TORTURE, SUPERNATURAL

ᴛʜɪʀᴛʏ-ꜰᴏᴜʀ. ᴍᴏɴꜱᴛᴇʀ

Dean and Sam drive in sullen silence on the way back to New York. Regret and disappointment show across their faces.

Dean's hands grip the steering wheel, knuckles white. His jaw clenches so hard it aches. Sam holds an ice pack to his face, the image of Crowley in his head.

The Colt sits in the back seat, deserted and forgotten. It was worthless. A waste of everything. A waste of Aderyn. Of Joe.

"What now Sammy?" Dean asks his brother, voice scarily soft.

Sam sighs and turns his gaze to glance at the night sky out the window. "I don't know Dean. Get Aderyn back, then find another way?"

Dean nods before retreating to the silence that has held him captive for the past few days. They had seen so much death, so much blood. He didn't know what to say. There was nothing else to do.

"We need to talk."

A familiar voice breaks the Winchesters' stillness.

"Castiel," Dean declares, nodding his head slowly.

"I have crucial information that you and Sam will be eager to know," says the angel in the car's backseat. The Winchesters raise their eyebrows at Castiel as they drive on through the night and along the empty road.

"Aderyn Lunette. She has fallen in love with the King of Hell,"

The brothers look at each other. 

"Crowley."

- - -

"Aderyn. Oh, Addie darling," 

I open my eyes, still half asleep, and scowl at Crowley's mocking face. He peers down at me. His lips in that ever-present smirk. 

"Who knew humans had to sleep this much?" his smirk widens as he eyes the mess of blankets around my naked body. Mischief flickers in his brown eyes, "Not that we did much sleeping,"

My cheeks enflame. To hide my mortification, I roll away from him and pull the blankets tighter around me. "Let me sleep, old man." 

He tutts. Without wasting a second, he rolls me back toward him. 

"Crowley," I moan and open my eyes again. He stands above me, already dressed in a sleek black suit, and red tie to match. His sharp cologne rolls around the room. I breathe in deeply. 

I'm stretching when I notice Crowley has paused. He is reading a message on his phone. He senses my gaze on him and he looks up, a grim expression on his face. Something is wrong.

"Your boys are back," he says finally, his jaw tightening.

I sit up - alarmed. My heart races. My palms sweat. I run a hand through my messy hair as I try to calm myself.

"What are we going to do?" I whisper, turning around to look back at where Crowley stands. He bites his lip, runs a hand over his short hair, and shrugs.

"They are your friends, Aderyn, you should be the one to explain," Crowley says, "I'll be there though. Don't worry, love," he eyes me and I know I must look like a sight. "You're even making me nervous." 

I moan and run my fingers through my hair again, trying to smooth it out. I don't want to get up. I don't want to face Sam and Dean. 

Especially Sam.

They will never understand what has transpired here. They will never understand how difficult, tumultuous, and eye-opening the past few weeks have been. 

"I think I'll get dressed." I decide.

Crowley looks me up and down. He raises an eyebrow as he looks at my black lace underwear and bra. "Unless you're confident enough with showing your underwear choices to moose and squirrel, then yes, I believe that is a grand idea,"

Despite my nerves, I find the confidence to scoff. 

"Be back soon," I mock and blow him a kiss.

Crowley grins and pretends to catch it and eat it. Rolling my eyes, I give him a real kiss before I hurry back to my room and change into a plain white dress.

I twirl my hair into a loose bun to get it out of my face and make sure my key is safely tucked into the inside of my dress. I lace up some boots so I don't look too dainty in front of them. I am still a hunter. 

I meet up with Crowley at his office, my heart thundering. I'm nervous. Crowley gives me the thumbs up and clicks his fingers.

Before I can breathe, we're standing outside.

We walk around the corner together. Before I see them, I drop Crowley's hand. He shoots me a look that I choose to ignore.

As we come into eyeshot, I smile as I see them standing outside the gates. Crowley, who stands next to me, frowns and whispers to me, "Something is wrong. Be careful."

I frown up at him.

I give both Sam and Dean hugs as we let them in. My arms cling to Sam a minute longer. I notice a bruise on his jaw and a pang of sadness goes through me. I've missed them. Sam smiles briefly at me as I pull away, and Dean nods briskly.

"Moose, squirrel," Crowley says, addressing them, "Here she is, in one piece as promised," he shoots me a sidelong grin, "I hope your mission was as successful as a couple of morons like you two can make it."

"Good to see you again too," Dean says sarcastically, cocking his head sideways.

"Is it over? Is Lucifer dead?" I ask eagerly.

Sam shakes his head.

"No?"

"No, it didn't work," Sam declares.

"What?" I whisper, dread sending goosebumps along my arms. So the world is still ending. The one thing that could have saved us didn't work. What can we do now?

"Don't question us Aderyn, two of our friends have died for nothing! While you were here playing Romeo and Juliet with Crowley!" Dean yells. His jaw is clenched, and he glares at Crowley and me.

I back up from him and look at Sam. He nods and looks at the ground. His hands tighten into fists and his jaw clenches too.

"How did you know-"

"I told them."

I turn around and see the monster from my nightmares - the beast with blue eyes.

There is nothing I can do to stop the scream that tears itself from my throat.