Chronicles of Absolution: Over the Edge

Chapter 1

Then

… The burning was nearly unbearable. The funny thing was she had been burned this bad before and had blisters but it was like a combination of tools with a little bit of personality mojo or something. It also didn't help that she was struggling so much against her bonds once they were clapped on. It was second nature and too much of a reminder of another time. Then he came out.

"You really never cease to amaze me my pretty. All the times you should have been dead and yet here you are back in the pan. What do you think you can accomplish?"

… Alistair was no stranger to her. She was no stranger to his ways. She had been young and foolish and then paid the price. Now the price seemed to be constant damnation from him now that he was topside. She had to watch as he played shoot with rock salt with the boys but an idea came to her and she spent time in concentration over that…

… She wanted revenge at one point but she had a severe wake up call to get her on the path she was on now. It was why she preferred to 'run' when confronted with anyone related to Alistair and his usual cohort. She wouldn't hesitate to fight but the tight reins were kept on the beast known as revenge.

Now she was faced with a chance to live that fantasy but that would mean she would have to become what Dean only got a taste of…

… Alistair noticed the look. He grinned, "No. You wouldn't."

"Wouldn't what?" Angela raised her brow.

"Fine be the animal you are," Alistair taunted.

"With pleasure," Angela replied. She had leaned close and with a fell swoop she closed her teeth between the shoulder and the neck. Her fangs pierced the skin and she felt the sanguine taste of blood hit her tongue.

… "One of us who was born mortal… and earthbound," Amitiel replied using the word that recalled memory within all the angels who learned of that one…

… "Absolution is born of light and darkness and yet is a champion of Father's greatest creation. She will find us and set us free."

… "Stop, Lucifer. You know you can't hurt her." Michael held up his hand in a placating gesture. "You can't kill her."

"Why not?"

"You know why."

… There are three great things in life my little bambina. You are capable of all three but the greatest comes from your heart and soul.

It's your greatest weapon Cat.

Nothing means anything if you can't forgive yourself…

… I choose you, Sam, my family and in the end… maybe that is all that matters.

… It was never about all of us getting out. It was about you. You don't belong here. We do because we made that choice.

I can still get at least you out.

No little light. This is one journey that I can't make.

… Hell just wasn't a place that held those who were damned. It was meant to torture. It was meant to make you relive the moments that led you to damnation. That was the case with most. In the end the soul became so consumed with guilt that they gave away to not deal with the pain anymore. Then they became the demons that possessed and tormented the mortals topside. It was a fate that sounded terrible but most who became demons lost their memories of being human or they remembered and they just didn't care…

… Protector.

… Lucifer called it a feedback. Sam was familiar with the concept but more with electronics. What Lucifer did was something that he didn't understand. He did get that it had to do with the fact that Lucifer liked to play with the scar on his shoulder; where Angela bit him their first night having sex. Every time the devil touched him there, a shiver would hit his spine along with needle sharp pain that was unlike anything he had ever felt before. The worst part of the whole thing was that every the devil did it, he had to watch Angela react at the same time…

… Sam had no regrets when it came to those moments with Angela. He loved being with her and the times they had, he could almost forget the crappy life that was before him as a hunter. She made things better. It wasn't the grandiose things but the little things that made the difference. And not just for him but for his brother, Bobby… and anyone else. He didn't regret knowing her. She was the best thing in his life…

… I love you Angie. Maybe it is the worst time ever but… I don't care if it means getting to spend any amount of time with you, making you happy. If I have a lifetime with you, I'll take it. Always and forever.

Angela closed her eyes and murmured, "Always and forever." As she said it the thunder started to rumble and the lightning clashed. The aurora borealis started to change colors…

… She looked at him with a piercing look that was gentle. She placed her hand on his hip and adjusted her position to look at him. She repeated, "I have always been here, Sam. You just couldn't see me. Not until you said that you trusted me."

Sam frowned at that. He had said that he had trusted her every single time she asked. When was that? It wasn't making much sense to him. "I've always said that I trusted you. Always and forever."

She smiled at him and replied, "The last time."

