My Angel Gabriel

Chapter One: Suspicions

After the expulsion of the Kahn worm, they all needed a bit of a breather.

Cole was exhausted. Electrocution, followed by massive dehydration and close quarters combat, made for a hard day for any man, even a soldier like him. After the worm was ejected and dead, Dean made him drink a gallon of water, opened all the windows to cool the cabin, and dropped the soldier into a bed with an admonishment to stay there or get his ass whooped again.

Dean was faring better. Three bottles of water made him feel in tip-top shape again, and Cole hadn't been strong enough to do that much damage to him during their scuffle. The Mark of Cain was a hell-on-earth burden to carry, but it did at least make it easier to bounce back from a brawl.

Sam was in the best shape physically. No dehydration, and only minor injuries fighting with Kitt. He was feeling guilty about the soldier's death, but even Cole and Kitt's widow admitted that he'd been too far gone to save. And at least they'd tried.

Dean woke out of a cat-nap to find his brother sitting at the table and studying Cole with that intent stare he usually used on possession victims. He stretched, then got up and slapped his brother on the shoulder. "Worm's out Sammy. He's not gonna jump up and slit your throat all of a sudden. Trust me."

Sam smiled, a faint creasing of one corner of his mouth. "I do. I was actually thinking about something else. Well, about Cole, but not the worm."

"Yeah?" Dean popped the tab on a beer Sam had brought in, then dragged out a chair to sit with his brother. "Lay it on me. What's eating you?"

"It's just...have you ever thought there might be something strange about him?" He tilted his head at the sleeping man. "I mean...first of all, he tracks you for 12 years. Actively hunts you. But we've been declared dead by multiple government agencies. More than once. Why was he still looking? FBI records have you dead six or seven years ago, National Security at least four. Why was he still looking for you?"

"Maybe he's just paranoid. Which is legit, considering we aren't in fact dead."

"Yeah, but we've been really low profile since the Leviathan thing. And it's not like we have a credit card trail to follow. All our cards are fake. We don't have a home address, not even a valid driver's license. How did he or anyone else manage to catch our trail? And how the hell did he stay on it once he caught up to us at that bar? Both of us are too careful for it to be that easy. Even Henricksen never got to us unless we were in the middle of a job gone south, or he got a tip off."

Dean frowned. Then he shrugged. "Dude's like, special ops. He probably has all kinds of mad skills in the stalking department. And he's figured out our pattern, judging by how he showed up here."

"Which is weird, because we're not the only hunters in business, and we're pretty erratic in our movements." Sam shrugged. "And he actually managed to sabotage my car and follow me without me noticing. That's some serious skills."

"Again. Special ops. They know these things, Sammy." Dean knocked back a third of his beer.

"Fine. Why was he so easy to convince to back down? You had no proof you were telling the truth. His only experience with the supernatural was the fact that you were a demon. He hunts you for 12 years, his job is to be a paranoid, dedicated soldier, then you feed him a half-assed story about how is dad suddenly turned into this unidentifiable liver-eating monster and he just goes 'okay' and drops his weapon. How is that not suspicious?"

Dean's brow furrowed. "It was pretty easy. But maybe he's one of those guys who can read people, tell instinctively when they're being honest."

"Maybe. Still seems odd. And the Kahn worm. It drives people mad. He held out pretty good, for someone who's not a hunter." Sam glanced at Cole. "And you said you electrocuted him well past the safe time, sent him into arrhythmia, and now he's basically okay?"

"Tough man."

"Dean, you got half the shock you say you gave him, and you pretty much died. That's more than tough."

Dean shrugged again. "Maybe it's a training thing." He finished the beer, got up and grabbed two more, popped the tops, then sat back down. "Look, Sam, make your point."

"It's just...there's all these little coincidences. And...it's the name thing. Besides you, only one person in the world has ever called me Sammy." Sam met his brother's eyes over the top of his beer. "And since when have you ever let anyone call you Deano? Especially after they've tried to kill you?"

"Sonny at the home did. Granted, minus the killing part." Dean swallowed. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking...well, he reminds me of something. I don't want to say just yet. I might just be barking up the wrong tree, but I want Cas to check him out."

Dean blinked. "You want to call Cas in on this?"

"Yeah. I really do. He can tell me if I'm blowing smoke or not."

