Chronicles of Absolution: Bitterroot Resolutions

Chapter 1

Now

Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Montana

"Why did you drag us up here Karl? You know how much I hate camping."

Karl looked back at his best friend Mick and gave a slight roll of his eyes. His friend didn't hate camping. He just hated the fact that they were going to be isolated in the middle of a forest with no reception and no electricity. He replied, "You don't hate camping, Mick. You just hate the idea of being anywhere without a signal to keep up with your Facebook status. Besides you were the one that said you needed a vacation."

"I meant somewhere that was normal like a resort," Mick grumbled good natured. He gave a slight smile. He wasn't really that mad with Karl for planning this trip. They had both been working their butts off and now it was time to reap the rewards.

It had been Karl's idea to hit the Selway-Bitterroot wilderness for some good old fashioned backpacking and maybe some relaxing fun at Lake Como. They used to spend all their summers there as kids, swimming and all that good stuff. They left Darby to go to college and they came straight back. The big city life just wasn't for them.

Mick looked at his watch and studied the trail map he had picked up. They had to leave the car behind and hike up the rest of the way towards the lake. Part of the thing regarding wilderness areas was that unless you were emergency or a ranger, no vehicles except for a horse or private tram 11, meaning your own two feet.

Hiking wasn't that bad. In fact Mick and Karl had grown up with the sport as well as rock climbing so they could take the off trail routes if they chose. However since it had been a few years, Mick was the one that pointed out that they should start slow. Karl readily agreed though it was evident that he would rather do this hardcore.

They also were prepared but Mick was not in the mood to get in a tangle with a moose, elk or bear. While he and Karl knew about how to handle scaring bears off and all that stuff, it just wasn't worth it. Mick took out his bottle of water and took a sip. They had come pretty far and from the looks of things, they were pretty deep into the wilderness. "I guess coming here was a pretty good idea right Karl?"

There was only silence and Mick turned around. All he saw was Karl's backpack where he had placed it when they decided to stop for a rest. Karl was nowhere in sight. Mick looked around and Karl was nowhere in sight. At first he thought his friend was playing a joke on him. He knew Karl liked to rattle his cage with the scare tactics. He called out, "Alright Karl, play time is over. I know you are out there somewhere. We gotta get going if we are going to make it to the lake."

There was still no response and Mick became exasperated. He put his pack down and began looking around. There was still snow on the ground so that made it easy to track Karl's boot prints. They were leading away from their rest spot and Mick figured that he was answering nature's call. He followed them until they were a fair distance away from the rest point. Mick was beginning to think that Karl was really going to town on spooking him.

Annoyed with the whole thing, Mick finally said, "Karl this isn't funny anymore. Come on. I wanted a vacation, not one of your stupid scare fests."

Mick sat on a boulder to think and let Karl decide not to be an ass anymore. He pulled out a granola bar since he was hungry. From behind him, he heard a thump and then something hit him on the sleeve. It was small enough to be a pebble or something. Frowning he picked it up and asked, "So now you're throwing stuff at me?"

Upon examination, Mick felt like he was going to lose his lunch. He held what appeared to be a human eye and freshly removed from… Karl's face. Mick stared at it and felt the fear settle in his bones. He held the eye in his hand not sure what to do until he heard a low growl from behind him. Mick slowly turned around and what he saw… Mick gave out a loud scream at the sight.

The trail was no longer a viable point as Mick ran blindly through the woods. He was headed in the right direction that would take him out of the wilderness area but he didn't know how far away he was. For all he knew, he could be running in circles. He just couldn't believe there was such a thing as that. And the thing ate Karl or killed him!

As it turned out, Mick had been running in circles. He ended up in a clearing but it wasn't the rest point that he and Karl had picked out when they planned their trip. He could make out decayed debris from… dead bodies. There bones and broken branches, ripped clothing… it was like he stumbled onto someone's feeding grounds.

A thump sounded from behind him and Mick turned. He screamed again and tried to run. Something hit him from behind on his lower back and he heard bones crack. He collapsed on the ground. He couldn't move his legs but he could move his upper body. Using his arms, he tried to crawl away. He had to get away from that thing.

Suddenly there appeared two legs in front of him. Mick looked up to see the beast again. How could that thing move so fast? That question wasn't about to be answered when something jumped on his back. Mick whimpered in fear as he felt the hot air on the back of his neck and the wet feeling of drool. Then there was this horrible pain erupting throughout his entire body and he screamed. He screamed until there was nothing left to scream and he faced oblivion.