Sam thought about it. The last time he said that he trusted her… It then dawned on him. It was the night she handed him a vial of her blood. He remembered because he nearly spat it out and it was out of fear because of the last time he tasted her blood and how good it tasted…

… "That wasn't the case." She looked at him and pressed her hand on his hip to calm him down. "It was done so that I would be with you while I searched for you."

Sam stopped his movements when he felt the pressure on his hip. It was then that he noticed that his body wasn't in as much pain as before. He looked at her and tried to make sense of what she was saying. "What are you saying?"

"What I am saying is… what I did was to make sure you weren't alone." She looked at him as she lowered her hand to the cot. "But I didn't know and still don't know of this me just as I don't know of you."

"Angie, you aren't making much sense."

"I am her but not her. I am the part of her that belongs to you."

… "She is more than capable." Lucifer paced a little as he kept an eye on Adam. He grinned in that knowing way. "More than anyone in the world knows. She is a beauty that the world doesn't deserve. Much less Sam."

"Is that what this is? Some jealousy spat?" Adam raised his brow as he looked up at the devil…

… "She is mine. Always was meant to be," Lucifer offered in a nonchalant manner. He kneeled to look at Adam in the eye. "Sam is just an inconsequential side dish though it was always meant to be him. He is my true vessel."

… "She is part of events that you have no inkling of. I'm just trying to make her remember."

… She was certain that her downward spiral began when she found out that her father gave his life to bring her back from the dead. She remembered what happened to her. She remembered when Brady caught her from behind and held her; he had gotten the jump on her when she went to chase after him. And it was when her father said not to go.

She had been an arrogant youth then. Back then, she didn't have that self-loathing…

… she plowed through the centuries, twice venturing into hell on a mission for rescue and subterfuge. The third time… it was a trap and was what did her in with regards to how she viewed herself. And it was done but someone she thought was a friend.

That last time was when Alistair and Lenya went to town on her. She was tortured under the knife and then a victim was left in her cell to feed on since they drove her to the point where she could die. She held out as long as she could, refusing to touch the human souls who were sentenced to eternity in hell. She let loose on the demons and had been forced into fight after fight. The high she was on after drinking demon blood… She remembered how it felt and it was how she understood how Sam felt when he thought it was the answer in the beginning.

Then she killed a soul by draining him dry. It was one of Alistair's machinations and opened the door to make her see what she was. She couldn't stop drinking demon blood and yet she hated herself that she wanted to. She created her own hell literally to the point where she plotted to escape and be like a sick animal to wander off and die alone and secluded. It didn't turn out that way with Cian and the others that paved the way for her to get out of the lower levels and back to where Gabriel retrieved her and brought her to Karnak.

True she had recovered but it never left. The fact that she would never be free from them…

… Lucifer rolled his eyes slightly and looked back at his brother. "You know that she will just fight and more likely… well it wouldn't ever be like that but you get the idea." He pressed against Sam and grinned when he heard Sam's grunt mingled with a whimper. "And what Sam said was gross simplification. Yes, there was sex involved but so much more."

"Like I care."

"You should," Lucifer counseled, "Because when I do this." He pressed hard on Sam's left shoulder and even harder when Sam cried out again in pain. "When I do this, she will know and all that will do is make her angry. She knows what I am doing and what you are doing." He looked at his brother with a pointed look.

Michael listened to Lucifer and watched Sam's reaction. It occurred to him what Lucifer was talking about. There was no way that should have happened…

… "Huh. I always knew that she would take care of them. It's fun to see her get so violent."

"You wanted her to do this?" Michael gestured at the image.

"You know a better way to get her to remember?"

… . He felt for her and it felt like his own heart was having a hard time breathing and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was pinned to the wall. He even felt a twinge in his arm when she winced from the pain in her arm. It wasn't like when Lucifer pressed on his neck with his thumb but close enough. It still tingled when she stopped wincing…

… He had arrived to find Angela clutching the dead man Hawkins and soothing him through his last moments and when she stood up, she suddenly doubled over in pain that wasn't caused by the apparent injury to her arm and she hadn't really suffered any heavy blows to her body. It even scared the girl and boy…

… Yet there was something nagging her at the back of her mind. It was familiar and she was astute enough to recognize it as distinctly Sam…

… "So… what do you want to do?"

Angela shifted to look at the flames. Hawkins' body was being consumed by the fire. She knew what she had to do and sighed. "He wants a war… he'll get one."

