"Dammit, Dean... Dean, hold on! Dean! DEAN!" Michael was calling behind him, while Dean practically sprinted back to his car. Apparently his friend had trouble keeping up with him.

Without wasting even a second he unlocked the door, got in and turned on the engine, all the while going through his contacts on his phone. Michael jumped in the passenger seat just in time before he took off.

"Dean!" he yelled and when he didn't get a response, he snatched Dean's phone away.

"Hey!" he protested.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm calling Crowley, that's what I'm doing!" Dean yelled in annoyance. "Now give me back my phone!"

Michael looked at him in a puzzled way. "What, Crowley? Why?"

"Because," he said while taking back his phone, "if there's anyone who knows about an underground club it's him. Trust me."

He hit the dial button. He didn't need to wait long for Crowley to pick up the phone.

"Squirrel! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I need your help."

He heard Crowley sigh on the other end of the line. "What, did you finally realize you can't live without me?"

Dean swallowed back a sarcastic comment and told him instead, "I need to find a club called The Cage, you know where it is?"

"Who wants to know?"

He rolled his eyes. "I want to know."

"Why?"

"Because Lucifer, that son of a bitch, took Sam there and I don't like it," he said, becoming impatient.

For a couple of seconds the line stayed silent. Then Crowley apparently decided, "Fine. Meet me at Cross Road and King Avenue in 10."

Dean frowned and quickly gazed at Michael. "Cross Road? Isn't that where the Shurleys live?"

"Aren't you a bright spark. Just be there." Then he hung up.

Dean muttered a curse and took a turn towards Cross Road.

"Where are we going?" Michael asked.

"Cross Road and King Avenue apparently," Dean sighed. "I can drop you off if you want to."

"What, no," Michael said immediately. "I'll come with you. Oh but if you don't mind, can we make a quick stop to drop this off?" He motioned to the bag. "And my family is probably wondering what is taking me so long, I should probably let them know where we're going."

"Sure, no problem," Dean mumbled. They passed the house anyway.

"Hey Dean," Michael said after a short pause. Dean looked at him. "It'll be okay."

"I know," he said, but honestly he wasn't even sure if he believed it or not.

Michael gave him a soft smile and his arm a quick squeeze.

They arrived at the Shurleys' house and Michael got out instantly, speeding towards the front door so they wouldn't lose too much time. He came back after only two minutes max.

"Alright, let's go," he sighed and Dean stepped on the gas.

Neither of them noticed the boy in front of one of the windows on the second floor, watching them leave before he grabbed his own keys and rushed down the stairs.

~~~

"Rock me momma like a wagon wheel, rock me momma any way you feel, heeeeey momma rock me! Rock me momma like the wind and the rain, rock me momma like a southbound train, heeeeey momma rock me!" Lucifer and Sam screamed at the top of their lungs.

At second thought they had decided not to go to the Roadhouse because Sam was afraid they might run into Jo. Instead they'd grabbed a bite on the way to The Cage. Initially Sam hadn't thought he would want to stay for long. He was still tired from their evening out yesterday. Sure, it hadn't been that late, but going to a club was... exhausting, and he'd had to get up early for school. But as soon as they got in and Lucifer almost literally pulled him out of his comfort zone, he was washed over with the same feeling of happiness as yesterday. He didn't know if it was the club or just Lucifer's company, but he felt like he could go on forever.

"What are you smiling at?" Lucifer teased him.

Sam was glad it was too dark in the club for Lucifer to see the blush that appeared on his cheeks. "What, can't a guy be happy anymore?"

Lucifer smirked. "They can if they look like you."

Dammit, Sam thought, his cheeks heating once more. Why does he do that? Sometimes he wondered if there was more to Lucifer's flirtatious comments. But that couldn't be, right? Surely there relationship was purely amicable.

"You want something to drink?" Lucifer yelled.

"Yeah sure!" he answered. "Just a coke, please!"

"Alright," Lucifer said and then he winked at him. "Coming right up!"

Purely amicable...

~~~

Dean pulled up the car right next to Crowley, who was already waiting on the sidewalk.

"Finally," he commented as they got out. Then he glanced at Michael. "I see you brought one of the wonder boys."

