Bela let the receiver fall back into the cradle, Deans words ringing in her ears.

I'll see you in hell.

Oh god…

No.

It was too late to plead to some deity now.

She swallowed back her tears and settled down on the bed, smoke still rising from the bullet holes she put in the sheets.

She set her jaw and swallowed hard.

There'd been no god when she was a girl.

Where was god when her father would sneak into her room at nights.

Where was god when her mother turned away after she'd tried to tell her, begged her to listen! Time and time and time again.

No regrets.

She'd do it again if she had to.

Gladly.

A bang against the door made her start.

Something big was slamming into it on the other side, making the frame rattle and the pictures on the far wall fall from their hooks.

There was barking, but not like any dog she'd ever heard. This was the sort of noise you'd imagine a pitbull cross bred with a T-rex might sound . Loyal, bloodthirsty and also probably very slightly insane due to its messed up parentage.

She laughed harshly despite her fear.

Aren't we all, she thought.

The door was about to fly off its hinges.

Half heartedly she lifted the gun, then tossed it to one side.

It was no use to her now.

She lay down on the bed, arranging her hair on the pillow behind her, smoothing down her clothes and sighed deeply.

Let them come.

Bela closed her eyes as the door gave way.

She clenched her fists, but otherwise she stayed perfectly still, waiting for the jaws of the hell hound to clamp down on her and tear her to pieces.

Nothing happened.

With her eyes closed, she could feel the presence of the huge animal in the room, could hear it panting and pacing.

But it did not attack.

"Are you going to lie there like sleeping beauty all night? Were you waiting for a kiss? I hardly think that's appropriate, seeing as we've had a business relationship up until now."

Bela opened her eyes and half sat up.

"Crowley?"

"You were expecting a Winchester maybe? I hardly think so."

"I wasn't expecting anybody actually."

"No. I suppose you weren't."

Crowley sat himself down on the opposite bed and let his hand rest midair.

It took Bela a moment to realise that he was stroking the top of the hell hounds head.

"Why aren't I dead? Shouldn't I be trussed up in Hell by now, being flayed or something?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Kinky… But, a fair question."

The air beneath his hand seemed to shimmer, and Bela thought she saw the faint outline of the beast.

"The reason you're alive… or at least, not dead… We'll come to that later… Is because I wanted it, or, simply put, I wanted you."

"For what?"

He sighed and shook his head slightly.

"Don't act slow. It doesn't suit you. I very much enjoyed doing business with you… Bela… Do you prefer Bela?"

She nodded.

She wanted nothing to do with her real name.

"The Colts going to be extremely useful later on. By the way.." He smiled at her and shook a finger in her direction approvingly "The way you sold out the Winchesters, well…. It delighted me, thrilled me in fact. So many humans get caught up in some misguided species loyalty. I liked your class."

She swung her legs off the bed and sat facing him.

"I don't have a great deal of affection for other humans."

"So I gather." He watched her intently. "Nasty business…. That Father of yours."

Bela looked Crowley dead in the eye, unflinchingly and to her surprise he glanced away…. With embarrassment?

The Hell hound at his side flickered, and for a second it was solid.

"You saw him? Yes. You're in a unique position you know. Not dead, not alive, certainly no turning back. You may not have been puppy chow, yet, but Hell is still waiting for you, that's the contract."

Bela crossed her legs and pulled her shoulders back, straightening her posture.

She knew a business deal when she saw one and she smiled, tilted her head, ever so slightly to the side, enough to peak interest but not come across as winsome, and waited for the proposition.

"So. The contract remains, but you want to amend the terms?" She raised an eyebrow at the demon.

"In a manner of speaking. It would greatly interest me to have you in Hell in a more professional capacity."

She leaned forwards. "Ah, but you're not IN hell at the moment, are you."

"A temporary arrangement I assure you, and when I return it will be in a significantly more …. Elevated role."

"I'm listening."

Crowley smiled at her and scratched the hell hound behind the ears, she could see it almost clearly now, it's form seemed to shift and change. One moment it was all muscular black dog, the next, like some nightmare spined abomination. She watched it press against Crowleys hand as though it was a loyal Labrador.