"Blowing smoke about what?" A gravelly voice issued from the bed, and both brothers turned to see Cole sitting up, grimacing and wincing. "Son of a bitch. I feel like I went 20 rounds with a tank." The soldier shook his head, rolled his shoulders, then stood and staggered over to the table. "Wouldn't say no to one of those beers, if you got any more, Deano."

"Sure. You can have a beer..." Dean strolled over to the cooler on the table and pulled out two bottles. He plunked the first one down in front of Cole. "As soon as you drink a little more water."

Cole gave him a weak, lopsided grin, then popped the top and drank deeply. Within a minute, all the water was gone. He set the bottle down and swiped his mouth. "I'd like the beer now."

Dean grinned and passed him the bottle. Cole popped the cap, took a deep swig and exhaled in relief. "Ah man, now that is a little slice of heaven." He sipped again. "So...what were you talking about, and don't say it had nothing to do with me."

"I wouldn't. Actually, we were primarily talking about you." Sam sipped his beer, meeting Dean's eyes across the table. Then he sighed. "I think you should come with us to meet a friend of ours. He's an expert on...a lot of things, really, but he'll be able to tell if you're clean of supernatural influences."

Cole's eyebrow rose. "You mean there might be somethin' more in me?"

"It's not a high possibility, but...it is possible. That worm wasn't like the one we dealt with before. It may have done something we don't know about. Also, it's a general precaution. There's been a lot of weird stuff happening the past few years, and since you're new to the supernatural it could be that you've encountered something you just don't know enough about to identify." Sam kept his tone light.

"Great. Just great." Cole knocked back the rest of his beer with a sigh and rolled his shoulders. "Look, I'd be just as happy to be quit of you boys and never talk again, but I got a wife and kid at home. And no way in hell do I wanna put them in any danger. So if you think I need to see this supernatural specialist of yours, bring it on. Or just tell me where to find the guy."

Sam nodded and pulled out his phone. He tapped a number. "Cas? Hey Cas, how are you?" He rose from the table. "Yeah, that's good. That's good to hear...yeah, Dean's doing fine, everything's good on our end. It's just, we were working this case, a Kahn worm thing, but the worm was really weird. It didn't respond to electricity like the last one...no, we got it. It's all handled. It's just...one of the victims, his name's Cole Trenton, we've crossed paths with him before. He's not a hunter..." A low huff of completely unamused laughter, "well, unless you count hunting Dean...no, no it's good. They've ironed things out, you don't need to...trust me Cas, I'd have shot him myself it was a problem..."

Cole snorted. "Nice to know where I stand."

Dean shrugged. "Fair's fair."

Sam was still speaking. "Look, Cas, it's just...there's something about Cole that's making us a little wary. We've checked him for normal stuff, but every now and again, we get something new from Eve and...yeah, yeah, I know, just...call it hunter's instincts, okay? There's nothing that seems...wrong with him, just something off. And we didn't want to send him home without clearing him. He's got family. So, if you could just meet us somewhere and give him a once-over, make sure he's clean and normal, we'll all feel better." Sam paused. "Yeah, okay. We can go there. Sure. Meet you there." He snapped the phone shut.

"And? What'd Cas say?"

"He's headed for the bunker, said he'd meet us there. Something about discovering more information on something or other. And he's agreed to give Cole a looking over."

"Great." Cole sighed. "Just for the record, do I wanna know what you were referring to with that whole 'Eve' spiel?" He glanced back and forth between them.

"Probably not, beyond the fact that Eve is no longer a problem. We killed her about 5 years ago." Dean and Sam finished their drinks. Dean threw the bottles into the garbage. "Let's get this show on the road. Sooner we get you scoped out, sooner me and Sammy can get back to business, and you can get back to your family and that upside-down mortgage you were worrying about."

"Awesome." Cole threw his bottle after Dean's and got to his feet. "Lead the way boys."

Dean turned, then turned back around. "Uh...one more thing..." He clicked his fingers. "Sammy'll drive you."

Cole frowned. "What the hell..."

"You just got electrocuted nearly to death and dehydrated. You aren't in top form, and I don't want you crashing your ass. Besides, Sam and I know where we're going, and we're used to each others patterns. You don't, and you aren't. So...while you sleep it off and recover, Sammy'll drive you."

Cole scowled, then pulled a key-ring out of his jacket. "Fine. I guess I can live with that. But you better be careful with my Jeep."

Sam laughed. "Trust me. I'm used to paranoid drivers."

"Fine. Let's go." Cole passed the keys over and ducked out the door, the Winchesters right behind him.

Author's Note: Questions...comments...?