Michael and Dean exchanged a confused look but decided to ignore it.

"Alright, you said you know where The Cage is?" Dean said, eager to get to business.

"I do, matter-of-factly." Then he remained silent.

Dean started to get annoyed. "Okay, great. Then get your ass in the car and tell us where we need to go."

Crowley laughed at him like something about this situation was really ironic to him. He shook his head and said, "Oh you don't have to take the car, Winchester. It's right here."

Dean was just about to ask what the hell he meant by that when Crowley pointed right down the street. He frowned. "The Cage is on Cross Road?"

Next to him Michael burst out into laughter. He looked back and forth between him and Crowley, not understanding what the fuck was going on here.

"Oh, that's hilarious," Michael told Crowley. "The Cage is right down the street we live in? Yeah, right."

Crowley just looked at him calmly. "It is hilarious actually. Which is exactly why Lucifer put it here."

Michael stopped laughing immediately and looked at Crowley in shock, while Dean's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "Lucifer is the owner of this club?"

"What? No, of course not," Crowley said, revulsion all over his face. Dean wasn't sure if it was because of the idea or his stupidity to ask about it. "The Cage doesn't really do ownership. Just think of Lucifer as one of the founding fathers. A board member, if that's something you can wrap your tiny mind around."

Dean decided to ignore the insult. "Alright. So take us there."

"That's what I'm here for, isn't it?" Crowley commented before turning around and starting to walk in the direction he'd just pointed at.

Dean followed right behind and so did Michael, even though he still seemed a little dumbfounded at the fact that the brother he hated so much had built a club in the street he lived in just because of the irony it would lead to. Dean felt sorry for him and quickly patted him on the shoulder.

They only had to walk a couple of yards before Crowley turned to a right and walked in between two seemingly very regular buildings. Dean was just about to say something about it when he rounded the corner himself and froze in space. At the far back of the side of one of the buildings was a discreet black door with above it the name he'd been looking for: The Cage, spelled out in red lights.

"That motherfucking asshole," Michael muttered next to him.

Dean didn't respond. Instead he rushed past Crowley, towards the door and the man who seemed to be guarding it. He was planning on just going in, but the guy blocked his entrance with a stern face.

"Name?" he said.

Crap. "Lucifer Shurley," he said, acting like it was the most evident thing in the world. It was worth the shot.

The guard smiled at him coldly. "Nice try." Then his gaze moved to Dean's left. "Is this man with you, Mr. Crowley?"

"Oh, hell no," Crowley said and Dean shot daggers at him. Had the guy really just ruined his one chance of getting in?

"What the hell, Crowley?" he snarled. "Sam's in there, I need to find him!"

Crowley slowly walked up to him, Michael following behind and immediately taking place at Dean's side.

"Do you really think I am stupid enough to give any of you two morons access to that place?"

Now Dean really started to get angry. "Well, then why the hell did you bring us here in the first place if you're not going to let us in?" he yelled.

Crowley shrugged. "You asked if I knew where The Cage is, so I showed you. You'd think you'd be happy I did you a favor."

"Oh yeah? 'Cause I didn't gain shit from it!"

Crowley smiled and got a look in his eyes Dean was not happy to see. "Well, if you want to find your little brother so desperately, there might be something I can do..."

Dean bit his lip to will back all the insults he wanted to throw at Crowley. "What is it?"

His classmate smiled again, clearly very satisfied. "Here's the deal: I'll go in and find your brother for you."

"What do you want back for it?" Dean asked, knowing exactly where this was going.

Crowley pretended to think about for a while. "How about twenty dollars?"

Dean's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Twenty dollars?"

"Yes, what did you think I wanted, your soul?" Crowley said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You won't get it that easily."

"Dean, don't do it," Michael said, not once turning his glaring eyes away from Crowley. "You don't want to stoop to his level."

Dean sighed and got out his wallet. "I want my brother back." He handed Crowley a twenty with a deadly look on his face.

"Lovely doing business with you, Dean," Crowley said, pocketing the money with a smile on his face. Then he turned towards the entrance. The guard opened the door immediately and let him in before quickly closing it again.

