Chronicles of Absolution: Children's Future or Destiny

Chapter 1

Then…

… "The honest truth? I didn't see you as a monster and I still don't. When my husband brought you in I saw a girl who was hurt and needed help. Even when I learned what you are, I still saw you as a girl that needed help. Jo… you were what she needed and she was what you needed."

… War usually does lass. I'm a soldier and you've seen it and fought in wars. You were there with me and my team. We know that those who have seen war don't stop seeing it. We do what we can to get through it. Knowing you though lass… you do what you have to do but… I don't want you to lose yourself…

… Things are to happen for a reason; everything has a purpose…

… Choices have to be made. Some lead to perdition and some lead to end of old and alone. The question comes down to whether or not one believes that they can hold on till the end and finally not be afraid to open that door…

… Dean listened to what she said and then looked at Sam. They locked eyes and silently spoke to each other and came to an agreement…

… He felt those instincts rise the moment he opened the door to find a baby faced Angela holding onto two small boys fast asleep over her shoulders…

… "And they are doing it to lure you," Kesset explained, "Or any other hunter. It is how they hunt. You have to leave."

… Angela looked at nothing in particular before looking up at the angel and said, "I want you to consider me as a possible vessel." Her look was bold and daring as she looked at Lucifer in the eye even though she felt she was strapped to that chair.

"You're serious?"

"I am and you know what I am asking is not unreasonable."

Lucifer stood there looking at her. He was confused by the whole thing. He tried to see what her game was. What he couldn't see was her reasons for it. That was the most frustrating part about the whole thing. And she wasn't going to give it to him…

… "When it comes to the hunt, no," Jamal admitted as he relaxed his arms and shifted on his feet. "But when it comes to checking in on an old friend, then that is a different matter… especially when it seems that there are forces awakened that haven't had an active role in centuries."

… "I know you must know that there are others apart from the demons after Sam. There is also a group that is after you too and I think it is to get to Sam."

… "Make sure he's relatively unharmed. The only way to get the target."

… "As I said, it is someone powerful but if this Nick can help… though I am not certain why a warlock would help," Kesset frowned in puzzlement. He looked at Dean and added, "They generally are like warlords. They like to bring misery to others. The guard has a lot of problems with them."

"Really?" Dean looked at Sam and added, "Looks like there is a reason other than liking Angie to not like the guy huh Sammy?"

"You're a jerk," Sam said before he got up to go check on Angela. He really didn't want to get into that.

… "So you did this to her as part of a matchmaking?"

"That's the conclusion you come to?" Gabriel looked at Kesset before standing up. "Alright that is pretty much a goal but the main one is to teach those two numbskulls not to underappreciate her."

… Isis smiled in return. "She is special on many levels. To me it is like that of a mother and daughter. Her abilities while special are nothing compared to her nature."

… "Sammy not bad," she repeated. She poked at her sandwich, squishing the bread. "Sammy not bad even with bad stuff inside." She looked up at Sam, her tawny little eyes looking serious and almost old looking.

… "Lotsa people help," Angela pointed out like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She moved to look up at Sam with a somber expression. "But will say Sammy did it."

"Not surprised," Sam admitted.

"It's otay. Sammy and Deanie fix it." Angela sat back and played with her fingers like she was counting on them. "World broke. Still bad things. Fix and get the bad things to go."

… "Castiel is… my guardian angel."

… You are the Malachi of Absolution…

… "Absolution is the earthbound angel that will protect us all," Anna replied… Out loud she said, "I'm not the protector of man. There are many who do that."

"But you are the Malachi; the Messenger of Absolution."

… The painting was of a girl that looked roughly maybe between thirteen and fifteen and what caught his attention were the girl's eyes…

… "You know Sam, somehow I think that there is a question that needs to be asked. I think she is waiting for you to ask the right one. You just have to figure it out and made you'll lose that dark brooding look."

… It was a harsh reminder to what she already knew. The body of the demon was on the ground and he was kneeling over. He then looked up at the three of them, with blood smeared on his face. At that point it was like there was nothing; there wasn't anything to say then. At that moment she had to take care of Jimmy and practically flew towards the man. There was nothing else to see but blood…

…"There always is the bigger picture, Mary," Angela replied as she leaned against the wall of the panic room. She gave a lopsided grin in her old friend's direction. "You forget that I've been raised on the bigger picture and it has bitten me in the ass more times than I can count."