"Right with you."

Now

The rain was coming down in torrents. The storm had been steadily growing worse as the night wore on. It was the kind that made it into stories. The ones that predated things like a ship capsizing or something big was coming. It was the kind that restricted movement like troop movement. At the moment, Adam was grateful that it was powerful enough to keep them inside while also possibly keeping Lucifer and Michael off their backs.

Leaning against the wall of the cave that they had sought shelter in, Adam sighed as he watched the intense downpour. It was like watching those movies with the rainstorm and then the dinosaur came and got you. That was not likely the case but considering what he had seen since Angela rescued him from being Michael's vessel… it wouldn't surprise him if Lucifer decided to make a T-rex appear out of nowhere and eat them.

"Here, you left this."

Adam shifted and saw Mac handing him a pistol. He looked at it with a bland expression before reaching for it. He didn't like using it but he had to learn fast. Ever since he said he had been on board with Angela stepping up the game and essentially declaring all out war against Lucifer, he had been constantly fighting. And it wasn't always against the goons Lucifer came up with. It was also a fight for survival.

Mac had been helpful despite being the fact that he wasn't real and he took it pretty well. He showed Adam the finer points of shooting while on the run and Angela helped a little as well but she claimed that Mac was the best even though that man claimed that she was better having managed to fend off Redcoats and folks claiming to be Confederates, not to mention some Russians who were being terrorists in their own country. It was the kind of thing to get kids starry eyed but it put some perspective in place for Adam as he would glance at her while she attended to other matters. It popped up when he wasn't undergoing Mac's training.

Taking the gun, he looked at it and checked it to make sure it was good to go. "Funny how I have to put my trust in something that is not real." He gave a rather lopsided grin at Mac.

"Real enough if you can touch and feel. Might as well make use of it," Mac replied with a grin of his own. He patted Adam on the shoulder, "I'll take first watch. Even with this downpour, still need to stay frosty."

Adam listened to the Scot and his accent before looking further into the cave. He looked back and shook his head, "I'm okay doing this."

Mac turned when Adam did and then looked at the younger man. "No use worrying about it now. We took a beating. Luckily we got the storm to recuperate."

Adam felt his throat convulse at Mac's assessment. He looked back further into the cave where the fire was burning to provide much needed warmth. He looked at Mac and asked in a low voice, "Have you ever…" He made a slight gesture in the direction of the fire.

"I've seen a bit but…" Mac turned back and then looked forward. "It never gets any easier mate. I'm a soldier and I've seen friends go down and some die."

Adam made a slight sound before settling in to take watch. He knew Mac was giving him the chance to take a breather but he was still high strung from earlier. He needed to do this to wind down but everything was still going to be tense. This was a bit of an energy output for him.

He had no idea how long they had been at this constant fighting since the day Hawkins bought it. He rather missed the annoying man who teased him about his sexuality but it seemed like there was hardly any time to mourn. Rather it was push, push, push, and he understood now better how men like Mac worked when they were sent wherever. The last one though hit them hard.

With the stops pulled out, it seemed that Lucifer was using everything in his and Angela's heads to slow them down and break them down. He remembered coming across a couple incidents from when he was in school and then there was when he actually did die because of the ghouls. It was nasty but at least he wasn't dead. Angela and Mac ended up taking care of it with head shots. Most of it though was gleaned from Angela's experiences and given that she was the eldest of all of them there, there was plenty of material to work with.

The last one ended up being from the time she was in Russia with Mac. Even Mac was impressed at the level of detail after Angela snarked him about remembering Altay very differently. The banter amused him and it was easy to see that she and this Mac person were very good friends. He suspected that they were close and it had him wondering why she didn't develop any feelings for Mac. They both understood each other very well and from the stories told, they started out hating each other but being thrust into battle put a different perspective on things.

This battle had to do with the last mission that ended with them going through a village. Adam thought he was stuck in the middle of a war movie with people, supposedly Russians shooting at them. They were outnumbered and outgunned when they walked in but that was quickly rectified when Mac's squad appeared out of nowhere and started firing and barking orders.