"So I was thinking that if headed west we might find a job out that way and maybe follow that lead Bobby found…" Dean stopped his talking while eating to stare at his younger brother. It was a sure sign that something was up when Sam didn't comment on his poor eating habits or some crap about not talking with your mouth full.

Right now Dean was seeing Sam at his full brooding emo bitchiness and he was at a loss as to what had Sam in a funk. In fact come to think of it, ever since they got back to normal size, Sam had been in a funk. It worried Dean that it might have something to do with the head injury that Angela did an impressive mojo job over and left only a bump on the head. He knew that supernatural means of healing had consequences.

Hell Angela crashed and burned after they got back to the house. She held up long enough to see to it that Sam and he were taken care of. She fixed the fracture in his nose. Then she pretty much collapsed. She slept like the dead all night and then gorged herself on fruit and toast and a pound cake that she had shown Bobby how to make.

Studying his brother, Dean figured there was something more to it but the only way he was ever going to find out was to get to the bottom of it. He waved his hand in front of Sam's face and then snapped his fingers, "Hey Sam. Are you here on earth or somewhere in la-la land? I'm trying to give a plan here."

Sam didn't appreciate the hand waving and snapping in his face. As far as he was concerned, he didn't care where Dean wanted to go. The Impala was Dean's car and he picked where they were to go and he picked the music which was guaranteed to make the both of them deaf before they were old and senile. He didn't move his eyes away from what he was staring at but he replied, "Do whatever you want Dean. Find us a job or something."

Dean made a slight face as if to make a retort when he shifted in his seat and twisted to flag down the hot waitress for some more coffee. He needed a fresh cup and black before dealing with the bitch princess. He then saw something and then glanced back at Sam who was ignoring him completely and then back again.

What Sam was staring at was Angela. She was outside the diner chatting very animatedly on her cell phone. With whom, Dean didn't care at this point since it was most likely she was saying hi to an old friend or following up on a lead to see when her date was to plead his case. He had less than half a year left and he was getting the feeling that they were trying to make her sweat this… at least a few of the gods. He wasn't about to diss the two goddesses that seemed to back her up along with Feather Boy.

Dean looked at his little brother and saw the eyes narrowed slightly as they continued to watch her. It began to dawn on Dean what was happening and he figured that it had something to do with that warlock that fixed their size problem. He said, "Coffee's getting cold."

Sam said nothing but picked up his mug and took a sip. He continued to watch Angela and he finally said, "That's the second time this week she's called."

"Called who Sam? She's got a long list."

"Him."

"Him who?"

"The warlock."

Dean was certain that he was witnessing a jealousy spat and his brother didn't even know what that was. Dean could admit that he had a jealousy streak when he had been shrunken to a ten year old but in the end, he liked the guy and he did come through with those nifty witch powers of tossing demon ass out the window. Plus he fixed Angela up pretty good with the stab wounds and her bullet injury. He tried to hide a grin as he offered, "Maybe she is on a lead to a case or for my deal."

Sam looked at Dean with a look. "She has a solution and she won't do a crossroad deal."

"It's possible Sam since she knows more than us about alternatives means. Besides they are just friends and maybe she feels more comfortable talking to him. Granted they are what… four hundred years apart?"

"And you think that she would confide more in a stranger than she would with us? Dean we've had each other's backs since we hooked up."

Dean was sure that it was a jealousy spat Sam was going through. Sam may put it as this whole trusting a stranger thing but Dean knew that the caring for their Chaser friend extended deeper than the feelings even he had for family. His brother may be a genius but he sure was dumb about practical things. "So? There's no law saying that she can't make a few new friends or better yet contacts. Let's face it Sam, how many times has one of her contacts come through for us?"

Sam was saved from answering when Angela came in with a slight smile and said, "Well the boredom is over. I believe I may have found us a case." She slid into the booth next to Sam as was per her habit and picked up a cup and held it out for the waitress to fill.

Once it was full of steaming hot coffee, she did that thing that always made Dean nervous and stuck her finger in the hot liquid and swirled it around a bit. Her finger came out relatively unscarred but that didn't mean that it was completely okay with him. He waited until she took a gulp of the hot liquid black before saying, "Okay, so spill. What is it? Vengeful spirit? Demons? The usual?" He gave a teasing grin since what he listed was the usual.

Angela returned the grin with a slight burst of laughter. She replied, "Definitely the usual. That is if you count missing hikers spiking up."

Dean glanced at Sam who was still brooding. He couldn't give a look without her noticing though and he didn't want to get into a fuss this early in the day though it was going to be probable. He looked back at Angela and replied, "So you're thinking wendigo?"