… "It isn't your fault. If anything Setna was loyal to the royal family, your family. He took a vow to protect its members with his dying breath. You were his especial charge."

… The assassins had broken in and were making their way through the temple. She could hear the sounds of the guards and priests being killed…

… "What? You think Gabriel is the only one who noticed you when you were a child?"

"You wouldn't be the first ne to be a perv by watching me," Angela replied with a deadpan expression.

"If you want the honest truth, all of us gods were well aware that one would be born and would be the one who would end up being you. I just happened to look in the right place."

… "That is the known destiny for you. When chaos comes, you are thrown into the fight and you create the ripples that make things what they are. You always knew this."

… Daddy said that he would be paying you a visit…

… "Pretty lady with pretty eyes. They glowed. She saved Sammy from bad peeples. They wants to hurt Sammy."

"Why?"

"They said that Sammy broke the world." Angela looked at Dean with her tawny eyes. They flickered as they studied Dean. She then said, "Sammy says he sorry. Pretty lady don't care but happy Sammy otay."

… "No. Sammy and Deanie need to fix. Need to be bwovers again."

… She looked up at Sam and he saw the complete look of trust in her eyes. There was no doubt… nothing that would say to the contrary. It was… Inwardly he thought of how many times she asked him or his brother to trust her and they gave it. He didn't have to ask; she just accepted it. Whether or not that would prove to be folly was something for later. Right now though… he was touched and it was proof that she had meant what she said when she said he was forgiven.

… "She's a little girl," Sam suddenly burst out while trying to calm Angela. He didn't like that she was getting scared. His muscles were tense and ready to move in case something did happen. "Are you frigging insane?"

"How far are you willing to go for her then?"

Dean blinked as Sam replied without hesitation, "Whatever it takes."

"Okay then."

… "Summer vacation. Three months."

"You've got a big mess to deal with. Unfortunately you idiots overlooked something. Perhaps you should look closer to home."

… "Then we don't let them have her. We'll just do what we have to do. Keep her safe." Dean paused for a moment as if to give it some thought. He shook his head slightly since this was going to change things. Then he said, "Keep her safe and just… maybe keep her out of the hunting business. You know what I mean?"

… "What I'm saying is… I don't know. I know that Angie can take care of herself when she's her normal size but she's mini and she's like a little kid. It just sounds like a recipe for disaster and I am pissed that old douche thought to do it and with the end of the world looming over our heads." He paused when he saw Sam's beaten expression. "Everything just seems so messed up right now."

… Sean looked at Kesset and then at Sam before jumping down. "My business is for Sam."

"Me?"

"Aye," Sean replied. He didn't lower his hood but approached the younger Winchester. He stood straight and looked at him. "Seems that there is a lot going around; that you are to blame for the state of things."

… "I have not come for that. I know the earthbound angel has a role to play. My concern is for you. It seems that there are those that would like to see you dead."

"No surprise there," Sam replied.

"But there is one Sam. They are much subtler than anything else."

Trust is easy to break and harder to earn. I will do what I can but be wary.

… He would keep her safe even though there was the problem of people after him. They would work it out. They always did but right now he would take care of her.

Now…

The sky looked grey but there were no signs of rain. The trees were rustling from the wind making the only noise until it was filled with the sound of feet padding hard on the ground. The leaves on the ground rustled as Sam burst through the brush running while glancing behind him, trying to see if his pursuer was still following. He couldn't tell so he kept on running and hoped that Dean was faring a lot better.

He came to a stop in the middle of a clearing to take a breath. He looked around since he heard noise that wasn't quite normal. There was no one around but the sounds were getting closer. He searched the trees but he didn't see anything until…

"Tag. You're it!"

Sam turned to see Angela looking up at him with a grin on her face after she slapped his hip. She was looking pleased with herself having snuck up on him and he couldn't help but grin. He said, "Okay, Angie, you got me. But I'm going to get you."

Angela took off squealing, her little legs carrying her as fast as she could go. Sam followed chasing her since he was 'it'. They ran past Dean who was looking on in amusement as he fed Cerebus a bit of his turkey sandwich. Yeah he decided to eat something healthy. He shouted out, "Run Angie! Sasquatch is coming after you!"

