Crowley had gone to great lengths for this.

And by great lengths, I simply mean that he had to make a deal. But not just any deal. He'd made odd ones before, but this...this definitely takes the cake. The whole damn thing, vanilla ice cream included.

Crowley had made a deal with Death. The big daddy Reaper himself. And for what, you ask? To bring Gabriel back to life.

Don't get him wrong, Crowley had no attachment to the trouble-making archangel. It wasn't as if the Trickster's wit and sense of humor intrigued him at all. He simply owed one to the Winchesters, and decided that this would be a good way to repay them. What with Castiel being in charge of the chaos upstairs, Sam and Dean no longer had the babysitter they so desperately needed. (Whether they acknowledged that or not was a different matter entirely.)

And so, because he was just so generous, Crowley had potentially risked his life to bring back their archangel. It wasn't because he had grown fond of the bunch of misfits that made up Team Free Will, of course. He simply had a debt to pay.

And so, when Gabriel took a deep breath, opening his eyes to stare around with a dumbly surprised look on his face, Crowley denied any and all feelings of relief.

The amusement made itself plain, however.

"Welcome back to the world of the living. Did you enjoy yourself while you were away?"

Gabriel blinked and looked up at Crowley, frowning in confusion. A frown didn't suit him, Crowley thought idly to himself. His face was much better suited for a mischievous I-know-something-you-don't grin. "Crowley?"

"In the flesh." Crowley said, taking a sip of his glass of fine wine.

Gabriel, with some difficulty, managed to sit up and twisted around to stare up at Crowley with a mix of confusion, surprise, and wonder. "How am I alive?"

"Let's just say I have my ways." Crowley said simply, setting the glass down on one of the tables.

"You brought me back?"

"Well, I helped." Crowley said pseudo-modestly.

"Why?" Gabriel asked, standing up, again with some difficulty, and staring the King of the Crossroads in the eyes.

"I had a debt to repay." Crowley answered simply.

Gabriel stared at him, as if searching his soul, before appearing to be satisfied as he turned away from the demon. "Well then, since I'm alive again, I might as well find those two mutton heads before they break the world...again."

Crowley chuckled slightly. "Yes, I believe you should." That had, after all, been the whole point.

And so Crowley directed him to the shady motel room in the middle of nowhere that Sam and Dean were staying at, accompanying him and watching in amusement as Dean gasped in surprise and Sam all but jumped three feet in the air as they made their appearance.

Because, whether he would admit it or not, Crowley was now officially a member of Team Free Will.

Teem Free Will: One ex-blood junkie, one drop out with six bucks to his name, Mr. Comatose, Archangel of the Lord, and the King of the Crossroads.

...I just wanted to write something with Crowley, really. :D
AU, I guess. I don't really know what's happened. It just...is.