"Maybe. Could be Bigfoot."

Dean knew she was teasing and teased back, "Now that's stupid Angie. You know Bigfoot doesn't exist. Seriously though, is it a wendigo?"

"Not sure. My contact said that over the past few weeks hikers have gone missing and were never found again. However there have been some remains and rather bloody ones. They managed to identify one hiker and that was from his finger."

"His finger?"

"Tattoo on the ring finger," Angela rubbed her own ring finger to emphasize the point. "It sounds like a wendigo but the idea of remains… also the location…"

"Any caves around?" Dean asked. He was intrigued. They could use something that fit a profile but didn't quite. The unusual was probably what they needed to get Sam out of his funk and back to normal… more or less.

"The disappearances have been occurring in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness area in the Rockies. Most hikers were heading to Lake Como but it is a bit unusual since there still snow in the area," Angela replied frowning. She absently took another gulp of coffee.

"What else?" Sam managed to ask.

"Meeting us at Darby, Montana."

"So it takes forty-five minutes to get all that?"

Dean gave a warning look to Sam. Now was not the time to get into her personal business. Of course Sam was not going to listen to him. He could only hope that Angela didn't take it the wrong way and cause that uncomfortable silence she could maintain indefinitely if she was bothered or miffed by something.

Angela looked at Sam with a puzzled frown and replied, "Not all of it was asking about a job. There is such a thing as polite conversation."

"So what did you talk about?" Sam looked back at Angela. He tried to keep his voice even as he asked it since he knew that she could become like an obstinate mule and refuse to budge when she had her back against a wall. He knew that his disguised tone was thinly veiled and she would probably sniff that out but he didn't care.

"I don't think I want to tell you since it was personal," Angela replied frowning in suspicion.

"You know what, let's just pay and book. I'm anxious for another job," Dean cut in recognizing the signs of a potential argument and not the friendly kind.

"Fine, just making sure that you're not in trouble," Sam replied. He then added in a mutter, "Since you seem to be spending quite a bit of time being a chatter bug."

Angela was still frowning as she tossed a couple of dollar bills on the table for the waitress. What was up with Sam? She didn't get it and she was wondering why he was taking a sudden interest in what she did in her own time. She replied, "I don't know what planet you were born on but where I come from it is considered polite to bring up personal things when engaging in a conversation before getting down to business. That's what friends do when they haven't seen each other in a while." She peered at Sam wondering if he was getting what she was saying.

To Dean it would have been funny under different circumstances but even he knew that Sam was not going to let this go so easily. His brother was going to bide his time until he was placed in a situation where he didn't have Dean around to interrupt and it wasn't a too public place. He thought Sam was making too big a deal out of this whole thing and who she was talking to. Hell he didn't know if it was Nick that she was talking to.

As far as Dean was concerned, if she was attracted to the warlock then that was fine with him. It's not like Sam was doing anything about it except coming up with ways to piss her off and waiting until he had the chance to. His baby brother was a bit of a bonehead at times besides being a dumb genius. Maybe going out with a warlock would put perspective on where she stood with Sam and where he stood with her. He was no expert on long term relationships or supernatural ones but he did get the basics of chemistry and all that good crap.

Sam had gotten up at that moment and was still in a sour mood. However he managed to put on a more cheery disposition but to a trained observer it was easy to see that it was like seeing a person sucking on a really sour lemon. He replied, "Fine. Do whatever."

They were outside of the diner by that point and Angela was not sure if someone fed Sam a bad batch of a short stack. The coffee was even decent for an out of the way diner. Something else was up and she was clueless as to why. One thing she did know though was that she was annoyed with the attitude and she let it be known, "Alright. Just make sure to take the stick out of your ass by the time we get to Darby." She then proceeded to the Impala and got in her customary seat in the back with a look of infinite patience.

Dean said nothing but made a slight motion with his eyes. This was going to be a long trip to… Dean got in and turned on the engine. As luck would have it, AC/DC's Highway to Hell was playing. It certainly was going to feel like that and then some.

"Glad that you could come. When I figured that something was us with the missing hikers, I guessed that this was your territory so I gave you call."

"You did right George. Sounds like it's right up our alley," Angela replied as she took a bite of the steak dinner that Ranger Georgia Wilkes ordered for her. She really wasn't all that hungry but since her friend was buying and Dean was not one to pass up on a free meal, she made the most of it.