Angela kept squealing as she led Sam on a chase through the area of the park that they had decided to take a break at. Dean couldn't help but grin. It was nice doing something not related to what they did. How could they do so much when they had a four year old girl in their care? Dean almost choked in laughter when he saw Angela pounce on Sam turning the game from tag to wrestling or some sort of tickle fest.

It had been almost a month since they received the sort of bad news that the regression spell she had been hit with was going to last the equivalent of summer vacation. It had been very good. Granted that they had to call Ellen for 'emergencies' that consisted of female things maybe once or twice… things went well. Dean was actually happy playing the big brother role again to someone small enough to completely depend on him. It was an opportunity to have chick flick moments without being called on it since Sam was drawn into it too.

Things between him and Sam were okay. They weren't great but okay. Since Angela was her mini size, both tried to be circumspect in terms of minimizing the swearing as well as the arguments. Sam managed to tell him that they had someone who warned him about people out there that wanted to hunt him down because he started the Apocalypse. True Dean didn't like the fact that they didn't know this guy but the fact that Sam said something and also put in that Kesset was good with him… it put some good points in the book. They were being brothers again but Dean was concerned that once this spell was over, it would go away.

A shrill giggle broke him out of his thoughts and Dean looked over to see Sam holding Angela in a bear hug and tickling her. He couldn't help but grin at the sight but he was concerned about that. True Sam was his normal self and actually growled at Nick when the warlock called to ask how things were going but Dean was worried that this little period would just further blind Sam to what their girl meant when she said she loved them. Would his little brother see that her feelings went beyond brother-sister stuff?

"Sammy, stop," Angela was squealing in laughter as she struggled to get away from Sam's grasp.

"But you're laughing Angie," he replied adjusting his grip so she wouldn't fall. He was grinning as she wriggled.

"Sammy!" Angela laughed trying to get away from the tickling. She finally managed to twist her little body while her arms wrapped around Sam's neck. It was an interesting feat of acrobatics as she twisted so she was dangling down Sam's back.

The change in position threw Sam off balance and he fell forward and landed with an 'oomph'. It wasn't hard but it certainly caused laughs as Angela said, "Now I got you, Sammy."

Sammy was chuckling as he turned his head to look at Angela. He heard the click of Dean's phone camera and no doubt his brother was going to let him have it later. He didn't care really. He was having a good time being with Angela. He liked playing with her; even as an adult she had a playful streak and he had been sorry that she didn't see the need to have one lately… before she was shrunk. That was all on him and he was going to make it up to her.

"That was fun Sammy," Angela said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. She gave him a kiss to his cheek and added, "I love you."

Sam was on his hands and knees, pushing up when she said it. He looked at her and smiled at her as he replied, "Love you too." He stood up and adjusted his grip so she was riding piggy back on him. He gave a slight hum since he meant every word he said.

"Time for lunch?"

Sam looked over to see Dean munching on his sandwich and shook his head. He replied, "Yeah. What do you feel like?"

"Salaaad," Angela replied stretching the last syllable. Her speech had improved over the month since she had been listening to Sam and Dean talking along with Bobby when they were there. Some words she still had trouble with but she tried and sometimes she played with them by mispronouncing on purpose.

Sam couldn't help but laugh at her pronunciation. He was also laughing since he knew that Dean was going to throw a fit at her meal choice. It was funny since what four year old ate salad? He didn't care since occasionally she picked a bacon cheeseburger with everything on it. What did Dean have to complain about since his older brother used Angela to get a few phone numbers? He replied, "Chicken?"

"Grilled. With lotsa tomatoes n cucocumbers," Angela replied, stumbling over cucumbers. "Like how Sammy likes it. But no blue cheese. Nasty."

Sam chuckled. He knew she never liked that kind of dressing on salads as an adult. She didn't even like it now. He replied, "But it's my favorite."

"Nasty," Angela replied hugging Sam tighter. She smiled as she held on and added, "But my Sammy is sweet."

Sam hummed as he heard that. He looked up to see Dean waiting and gesturing at why he was being so slow until his brother whipped out his camera. He gave a look at his brother but helped Angela down as she released his neck. He then grinned and said, "Don't forget I still have the picture with you two and the pie."

Dean narrowed his eyes trying to see if Sam was bluffing or not. He wasn't going to say too much with Angela there beaming at him. "You wouldn't."

"Try me," Sam replied with a grin as he opened the back of the Impala for Angela to crawl in. "Oh Angie's hungry and she wants a salad."

