#a human touch

Crowley blinked in the light and eventually Rose came into focus, her expression concerned as she looked at him, her hands up, showing they were empty.

He then frowned in confusion.

“I’m hardly going to leave you in the boot of the Impala,” She said and leaned in to take his hands and help him out.  “Especially as wounded as you are.  You need to be in that hospital as much as Sam.”

Crowley stared at her as she undid his cuffs and took the gag out of his mouth, still unsure what her motivation is.

“Can you walk?”  Rose asked, still concerned.

He’s not sure whether he can trust his voice yet or not and gives an unsure nod.

Rose gives a small smile and takes his arm in hers.  “Come on, let’s get you inside so they can patch you up.  Make a start on that recovery, yeah?”

Unable to do anything else, Crowley let’s himself be led to the hospital, nurses hurrying over when they saw his condition and Rose saying a few words before they took him away, him looking back over his shoulder at her as she watched him go, her expression having not changed from one of concern.

Crowley wasn’t overly sure how he felt about being patched up, especially when they insisted on getting his suit off him.  He didn’t have the energy to protest too much, nor the strength to fight them off, and as much as the things they were doing stung, he really was too numb to be doing much, even unable to answer questions.

Eventually, he was stitched and bandaged up and taken to a room with an icepack that he rested on his eye.

He stared at the ceiling until he heard a nurse talking nearby.

“…should be fine.  You got him here quick enough that his injuries aren’t worse for wear.  He’s lucky to have you.”

“Is it alright if I see him?”  He watched the door when he heard Rose talk.

“Of course! I’m hardly going to stop you from seeing your husband dear.”

Crowley frowned as Rose laughed and entered, smiling a little sheepishly at him, closing the door behind him.  “Sorry, it was the only way I knew that I’d be able to keep an eye on you still.”

He watches her walk across the room and sit with a heavy sigh, the smile fading a little. “Look, I’m not going to lie to you here. Things aren’t looking good for Sam, that means that Dean is going to take this even worse than what he already is and he’s going to look for any excuse.  Obviously he can’t do anything in a hospital, but right now, he doesn’t even know you are here and I’m pretty sure there’s going to be words said once he does.”

Crowley blinks at her.

“This is a lot, I get it,” Rose gives a small laugh.  “Your world’s been pretty much shifted on its head and I can’t even imagine what you are feeling, but I’m going to do my best to help you through it.”

“Why?” The word was out of his mouth before he could stop it.

Rose stares at him for a moment, having not expected him to say anything.  “Just be glad to have someone on your side Crowley, even after all this.”

Her attention was grabbed as heavy footfalls approached though and Dean suddenly swung open the door, eyes flashing dangerously.  “What the hell do you think you are doing Rose?”

“What’s it look like Dean?”  She asked angrily.  “He needed treatment too.”

“He needs to be locked up.”  Dean growled. “That way I can easily beat him up later.”

Crowley swallows, having no doubt that Dean would actually do it.

“It’s not going to change the fact that Sam is dying Dean.”  Rose said calmly, even as Dean’s face paled.  “Crowley isn’t bothering anyone here and I’ll stay with him. You keep an eye on Sam.  That’s all this has to be.”

“Do you even care about Sammy?”  Dean hissed. “Do you even care what happens to him?”

“Of course I do.”  Rose stood, her voice raising a little.  “But don’t you think we see enough senseless in this line of work that for once, we can take a moment to breath?  Sam is dying, Crowley is wounded, I’m at the end of my line and you being a jackass is not helping any of that.”

Dean stared at her, breathing hard.  “Fine. But he’s not getting out of this scott free.”

Dean storms out, the door slamming behind him, making Crowley wince, the noise not helping the sudden headache that he realised he had.

Rose let out a steadying breath.  “Honestly.” She sits again, rubbing her eyes. “As if there weren’t more important things to worry about.”

Crowley frowned at this and she caught his look, her shoulders sinking.