What really had her disconcerted was the fact that Sam was treating her conversation with Georgia with suspicion. It's not like she was trying to coordinate a drug deal or something though she did have a run in with a Columbian drug cartel a few decades back. That was a story she would rather not tell. No something was up and she wanted to know if there was a problem or something she did that had Sam watching her like a hawk. Did he think she was starting to go dark side?

It would have been a funny moment to see Sam's reaction to the fact that Georgia was a normal human who just happened to had gotten in a tangle with a nasty werewolf before she rescued her. Given the circumstances though, it was hardly amusing and Angela was beginning to feel that this hunt was going to be more of a chore than the fun of the job. At least Georgia was circumspect and didn't say anything about the false smile she put on for her benefit.

Dean could tell that this was going to be a long hunt. He didn't mean long in tracking down the thing and then killing it. He was figuring how long Sam was going to be an ass before he realized that he was making her miserable and hurt and she didn't even know if she did anything wrong. The conversation hadn't been much over dinner and while it was filling, it was hardly enjoyable even if it was a steak dinner.

Deciding to put the ball in a friendlier court, Dean looked at Ranger Wilkes and asked, "So if hikers go missing, why isn't the forest service doing anything about it?"

"Try organizing a manhunt for a bear. The one body we did find was presumed to be the result of a bear mauling and the thing ate it," Georgia replied.

"But you don't think so?" Dean felt uncomfortable playing Sam's part in asking for the details but from the look of things he wasn't going to get much cooperation from his brother. It certainly didn't help that Angela was texting on her phone and checking messages. They were probably harmless or related to a case but from where Dean was sitting, that didn't seem that way to Sam.

"No," Georgia replied. She studied the trio as she took a sip of the tea she had ordered. She was on duty that night so she needed to stay dry. She had been keeping track of the missing hikers. Most of the time they went off trail only to come back a little malnourished and haggard while a few did end up dying from exposure and the like. However with the number increasing and then finding those remains… not to mention the one survivor… this had definitely been a job for the one person who saved her.

Seeing the three of them together, Georgia was under the impression that something was amiss between them. The shorter of the boys with the spikey hair wasn't the problem but his tall brother had been brooding all evening and would often look when her friend checked her phone messages. She had seen that look before but she wasn't going to touch that now. She looked at Dean and replied, "We've had maulings before and they really aren't a pretty sight. Besides there was one survivor and he's rambling at the moment."

"Do you think that maybe we could get in to talk to him?" Angela asked the question after checking a message from Bobby. She tried to ignore the look that Sam was shooting her and focused on the case. She toyed with her food. She had barely gotten through half of it.

Georgia looked at her friend. "I could arrange that. I assume you will have the usual cover?"

Dean looked over at Angela, "She knows our methods?"

"I know Angie's methods. It's how I met her," Georgia supplied. "My dad was a ranger and there was a series of killings here in Darby. People showed up dead with their hearts missing. I would have been next if it hadn't been for the virago here." She motioned towards Angela with a slight teasing smile, a little perturbed that her friend decided to put her attention in her food.

"Virago?"

"Wrathful woman," Sam supplied in a monotone.

Dean gave his brother an elbow. Angela took up a small piece of steak and examined it. She then added, "It's my nickname for the wrath I gave the werewolf that would have killed Georgia and she was only ten."

Georgia could see that Dean was being caught in the middle of whatever was happening. She might as well finish giving the particulars and let them go do their thing. She replied, "That was a terrifying experience. I'm just lucky that the scar wasn't as bad."

"Did it bite you?"

Georgia shot Dean a look, "No. It scratched me on the face. Then it was prepared to bite me but Angie stepped in and…"

"Did what was necessary and that's all she wrote," Angela interrupted standing up quickly. She fished out a few bills for tip saying, "Georgia, thanks for the basics, we'll get started on it and I'll let you know what is going on. Thanks for dinner." She then took a hasty exit after downing the beer she had ordered.

Dean sighed and nudged his brother to get up. He looked at Georgia and apologized, "Sorry about that but rest assured we'll do our job and you won't have any more problems with missing hikers turning up with body parts. Let's go Sam."

Georgia watched as they followed Angela out of the steakhouse. Something was definitely up. She fished into her pants for her wallet.

"Everything going alright G?" The waitress asked the question as she started clearing the table.

"Hope so," Georgia replied.

A/N: Welcome to episode 2.07 and already we start off with something chasing somebody in the woods and it looks like Sam is in a sour mood. What is his problem? Angie and Dean would like to know. Stay tuned for next time on Bitterroot Resolutions...