Astronaut3 : Shake it off (the mark of Cain)

Dean's nostrils flared, after exchanging a dark, knowing glance with Sam. The guts of that man, menacing them in their own home! "Put away your sword. We are just talking", he stated, hiding his irritation behind an apparently neutral tone, even raising his hands. He didn't want to put Castiel in danger.

" 'Just talking'. You called me here knowing I'm tied to the king of Hell," Hanakael grunted.
"Heaven is also after me, Hanakael," Castiel reminded him. In the end, the angel sighed and put his sword back into his coat.
"What do you want from me," he asked, a grim look on his face.

Dean relaxed visibly when the swords were put back into their sheats. "We started being suspicious when Crowley asked us to give him the book of rituals we used to strengthen our bond", he said, hand on Castiel's arm. "We are afraid that he could try to trick you into bonding with him. In order to gain power", he tried to explain.

Hanakael remained silent, frowning. "What tells you he doesn't genuinely want to strengthen our bond, to secure it? After all, Heaven is going to be after us from now on."

Dean stared at him in disbelief. "Well- to begin with, the fact that he is Crowley. He never acts for the benefit of someone else. And... c'mon, you can't tell me you trust the guy." He looked at Sam, to try and get some help from him. "Wasn't it him that said that soulmate threads were 'a waste of time but profitable'?", he added, poorly imitating Crowley's rough voice. "When he came here to help us gather the ingredients!"

Not only was Hanakael confused by their words, but he frowned deeply when epiphany struck him. "... Hold on a second. You're telling me that he is the one who gathered the ingredients for your ritual? How long has he known where you were?" Yes, he was furious.

Dean frowned, blinking. "Well, since..." He looked at Castiel, trying to remember. "Since... months, I think? We called him for help some days after the angels started to look for us again, after the thread had formed back again."

Hanakael swallowed hard. "I see. Well. I shall confront him on the matter. Thank you for your concerns." He disappeared soon after, going back to Crowley's mansion, where he all but stormed into his throne room.

Crowley was sitting on his throne, legs crossed, a terribly bored expression as he listened to one of his minions talking to him about shares and sales. When he saw Hanakael marching inside the room, he all but lightened up. "Look who's back to the nest", he said merrily, inmediately dismissing all the other demons. "I have been missing you, Hana. Where have you been?" No, he hadn't noticed the fuming expression that the angel was sporting.

Hanakael all but glared back at him. "Nowhere special. I just learned that you lied to me all along, that you wouldn't even dismiss those lies now that we were beginning our relationship, or, let me see, ah, yes. That a soulmate bond is 'a waste ot time, but profitable'?" When had he taken out his sword? He didn't even remember it himself.

Crowley's smile vanished from his face quickly as Hanakael spoke. He rose from his throne, worriedly eyeing the sword, gesturing for the angel to calm down. "What in the hell are you talking about?", he snapped, sounding almost offended. He vaguely recognized those words, though. Hadn't he... He paled. But he said nothing more.

"I'm talking about you making a fool of me. In the end, didn't you just hope to calm me down, so I wouldn't try to smite you given the chance?" Hanakael stepped towards him. He was one to have calm bursts of anger, so it was all the more worrying: it made him unpredictable. "You wish for us to do that ritual merely for the benefits it will bring you. For power and position. You don't care about what might happen to me, as long as there's a bit of my grace into your veins." He stood dangerously close from Crowley now, and could actually touch him if he were to strike.

Crowley swallowed a lump of nervousness that had formed in his throat. He didn't look down, though. His pride wouldn't allow it, despite the genuine fear he was feeling at the present moment. "I don't know what you are talking about", he stated, coldly. "The ritual would make both of us safe. Both. Not me alone. And I am following the agenda we had decided together: doing what we need to tighten our bond. It's the interest of both of us."

Hanakael let out a short, joyless snort. "Right. 'Interest'. I should have known beforehand that I shouldn't expect you to be actually sensitive to the core of our bond," he said, as he caught Crowley by the shoulder, pressing the tip his blade against his torso.

Crowley squinted at the angel, lifting up his chin in defiance. He didn't move back a single inch, not knowing how far Hanakael was actually willing to go. If he was going to survive this ordeal, one thing was sure. He would have fucking murdered Castiel and both the Winchesters with his own hands. "I'm sorry. It's a bit difficult to be romantic, with a blade pressing against my heart", he observed, his voice sharp. "You are making a mistake."

Hanakael kept still for a few long, tense seconds. "I made that mistake long ago, when I allowed myself to fall for you. To rob me of the indifference your death would cause me." He finally stepped back from Crowley. And looked down at their thread. "... I could change that," he said, almost absent-mindedly, as he touched the thread with his blade.

Crowley relaxed just slightly when Hanakael stepped back from him, just to violently tense back again when his gaze fell on their thread, touched by the blade. "You aren't seriously- you can't be really considering that", he said, looking horrified. "You told me I am the only one who can cut our thread."

"There must be some ritual in the book you mentionned allowing someone to force a bond to disappear. I just happen to know where it is," Hanakael replied blankly, as he put his blade away, back into his jacket. "I'll see you one last time when it is done."

Crowley gritted his teeth. His fists clenched, the thread tied to his pinky waving just slightly. He was thinking of a way to make that madness just recede. There must be something, anything, to make Hanakael think about it. He couldn't allow that to happen. He couldn't. "... give me some time", he asked, in a murmur.

Hanakael frowned slightly. He hesitated for a moment. "You have a month to convince me not to do it. If not, I'll come back to smite you personally." He glared at Crowley one last time, and then reappeared in the bunker, causing Sam to almost have a heart attack.

Crowley just stood there, on the exact same spot where he had been for the terrifying unraveling of that scene, for quite a while. After some long, long minutes, he slowly walked off, disappearing from the throne room.

Dean actually got frightened to death too, as he was staying in the main room eating a sandwich. Which went down in all the wrong ways when the angel suddenly popped up in the bunker. "Jesus-!", he cursed, coughing.

"... Hanakael?" Castiel enquired, as he tried to help Dean to not die choking.
"... I have two favours to ask you. The first would be to let me look at your book, see if there is a way for me to cut my bond with Crowley." Hanakael's voice was calm, yet... tired. Emotionally exhausted.

Dean silently thanked Castiel for helping him not to kill himself (that would have been one hella uncool way to leave this plane of existence). He looked at Hanakael, frowning slightly when he saw the tired, resigned expression on the angel's face. "...ok. And the other one?", he asked, not questioning the first request. Hey, maybe he had sobered up and seen the truth. Who was he to comment on that?

"I-" Hanakael sighed, and actually ran a hand through his hair. "I am hunted down by Heaven, and without a roof. Will you allow me to stay here for the time it takes me to find and prepare that ritual?"
Castiel frowned slightly while looking at Hanakael. He waited for the brothers to make up their mind about said request, but other than that, he could tell the angel was heartbroken. He would need to talk to him in private afterwards.

Dean looked at Sam, raising an eyebrow. "What do you think?", he whispered to his brother. "I have nothing against it- hell, if it spares us from the possibility of Crowley becoming too much powerful to counter, he is welcome to stay. But we need to ward the bunker so that he cannot come in. It would be too dangerous, if we don't take every precaution possible."