“Right, you weren’t outside with us,” She said quietly.  “The angels have fallen Crowley.  I’m not sure how and or why but…we watched the sky light up, watched them all fall.”  Rose shudders, swallowing hard.  “And here I was thinking that the apocalypse would be the worst thing I’d ever experience...”

Rose shakes her head and Crowley can’t help but notice how tired she looks.  “Look, for now, don’t worry about it.  You need to rest up,” Her smile returns when he pulls a face.  “As much as you don’t want to hear this Crowley, you’re human now, which means you need to get used to doing all the human things again, which includes sleep.”

Crowley realised this and he didn’t overly like it, his expression saying so, but he knew she was right, feeling like a weight was bearing down on his shoulders and his eyes were almost burning.

“We can talk when you’re ready,” Rose continued quietly.  “For now, I’ll stay here while you sleep, make sure Dean isn’t an arse, among other things.”

Crowley nods uncertainly, knowing he didn’t really have much of a choice in the matter. He wanted to ask more questions, wanted to try and understand why she was possibly doing this.  Surely she knew what he had done?  All that had happened?  He knew that none of the stories would be good, knew that they would be elaborated too, and yet here she sat.

He wanted to think about what future was ahead of him, what he was going to do with himself on the off chance that Dean would let him walk out of this alive.  He wanted to think about all the stuff that he’d done, but that was when his head started to hurt too much, so he relaxed as much as he could against the pillow.

Rose got up and turned the light off, just the lamp sitting on next to her chair as she pulled out her phone and started to flick through it.  Crowley watched her out of the corner of his eye for a little while, trying to understand, but when she makes no further movement, he returns his gaze to the ceiling, eventually slipping into a very fitful sleep.

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“You might want to get those heads off if you don’t want to start fighting again.”

They had stared at the door, a woman lowering her gun, a large knife in her other hand, coated in black blood.

“Rose?” Sam asked.

Crowley, at the time, hadn’t thought much of it.  Dressed in heavy boots, jeans and a t-shirt covered in blood, brown hair messy, having been tugged loose during the fighting, it was clear that she was just another hunter.

“Don’t just stand there staring Sam,” She said, approaching the closest Leviathan. “Get chopping.”

Once they’d gone through the room, they took a small breather.

“How did you find us Rose?”  Dean asked, Castiel looking at her suspiciously while Sam seemed to share Dean’s expression of concern and confusion.

Rose just raises an eyebrow.  “Didn’t realise I needed an excuse to hunt?  Especially as something as big as this.”

Crowley had rolled his eyes.  “Another hunter, I guess it’s the more the merrier in this case.”

Dark green eyes turned on him, something oddly familiar about them.  “I would hope so.  These bastards have been a right pain and frankly, I’m glad I’ve found others so I don’t have to do this by myself.”

“I would prefer you weren’t.” Dean growled.

“I have no doubt.”  Her voice took a hard note. “Considering you didn’t tell me about Bobby.”

Dean flinches but anger flickers across his gaze.  “We had no idea where you were Rose.  We haven’t heard from you properly in years.”

“It’s not like you didn’t have my number Dean,” She said coldly.  “And no matter what’s happened between us I still would’ve expected a message about a man as good as our father being dead.”

“Like you talked to him anyway!”  Dean said angrily.  “Like you-”

“He was the only one I was talking to Dean.”  Rose snapped.  “And if you sucked up your pride long enough, you might actually realise that I do still care.”

Crowley hadn’t been sure why it took him so long, but it finally clicked, staring at her a little amazed.  “You’re a bloody Winchester?”

Rose had rolled her eyes and gave a slow clap.  “Well done.  Glad to see my names recognisable even though I’m not wrapped in bloody plaid.”

Dean shot her a dark look and Sam shifted uncomfortably.  “I’m sorry Rose, we’ve…we’ve just been so tied up this-”

“It’s take two seconds to send a message.”  She said coldly.  “Now-”

“I’ve never heard of Sam and Dean having a sister.”  Castiel said quietly. “The angels never mentioned you.”