Dean started pacing back and forth across the pavement while waiting for Crowley to return. Michael just remained silent, looking at him with a worried look on his face. It probably wasn't more than a couple of minutes, but it seemed like hours before the door finally opened and Crowley came out again. Alone.

"Well?" Dean said. "Where is he?"

"Oh, he's in there. With Lucifer," Crowley simply answered.

Dean was staring at him in disbelief. "Then why the hell didn't you get him out?!"

"Did you not hear a word I just said?" Crowley yelled back, clearly annoyed. "He's in there with Lucifer! The guy is a lunatic, I'm not getting near that!"

As he said it, Dean saw something flashing through his eyes. It was quick but he'd seen it and pulled up his eyebrows in surprise. "You're afraid of him."

"Am not!" Crowley shot back indignantly.

"Oh believe me, Crowley, I know fear when I see it," Dean said and something started to dawn on him. "That's why you wanted Michael to keep him at bay, isn't it? You're scared of him. He's not just threatening your business, he has the power to overrule it. You didn't want him near it, because you knew that if it came down to fight, he would win!"

"Yes, of course I'm scared of him!" Crowley yelled. "Have you met the guy? Any person with a little bit of common sense would be! Lucifer Shurley is a living nightmare!"

"That's one thing we agree on," Michael muttered but Dean ignored him completely.

"The more reason to get my brother out!"

They stared at each other angrily for a couple of seconds. Dean heard a car pull up behind them but he didn't pay any attention to it. Eventually Crowley let out a sigh and put his hands up in surrender.

"Fine. I'll see what I can do."

"Oh no, you're not gonna 'see' anything," Dean said. He wasn't going to let Crowley fool him twice. "You're gonna get in there and when you come back, my brother is with you, understand?"

Crowley glared at him before shrugging and smiling again. "Deal. That's forty dollars then."

Dean's jaw dropped. "I just gave you a twenty!"

"Well, I wasn't risking facing Lucifer then, was I?!"

"That's too bad, 'cause I don't have any more money on me!"

"That is too bad," Crowley mocked. "For Sam."

Dean put a step forward, ready to fly at his throat, but Michael grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Don't," he simply said. "He's not worth it."

"Dean, why don't you ask your boyfriend here if you can borrow some money?" Crowley tormented him. "Everybody knows they have plenty."

"We don't make deals with your kind," Michael snarled.

"Speak for yourself, brother," a voice sounded from behind them.

They all turned to the front of the building, where a short guy was making his way towards them. As he came closer, Dean realized with a start that he knew the boy. It was one of Michael's brothers, the same one that he had brought to the park, along with Castiel.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Michael asked, looking equally surprised.

His brother just pushed past him without answering. He pulled out a fifty and held it up between two fingers, right in front of Crowley's face.

"You listen to me, you arrogant dick, you're gonna get your ass in there and you're not coming back out without delivering Sam safely to his brother. Deal?"

Crowley scowled at him but then snatched away the money. "Deal." He turned around and walked back into the club.

"Why did you do that?" Dean asked in surprise. He didn't even know the guy. Why would he help him?

"More importantly, what are you doing here?" Michael repeated. "I told you all I'd be back soon enough and I left Raphael in charge."

"And that's supposed to stop me?" his brother mocked, raising an eyebrow. He turned back to Dean. "Just keep your brother away from Lucifer." He started to walk away, to a shiny silver car parked at the sidewalk, but at the last moment he looked back at him. "Actually, it would be wise for both of you to stay away from my family in general."

With that, the Shurley boy stepped into his car and left, leaving Dean in mere confusion.

~~~

Sorry if this one was a little bit longer than usual. I couldn't find an earlier moment to stop 😂

To all my Dutch readers (yes you, one person in the back), yesterday I read this amazing book called "20 leerlingen in één klas". So everyone who speaks Dutch (or wants to learn it really badly and read it with a dictionary), you can check it out if you want to:

https://www.wattpad.com/story/84909482-20-leerlingen-in-%C3%A9%C3%A9n-klas-netties2017

Normally I never finish books this long in one day, but this one was so funny and cute I just couldn't stop reading. It's not fanfiction or anything, but it's very gay so thought you might like it.