, leaning forwards on the cot towards them. "Why is this up for debate? I literally can't lie, remember?"
"But you're suggesting-"
"Not suggesting. I'm telling you. Castiel needed help to win his civil war. He was going to go to Dean for help, but I kicked his butt and then he made a deal with Crowley." Were those 2 incidences related? Not necessarily. Did she win the fight? No. But they didn't need to know that. "I wanted no part of it, so I have no idea what the specifics of the deal were, but I'm guessing the gist of it is they go halfsies on purgatory."
"Great." Sam muttered, running a hand down his face. "Just great."
"What the heck's going on here?"
All heads turned to look at Dean who was standing in the doorway of the panic room, his eyes flicking between everyone in the room. Marley's nose twitched and her eyes were drawn down to the brown paper bag he carried that was tagged with the Biggersons logo, grease stains towards the bottom, and the smell of a bacon cheeseburger seeping through.
Her eyes lifted up to Dean in confusion. She had just stabbed him in the back, ripped his heart out, whatever analogy you want to use, she had crushed him. And he brought her food. His green eyes found hers and in almost the same instant the mark began to burn on her wrist. She forced herself to look away from him and back to Sam and Bobby who had a noticeable lack of guilt on their face.
"They're having me tell them everything I know about Crowley's plan." Marley spoke simply, excited now for the chaos to ensue.
Dean's eyes snapped to Sam, a look of anger mixed with betrayal washing over his face. "I told you not to-"
"Look, Dean, I know, but-"
"No." Dean snapped, advancing into the room, the bag crinkling as his hand tightened into a fist. "I made it very clear that this was not an option."
"Which is why I did it for you." Sam wasn't backing down and Marley really wished that Dean had given her the food. "You can't think objectively when it comes to her. We're trying to stop Crowley from gaining access to Purgatory, so we need to be willing to use every tool that we have to do so."
"Tool?" Deans voice remained raised. "Do you hear yourself right now? This is Marley we're talking about, not some weapon at our disposal." His gaze turned to Bobby. "And you're on board with this? Just using her because we can?"
"It's not like it's an easy decision kid, but yeah, your brother's right. We need an advantage over Crowley considering he's been five steps ahead of us. So if that means asking her a few questions, I'm willing to do that."
Dean shook his head in disbelief, his lips slightly parted as he looked between the two of them. How could they turn on her so easily?
"At least let me tell her some stuff to help her stay out from under Crowley once she goes back."
"No." Dean looked like he was about to throttle his brother. "You have no idea what precautions Crowley has in place, what your commands are going to do to her."
Sam's eyes moved to Marley and for a second she thought that was going to be the end of it, but then he opened his mouth. "Marley, when you go back to Crowley, keep doing what you have to do to survive and convince Crowley you're still under his control, but you don't have to listen to his orders anymore." Thoughtful. But one order from Crowley and she would listen to him again. Dean gave his brother another warning, but Sam kept going. "When he puts you in a situation that you don't think is right, try and listen to your heart."
Listen to your heart? Seriously? That was the best he had? He needed to be a lot more thoughtful and specific with his commands if he had any hope of beating Crowley at his game. But that was the end of his orders, because Dean socked him in the face. Marley was presented with the perfect opportunity that she needed. She could try and run, but considering there were 3 of them, one of them was bound to notice before she was out of earshot and then Sam would be able to stop her. Her best option was to add on the attack and knock Sam out considering that no one else could control her.
So in that split second where the shock was still effecting everyone, Marley once again launched to her feet. Part of her felt bad that she was going to knock Sam out, but most of her just wanted to get back to Crowley. In Sam's defense he did manage to get her name out of his mouth, but her fist collided with his jaw before he could say Stop. Dean was at an angle where he didn't see her until it was too late, and Bobby was too slow. As Sam's body crumpled to the floor, the other men in the room turned to her with wide eyes. If she wanted to, she could kill them all, here and now. But she didn't want to, not even a little. So she gave them a quick smile and then made to leave, but Dean had to open his mouth.