“Well, I’m sure if they had it their way, they wouldn’t.”  Rose said, gesturing to Sam and Dean, Dean looking angrier and Sam looking guilty.  “However, I couldn’t give a rats arse what the angels know or don’t, I don’t need the extra shit.”  She turns back to the door.  “Now, are we going to do this, or still argue over being a Winchester or not?”

Crowley watched her storm out, a little stunned, before glancing at Sam and Dean. “Wow, what did the big brothers do to make her upset?”

“Little brothers.”  Dean grunts, his grip tight on his knife.  “And it’s none of your damned business.”

Crowley’s curiosity had made him watch her, quickly determining that she was an equally as good a hunter as her brothers, except with a colder, harder determination behind her that seemed to fuel every swing and step and calculation.  Rose was very clearly someone not to mess with.

She helped them distract the Leviathan’s, allowing Dean and Castiel to go after Dick Roman, Sam hurrying after them, leaving her with Crowley.

He watched her easily cut off the head of the final Leviathan in the room, breathing hard.  “If they were worried about intimidation, I can see why the boys would never mention you.”

Rose smiles, giving a small laugh.  “It's got nothing to do with intimidation, trust me.”  She rolls her neck before turning her head to listen.  For the moment, they had peace.  “As Dean said though, it's none of your business.”

“Enquiring minds want to know.”  He said as casually as he could.  “I would've thought that an older sister would be a big deal.”

She looks at him, properly this time, instead of the mad rush that it had all been. “Ah, you must be Crowley.” He smirks but she shakes her head.  “I wouldn't let that got to your head, you need to remember I've only heard about you from Bobby.”

“With only charming stories I'm sure.”

“If you say so.”  She looked around them, frowning a little at discovering they were alone.  “In all honesty, after our history, I'm surprised Sam and Dean so openly work with a demon.”

“Work is not exactly the term I would use darling,” Crowley said.  “More, mutual arrangements that I make sure benefit me.”

“That sounds more like a demon.”  Noises close by got their attention, Rose quickly out the door, Crowley following.

What they discovered was Sam by himself, staring a little blankly at the room around him.

“Sammy?” Rose asked gently, stepping closer to her brother.

Sam looked at her, his eyes wide.  “They're...they're gone Ellie...I...what do I do?”

Rose takes in their surroundings, noting the mass of black blood and the stake that Dean had used on Dick Roman.

“They got sucked into Purgatory with Dick?”  Crowley asked, following her gaze.

Sam nods. “I couldn't stop it Ellie, I tried.”

“Hey,” Rose stepped to him, gaining his full attention.  “It's going to be okay Sammy, we'll sort this out, we always do, remember?”

Crowley remembered very vividly watching her comfort her brother, switching from hunter into what he could only describe as motherly, keeping Sam calm.  It was such a stark contrast that if he hadn't been with her the entire time, he would've thought it was two separate people.

It was the only time he'd met her until now, and from that meeting, he would never have guessed that his life would be in her hands.

“I'm telling you to back off Dean,” She said angrily, standing between Dean and Crowley, Dean glaring at her furiously, gun in hand.

“For all we know, this needs to happen,” Dean said.  “This is the only way to finish it.”

“And I can't let you do it!”  She snapped. “Look at him Dean, he's done.”

“You haven't known him!”  Dean yelled. “You haven't spent years trying to deal with the bastard!”

“I know the stories Dean,” Rose said sternly.  “And I know enough of our luck to understand that it's not going to make a difference.”  Her gaze flickers across the room.  “Look at Sam, Dean.  We need to get him to a hospital, not sit here and argue about this, mostly because I'm not going to let you do it.”

“He's a monster Rose-“

“He was a monster.” Rose stepped back towards Crowley, making sure that there was no way that Dean could get to him, Crowley watching her with wide, fearful eyes. “Now, he's human.”

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