Closure (A Supernatural Fanfic)

3 - Sticking Together

Dean

I look at my phone screen once it starts dialing, looking at the number in white text.

666.

I smile mentally as I think, If a girl ever asks for my number and I'm not interested, that's what I'm putting on there.

Would it be sad or hilarious if she actually called it?

Sam and Nova laugh on the other side of the door, and I turn, feeling my eyebrows raise, and feel the smile return. I feel my stomach flutter and I feel this sort of...childlike glee. I can't help it. I realize: I missed this girl. It's been several years since I've even thought of her. Seeing her in this situation, and married to Chandler of all people, feels a little...weird. Chandler wanted flashy, a big life, all that. And Nova? She always wanted a quiet life. She wasn't the type of person who wanted all that. She wanted the white picket fence, the kids, the dog. She wanted to be normal. At the surface, I guess, she got that. But, apparently not?

Did Bobby realize this? Did Bobby get close enough to realize that these are two completely different people? I don't know. Sam and I could see it.

My mouth sours and my eyes tingle. We lost him just a few years ago, and I still miss that man like crazy. What would he have to say in the situation? What would Bobby do? Is it the fact of time passing or my ignorance that I don't know the answer to that?

"Hello, Squirrel," Crowley's deep voice says on the other end of the line.

"Stow it, redeyes, we need to talk."

"What now?" He sighs.

"Does the name Chandler Reid ring a bell?"

There's a moment's silence. "Is it supposed to? Because I'm coming up empty."

"You made a deal with him eight years ago. Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It would have been about a girl?"

Crowley remains silent. Then he shouts, "Oh, yes! That bloke." I hear a tone of excitement in his voice.

I jump. That's a little...uncharacteristic of him. Is that the human blood talking?

"That's the funny nerdy kid who smelled like cheese and beer! Yes. I remember him. He made a terrible deal, but a soul's a soul."

"How long was that deal for?"

"Normally for crappy deals I max out at five, but I was feeling a little charitable that day and gave him the standard ten. Why?"

"He was murdered last night by one of your demons in front of his daughter," I tell him.

"No he wasn't. Because my demons don't go killing people I have deals with. They know better."

"Well, maybe you need to have a little reminder with one of them because Chandler Reid was murdered by a demon. And a 17 year old boy is missing seemingly out of nowhere."

Crowley sighs. "Bollocks."

"That's right, Bollocks. What the hell, man?"

"Like I said, Dean, my demons don't kill people I have deals with. I let my dogs take care of that. I'll have to track him down, and then I'll probably torture him for information, and then make sure he doesn't smoke out while I dismember his body. I think I'll use a devil's trap bullet, take a page out of the Winchester playbook." Crowley sounds pleased with himself. He's enjoying this.

Of course he is, he's a damn demon.

"Nope, we gotta take care of this one."

"Why?"

"Because his meatsuit is a 17 year old boy who's gone missing, and whose mother needs him home."

"Let me restate: Why do I care?"

"Because if you don't, you know what happens."

Crowley sighs. Then he growls, and says into the phone, "Fine. I'll find them. I'll let you know. But you can't kill him, I need information."

"Great. Been a while since we've done an exorcism. Better brush up on my Latin."

"Oh, blah, blah, blah," Crowley says. We hang up.

I listen at the door for a second. Just a habit by this point, I guess. I know Sam and Nova are fine.

"Honestly, Nova? I can't even imagine. Finding out the past almost decade of your life was one big sham. But you're gonna make it. I promise."

"How do you know that, though?" She says.

I open the door, and look at Nova, who's staring intently at Sam. Sammy's staring at her with a softness in his eyes. "Because Sam and I are going to be right there for you. I let you walk away once, I won't make that mistake again."

"If you...if you want to stay with us, of course," Sam says.

She looks to Sam. "Your dad gave me that option to come with you guys way back then. I turned him down. I regretted every minute of that decision after that. I'm not making the same mistake again. I don't have anyone else."

"Well, that's that. We can scare up a few rooms in the bunker for you and the kids—"

"I'm not living in a bunker." Nova says. Wait. Didn't she just say she wanted to stay? Wait. Didn't she?

But she continues, looking between me and Sam. "I want you guys in my life. I want Dean back. I want to get to know you, Sam." Sam smiles faintly, and there's a tiny brush of pink. "I regretted not taking that chance since day one, even when I was married to Chandler and placed under whatever magic mojo that was. But I cannot raise my children in a bunker."

"It was a demon deal. Crowley said he gave Chandler the standard ten, and he didn't order an early collection. He's going to track the demon down. We interrogate him to try and get information from him, then we exorcise him. Crowley will take care of it from there," I tell them.

"Can we trust him?" Sam asks.

"He's all we got right now."

Nova looks towards me. "Either way, I can't let my children live in a bunker. Children need to live in a home, aboveground, where they can play and be happy and safe. I will find that for them. But I'm dead serious: I'm getting my second chance at living a life with people who really give a shit about me and my children, and I'm taking it."

I smile. Nova tears up. She blinks back the tears and rubs them off on the back of her sleeve.

"Are you okay?" Sam asks her. Nova nods.

"I'm fine. It's just these damn hormones. I've been really sappy lately."

"Ew," I say. She laughs.

"There's nothing wrong with being a little emotional, you've just had something super stressful happen. Emotional is expected," Sam says to her.

"No, you don't get it, Sam," Nova says. "I don't do emotional. Except when I'm growing a damn watermelon, I guess." She laughs at her own little joke.

"This is why I like you," I tell her. She smiles. I turn to Sam. "This is why I like her," I tell him.