They managed to avoid much of the fighting but they still had to be on the alert. As much as this wasn't real in terms that it happened years ago and there were some alterations, the effects were very much real. Adam had debris fly in his face when a grenade went off nearby and it disoriented him. It put him in the line of fire to be seriously hurt or killed but Angela prevented it.

She had jumped into the path of whatever it was that was going to kill him. He watched as she sent the guy flying with a kick and then turn and shoot two others. It seemed inhuman but then again she wasn't exactly completely human. In the end they managed to lower the numbers but they still had a fight on their hands and it ended with more than bumps and bruises.

Adam shifted and winced. He looked at his arm and saw the bandage on his upper arm. There was a dark spot and he covered it with his free hand before shifting to lean against the wall. He thought about the price paid for that injury and sighed and closed his eyes. He pressed a fist to his forehead and silently asked if it was all worth this pain and misery. His mind was telling him that it was hell and there was nothing but pain and misery but the ordeal felt very real and he did have moments that he felt he was going to die.

That's how hell is. It wants you to break down and once that happens, you are open to what it does to you… and it's worse than death.

"Yeah you sure told me," Adam muttered to himself as he looked out of the cave entrance at the pouring rain. Right now he was more worried that the person who had been the rock throughout this whole thing was in worse shape than all of them put together.

"You should have let Mac take first shift. Then he'd be on third watch."

"I'm good," Adam replied, not looking at who it was that came to sit by him. He knew it was Tsura. "That last one…" He shook his head.

"She's doing fine. Still unconscious but fine," Tsura offered as she put a hand on Adam's shoulder.

"That's good." Adam swallowed slightly as he looked out of the cave. A slight breath of relief came out as he rubbed his arm where his injury was. "So…"

"If you're asking about the physical stuff, that's on the mend," Tsura answered the question that was tripping off Adam's tongue. She gave a slight and gently slap to his shoulder, "Funny thing about dhampirs. They heal pretty quick."

"Then why hasn't she woken up by now?" Adam turned to look at Tsura. It was probably stupid to ask since he was talking to a figment of someone's imagination. Angela told him that she didn't remember Tsura from any job she had done and he didn't know her. The only option was that it was a creation from Lucifer but even then she didn't react like his other imaginary friends. She could be a really good one but then there was Mac…

Tsura shrugged at that. "That I can't tell you. I mean you saw the same as us what happened."

Adam knew too well. After a nasty injury and the last of the bad guys taken care of, they were clearing things up. Angela was walking towards them when all of a sudden she doubled over and then straightened like a ramrod crying out in pain. She then collapsed on the ground unconscious. Her body spasmed a bit like she was in the middle of a seizure, twitching. They had to leave so Mac picked up Angela and they hightailed it out of there despite the fact that they had bleeding injuries with Mac being the worst off with some sort of injury like a knife wound in his side.

Looking at Tsura he nodded, "I know. Just… it's got to be the devil's doing."

"Our thoughts too." Tsura nodded in agreement. "That means that if that is the case… she has to do this by herself."

Adam shifted to look at Tsura and then at the campfire. He didn't want to admit that but Tsura was right. There was nothing he could do just sitting here except to provide protection. Whatever was going on was going on in her head. That was what had him worried and a bit scared that he was going to be alone with this for the long run.

"She won't leave you alone you know."

Adam looked at Tsura. He found her staring at him much like the way Angela would when she was being serious or doing that inspection of the soul thing. It had him suspicious of a few things but he kept it to himself. The only thing that stuck was the fact that Tsura said that. That she would never leave him alone. He thought that applied to Sam since that was the person she wanted to get to and out of hell but… The more he thought about it, the more he realized that while that was a goal, she wasn't the type to leave someone behind.

Looking at Tsura and then at the campfire where Mac was keeping an eye out, Adam took a deep breath. Maybe he should have let Mac take first watch but he felt the need to do this and it was true that he was still high strung about what happened. He knew he couldn't relax but he needed to do something to take off the edge and he could do this for her. He looked at the campfire and the figure that was prone and looked way too much like a dead body for comfort. Silently he wished her luck in whatever she was doing. Make it back Angie. We need you. Sam needs you.

A/N: And here we go with more time in hell and the game is being stepped up only this time it looks like Angie might not be able to help them out. Stay tuned for next time for Over the Edge...