"With chicken!" Angela bounced on the booster seat. She looked at Dean with a pleading look, "Please Deanie? I wants a salaaad please." She looked up at him and turned on the puppy eyes full throttle. She reached out and grabbed his hand and tugged on it. She looked up. "Please Deanie. Please?"

Dean looked down and got her puppy eyes. Man they were killer and he thought Sam was bad with them. He could hear Sam snicker and would have liked to tell his brother to shut up and point out how easily he gave into her puppy eyes. It would have fallen on deaf ears though since Sam was willing to do anything for her within reason. He looked at Angela and sighed, "Okay Angie. You can have a girly salad."

"It's good for you," she countered with a sweet smile.

Dean scowled slightly but it was spoiled by the smile. He reached in and ruffled her hair, not caring that it was messing up the pigtails that Sam had painstakingly made that morning. She was smiling at him. "Fine," he said, "We'll get some girly food for you."

Sam was chuckling as Dean strapped her in the back. He waited until Dean shut the door to say, "You are so whipped, dude."

"Bitch," Dean retorted with a slight grin.

"Jerk."

They found a place to get the requested salad and Dean took the opportunity when the waitress cooed over the fact that Angela wanted a salad and was cute. Sam had given up trying to rein that in since Dean made it clear that she was their little sister that they were raising. The waitresses thought it was cute and very admirable that they were raising her. It certainly seemed to amuse Angela.

It wasn't the first time that she seemed to get the gist of what was going on. Sam had observed how she almost seemed to know the intention behind things even though she would ask about it later. It was like she knew what it was but didn't quite know. If anything her asking about what the word 'bitch' and what a witch was acted as indicators. It was something to note but Sam didn't put too much into it since most of the time it was like when Hibah was a little girl.

There was more to it though. After nearly a month, Sam was well aware that what was said between him and Angela had double meanings. Perhaps he was reading too much into it but… He knew that he cared about her, cared for her and he would do anything to keep her safe. So far he was keeping to it even though there was that looming worry that he was being targeted by people who blamed him for the beginning of the end of the world. He kept it in mind but focused on the here and now; the way he saw it, it was a way of repairing the damage he had done to the relationships between the people that mattered the most to him. It was probably redundant in her case since she had already said that she had forgiven him. It was like she said about forgiveness.

Brushing the thoughts aside, Sam concentrated on getting through lunch and trying to convince Dean to take the direct route back to Sioux Falls. In the end since Dean was driving, they were going to take the scenic route back from visiting Missouri Mosley of all people. She had called because she wanted to see Angela even if she was a little girl.

It surprised both Winchesters but they went anyway. Angela had been keen to go and they took Cerebus with them. So it was okay. Angela didn't mind Missouri and got a cookie as a reward for her behavior. It was more of seeing how she was since that woman seemed to know what had happened and she sent them on their way with the warning to take care of her or there would be hell to pay. It was a warning they took to heart since Ellen's warning was still fresh in their ears too.

They weren't going to get too far since little bodies were not like adults. Bathroom and stretching breaks had to be worked in. So they pulled into a roadside in and Dean left Sam to settle in the room to go wherever for a time. Sam was waiting when Angela came out of the bathroom wearing the pajamas that she picked out, tolerating that there was a puppy on the pocket that it came with. She also had sweatpants and a t-shirt but the material was lighter since she complained about being hot at night.

Sam gave a smile when she came out and made a beeline to him and climbed into his lap. It was routine to tell her a story and something that Sam had to improvise on since he wasn't sure on what to tell. He knew Grimm's fairytales and the like but he ended up making some up and she didn't care. More likely it was just listening to him talk.

He was putting her on the bed when Dean came in. He had something behind his back and Sam hoped it wasn't anything with sugar. The last thing they needed was a hyperactive Angela. He didn't need to worry though. Instead Dean presented a teddy bear that suspiciously looked like a cross between him and his older brother.

Angela grinned big when she took it. Then using the bed, she bounced on it to jump up and grab Dean around the neck in a tight hug. It nearly threw the elder Winchester off balance but he managed to regain his footing and return the hug. He looked at Sam who merely said while he was grinning big, "You wanted to know how she really felt Dean. Now you know. She's happy."

A/N: Here we are to a brand new episode. Going into a month of Angie being mini sized and things look okay so far. Keep watching for more Children's Future or Destiny...