"Marley, wait."
She stopped, not out of curiosity or because of anything to do with his request, but because she remembered the burger. She could feel their eyes on her as she made her way over to the bag, Bobby itching to go for a weapon but knowing the only thing that would stop her was a kill shot and anything less he might as well be shooting himself. The aroma of bacon overwhelmed her nose as she opened the bag and took a deep breath in.
"We'll find a way to get you back, I promise."
Marley's eyes flitted over to him. "You've got a lot bigger things to deal with Dean-o." She cocked her head, a thought occurring to her. "Unless you wanted to team up? We all want to find Eve."
Bobby looked at her like she had 3 heads. "Do you hear yourself right now?"
A look flickered across Dean's face as he studied her, his voice quiet as if being too loud would change things. "You're trying to help us."
Marley's face twisted, a hard look coming over her face. "Or maybe I know that when we get to the end Crowley would end up on top and you guys would end up screwed."
There was a pause from both of them, both confused. Marley had just suggested a team up before 2 seconds later saying that it would screw over the boys. What the heck was wrong with her? Dean saw her confusion and decided to try and take advantage of her moment of vulnerability.
"Aren't you worried Crowley's going to do the same to you?" Dean's voice was soft, like he was holding her hand.
Marley shook her head, her gaze unwavering. "No. He needs me."
"He's manipulating you Marley. He's a demon, it's what they do best."
Everything about him was genuine, his tone was earnest, but Marley didn't believe him. "No he's not."
"He kidnapped you and brainwashed you."
Marley found herself growing defensive. "No he didn't. He helped me figure out who I really was when no one else could give me a straight answer." Her eyes searched his face, trying to figure out why he couldn't understand this. "And then he showed me how to reach my full potential."
"What, murdering innocent people?"
Marley's jaw ticked, pissed off that he would suggest that, and she took a step towards him. "I'm the Hound of Hell. I'm the barrier between the King and everyone else. I come up with solutions for his problems, and yes, sometimes that means killing. We work as a team. He isn't controlling me, Dean. I want to be there because it's what I'm good at."
"And who told you that?"
An awkward silence filled the space between them and Marley swallowed. She was good at it, she knew that, she saw it every day that she worked for Crowley. But originally? She could still hear his voice talking to her like he was reading her instruction manual. It was a few weeks in, back when she was still hesitant to fully embrace who she was.
"Don't tell me you don't wake up with the sound of your heart pounding in your ears. The taste of blood in your mouth. You're a wolf in sheep's clothing Marley. You're hiding your instincts, every minute of every day so that no one will know what you really are. A soldier. A predator. A killer."
And he was right. As soon as he said it, she knew he was right. Ever since Ramiel had released her full Hound side, the urge to kill was strong. It was almost an innate need to do so. The part that scared her was she had no idea if it was because of the Hound in her or because of how many people she had been killing that it was now an addiction... because of the people Crowley had told her to kill.
If she thought the pain in the gas station was intense, that was nothing compared to the wall that slammed into her now. The bag of food dropped from her hand and she took off. Running away from the house and the people inside as fast as she possibly could. But the pain didn't stop, causing her to collapse just over a mile away.
The pain was so intense, it was like she had been dropped in the middle of a raging forest fire. She was on the ground, clutching her arm to her chest and gritting her teeth. A scream slowly began to escape her as the pain refused to let up. She was going to die.
Suddenly the pain disappeared, the echo of a finger snap reverberating in her ears. Slowly, she peeled her eyes open and they trailed up to see Crowley looking down at her, hands stuffed in his pants pockets, a slight tilt to his head, and an almost amused expression on his face. In that moment any doubt she had about working for Crowley melted away. How could she have ever thought that he was forcing her to do stuff she wouldn't normally do? He was here, saving her, helping her, taking away her pain. He would never do that to her.
"And here I thought you would be causing this much pain to Squirrel, not the other way around." He offered a lame shrug. "But I guess you lasted longer than I thought you would."