"When I return, I'm going to need an army of my own, not a large one, but I want the best of the best."

Bela frowned. "And where do I fit in to all this?"

Crowley looked at her in silence for a few seconds, as though searching for the right words. He stood up and walked across the room running his hands through his hair.

He turned to face her. "I admire you ….. Greatly." He spread his hands and half bowed, smiling uncertainly at her. "I saw something in you when I met you all those years ago."

Bela stood up, taking no notice of the hell hound, who now lay at the base of the bed, ignoring the proceedings. "You hold my contract?"

"And many more. But your's…. I attended to personally."

He moved closer to her now and put a hand on her arm. "I felt your hurt and your rage and your helplessness and I knew you could be so. Much. Better."

She shook her head slightly.

"But the demon was a child…."

"I took the appearance you needed to see. A friendly face." Crowley took her other arm and pulled her a step closer to him. "Does it upset you, that I own you? Do you wish you'd said no?"

Bela looked full at him and for a moment it seemed her eyes glowed as red as his.

"Never." She spat. "I'd have taken the deal if I'd gone to hell on the spot."

Crowley reached up and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"You have a choice."

"I know."

"You can go on your way…. Off to hell… all that prodding and poking and fiery rooms…"

"Or?"

"Or….. You can come with me, join my crusade against Lucifer and be… Mine."

"Your's"

He ran his fingers across her cheek.

"The eternity that comes with being a demon…Well, it can get very lonely."

"I don't love you."

"Love is very overrated."

"I always thought so."

"Passion though. … That's something else entirely."

He hooked a hand behind her head and pulled her towards him firmly. He hesitated a moment, raised his eyebrows as though seeking permission, and Bela consented by closing the gap between them and pushing her lips to his.

"Is it true?" She pulled away slightly, let her lips run gently across his face."

"What?" He closed his eyes and smiled. Bela wondered how long it had been since someone had kissed this demon.

"About your own contract? What you bargained your soul for…."

He opened his eyes and smiled at her, wickedly.

"Why don't you check for yourself?"

The hell hound was snoring slightly.

It was a comforting, if somewhat bizarre noise.

Bela had her right arm and leg slung over Crowleys body and her face buried in his neck.

Crowley lay on his back, one arm pulling Bela close to him, the other hooked behind his head.

"I have a gift for you." He said finally.

"Oh?"

"It's in hell. But I can get us there for a while without any trouble. Call it my wedding gift to you."

She moved herself so that she lay on top of him and gently kissed his nose.

"You screw me once and we're married?"

He chuckled and ran his hands up from her waist to grab fist fulls of hair and pull her mouth down to his.

"A kiss for a cross roads demon, binds a contract. You remember that." She flushed slightly at the thought of the girls lips on hers tens years ago.

"So…. If a kiss cements a deal for your soul, I'm sure you can imagine what sort of a commitment we just made."

"I want my gift."

"And you shall have it, however, I feel the need to strengthen our contract a little more."

The hell hound looked up as it's master shifted about on the bed.

It sniffed and then put out a massive paw to drag the deflated rubber doll over to it.

As it began to chew on its leg, it couldn't help but wish it'd had bones and flesh to play with instead.

"Through this door."

Crowley stepped back to let Bela inside.

Strapped to a table was her father.

"I asked him for your hand of course…. He didn't really say yes. He had no tongue at the time you see, but I got the feeling he was more than happy for us."

Bela shook with anger.

Crowley slipped his hands around her waist from behind and whispered in her ear. "We have a week with him. What would you like to do first my love?"

Bela turned around and kissed Crowley with such force that he staggered back.

Then she went to her father, picking up shears along the way, which she snipped once or twice experimentally before her.

Her eyes glowed with her own internal hell fire, and Crowley watched her with a swell of pride in his chest.

The future King of hell was going to need a Queen after all…..and he thought maybe love wasn't so overrated as he'd originally imagined it to be.