Marley's brow pinched together in confusion and she slowly got to her feet, testing out every muscle as she did so considering they had all just been on fire a minute ago. "Wait... you knew I wouldn't-"
"Gosh, of course I knew. I've met you and I've met that flannel wearing monkey. I needed them distracted while Castiel and I were working on actual leads for Purgatory. They'll be playing catch up."
Marley nodded her head slowly, realizing even when she thought she had him figured out, she was wrong. "What's the next part of the plan?"
"Nothing that concerns you for now. Take some time off again, and if I need you back on the board I'll let you know."
He said it with such simplicity, like he was brushing off a fly. She almost felt hurt by it. They were closing in on Purgatory and he was putting her on the bench?
"I can help, you know." She looked at him, a hint of desperation in the back of her eyes.
Crowley nodded his head, matching her desperation with what she thought was sincerity. "I know. But for now I need you to trust my plan, which for you, at the current moment, means taking a break."
~~~~~~~
So she took a break. Thankfully since the boys knew Crowley was alive and she was still with him, she was allowed to be out and about in the world again. Monster hunts and demon deals. Her world was finally getting back to normal. If she wasn't killing idiots or bagging monsters, she was hanging out with Griff. She'd honestly missed him a little during her undercover op.
She was currently at his place, sitting on the kitchen counter as he made up some bacon. He was going on about some idiot college kid that was summoning demons... but he thought he was a magician that was just making people appear and disappear with corresponding spells. It would have been rather amusing, but Marley wasn't really listening. She kept going back to those last few moments with Dean. Him refusing to let Sam order her to do anything and then bringing her food after everything she put him through... it still baffled her.
"You've been with humans a lot..." She began out of the blue, pausing as she tried to figure out how exactly she wanted to word this.
Griff looked away from the pan on the stove and rolled his eyes to the sky in exasperation. "You haven't been listening to a word of my absolutely hysterical story have you?" No answer from Marley, so he let out an over dramatic sigh. "Before you begin, I feel the need to point out that you've been with humans most of your life too."
"Why would someone refuse to do something that was clearly beneficial for them?"
"Is that seriously all the information I get to base my answer off of?" Marley shrugged, her eyes trained on the handle of the cabinet across from her. "Well, then..." He let out a pshhhh sound as he blew air out his mouth. "Uh, could be a variety of things I guess. Maybe it wasn't beneficial to them, maybe it went against their morals, maybe it hurt someone they loved, maybe whatever the risk was wasn't worth the reward. Could be anything."
He looked at Marley with raised eyebrows, waiting to see if anything he said had stood out to her. Maybe if he was lucky she'd tell him the story behind the question. She always had the best freaking stories.
"And if none of that is the case?" Marley asked, lifting her eyes to meet Griff's.
She had evaluated each statement that he had given her, and none of it fit. Sam giving her orders would have been massively beneficial to them in a multitude of ways. It wasn't really against their morals to do so, they'd done far worse given end of the world circumstances like this. Dean didn't love her, that he had made clear. And there was no real risk here, all Sam had to do was tell her to do something, and they would've reaped the reward. There was no logical reason for them to not use Sam's blood against her own.
"Well then it's definitely the third one and the idiot just doesn't realize that's how the person feels about them." Griff smirked at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"But he doesn't love me."
Griff grinned, pointing the tongs at her. "So this is about Dean!" He let out the tiniest little giggle as he turned back to the bacon, the grin still on his face as he whispered to himself. "I love Dean stories."
"They figured out I was playing them and they locked me in the panic room."
Griff snorted. "Locked in a room of your own creation... no deeper meaning there."
Marley rolled her eyes and continued. "Upstairs I could hear them arguing. Bobby and Sam both voted that Sam should use his power to have me tell them Crowley's plan. But Dean immediately shot them down. Said there was no way they were doing that."
"Oh." Griff's eyebrows raised. "Ohhhh." He turned around to look at her again. "Oh he really loves you."
"No." Marley shook her head. "He couldn't say it back."
"Say it back?!" Griff's eyes were as wide as saucers and he looked like he was about to start jumping up and down. "So you... you told him you loved him?"
Marley let out a sigh. "It was an accident. I don't think Crowley would have wanted me to, but it just kind of slipped out."
A short laugh escaped him before he was grinning like an idiot. "Dude this is huge!"
"Againnnn..." Marley drawled out slowly because she knew she was speaking to a 5 year old. "He doesn't feel the same way."
Griff let out a sigh of exasperation, knowing that he wasn't going to get through to her. "Look. He does, but you don't believe that. What you have to believe is that he does love you at least in the familial sense. He told his brother no for you. His brother." He gave her a very pointed look. "Even you have to know how huge that is."
Marley shrugged. There had to be some other reason. Maybe he was worried it would activate Sam's love for demon blood again or something if he used any part of his power. That had to be it. Because yes, she knew Dean cared about her, that much was obvious, but not like that. Not more than Sam, not more than Bobby. She wasn't a part of that, she didn't think she ever could be. She was like Cas. Told they were family, but clearly held at arms length because of what they were and the damage potential they had.
"Maybe he used to love me in some way, but..." She pursed her lips, shaking her head and letting out a breath. "He's right. I'm a monster. If he met me now, he would shoot me, no hesitation."
Griff shrugged, passing her a plate of bacon. They both ate their bacon in a comfortable silence. Marley thinking about what it would be like if she met Dean now, and Griff wondering what the odds were Marley was emotionally damaged enough to sleep with him tonight.
A few seconds later, she was on her feet, plate abandoned on the counter, a smile on her face. "Got to go. Crowley needs me."
"Have fun." Griff gave her a two fingered salute as she left.
Marley was speed-walking to the throne room, beyond ready for whatever task Crowley had for her. Whatever it was, it was big. She hadn't actually seen him since she came back, he'd just been having demons deliver her assignments. So if he was summoning her, then something big was actually happening. She knocked on the door, bouncing on the balls of her feet in anticipation. As soon as he gave her the okay to enter, she was through the door, waiting for his orders. It didn't take her long to realize he was furious about something and suddenly her excitement was tainted with a hint of anxiety.
He looked to her, all of his facial features taut with anger. "Our plans have had to move up. The two-feathered moron slipped up and now the three musketeers are on a war path for purgatory."
Marley nodded her head, they could handle that.
"Castiel has also become... more demanding." So that's what he was seething about. "He won't let me harm the Winchesters despite them clearly being a threat to our plans, he thinks he can handle them. So I've had to get a little creative, which is where you come in."
Marley didn't question any of it. "What do you need me to do?"
"I've recently acquired Lisa and Ben, and I need you to help guard them."
A beat of silence passed as Marley processed the information, before she once again nodded her head. "You're using them as leverage to try and keep them from moving on any leads they have, or at the very least have them distracted and not fully focused."
"Exactly. I have them hidden in a warehouse, completely angel proofed and with a lot of demons protecting the place. I simply need you as a last line of defense for the inevitable of the lumbermonkeys tracking them down." He paused, looking at her with an unwavering gaze. "You are not to let them walk out of there alive under any circumstances. Unfortunately, you cannot touch Sam or Dean, so come up with whatever plans or contingencies you need to. Is that understood?"
"Yes." Marley nodded her head.
And she did. If she couldn't do her job, then Crowley lost his leverage and there was a very high chance that the Winchesters would then succeed in finding Purgatory before them. Her job was of the utmost importance, and she had no intention of failing it.
Hehehehehehe
PAIN
Things are really starting to heat up. I hope y'all are still enjoying this. Please feel free to comment your thoughts, I love hearing from you guys!!
Also gonna be totally honest I don't have next weeks chapter ready yet. I thought I did but upon reading it I hated it and now need to completely redo it. So hopefully I'll have it ready by next week, but apologies if not.