Chapter 2

Everything is ready. Dammit Dean, what the hell happened?

"It looks bad but she's okay… mostly." Dean glanced over at the Impala where Fiona was giving a quick check over Angela's injuries. They had to stop to gas up and he needed some road food. The trip had been longer than usual since he was taking into account his girl's injuries even though she was putting on a brave face and insisting that they go home.

Home. That was what she called the Singer residence and Dean could back her on that. Even though they were on the road as often as they were, Bobby's place was the one place they could always go to. To him and Sam, he was their adopted father. To Angela… Dean knew that the grizzled hunter took her in even though she only asked to have a place to stay they night. The relationship they had… Dean could liken it to a father-daughter relationship and he didn't forget how she called him Papa Bobby.

Is it really that bad?

"Um…" Dean wasn't sure how much he wanted to tell the hunter. It was hard enough calling the old man and explaining that Angela had been hurt and she wanted to come home. It had Bobby say that it was no problem and he would be ready. "She was… beaten Bobby. Stabbed. Burned."

Did they do anything else?

Dean knew what that meant and he knew that Sam had wondered the same thing. They both did, which was why they had been circumspect about asking Fiona when she checked their girl out. He didn't know what Sam would have done if Fiona had found something. "Thank God no. This guy just wanted to hurt her and he beat her but he was getting started. His plan was to get me and Sam there and…"

I get ya. Bring that idjit here. Ya hear boy?

"Yeah we're coming," Dean replied. He glanced over to find Sam coming out with some purchases. "We'll be there in a couple of hours give or take. Oh and Fi and Austin are driving Deanna."

I know that. Feather boy paid me a visit and is right now patrolling the yard with hell on four legs and the damn cat.

It was tempting to laugh at the thought of the claws of doom going on patrol. Dean couldn't imagine it but he didn't put it past Kesset to do something like that. The Avian was more or less normal but he had turned into a mild form of Sam aka the overprotective watchdog and in all honesty, Dean didn't blame him. "Yeah about that… let him do it Bobby. Kess is…"

I know. It's the reason why that Avians are the best at guarding. Now hurry up and get over here.

"See you in a couple of hours."

Sam waited until Dean hung up to ask, "Everything okay with Bobby?"

"More like he's wondering if he's going crazy."

Sam made a slight face at that. "Oh Kess… yeah." He cleared his throat slightly since that was more or less his doing. "I told him where we were going and that it was okay to make sure it was safe."

Dean raised his brow at Sam. "Thought that was a one time thing."

Sam shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't about to tell Dean that Kesset told him that since he had taken charge, he was now under the Avian's protection. The technicalities were a bit more impressive with Kesset saying that it was Sam giving him direction that he wasn't now on a rampage. But he pulled away that Kesset was his guardian. Not that he was complaining but it made things a bit awkward. So when the guard asked about their destination, Sam decided to give him a job. He felt for Kesset since the Avian seemed to be on the guilt train with the rest of them. "An alpha thing," he offered with a slight frown.

"An alpha thing?" Dean wasn't sure if he heard that right. "You?"

"Kess' words," Sam countered. He handed the bag over to Dean. "Here… and I didn't forget the pie."

Dean peeked and found that he had fifty-cent whores. They were better than nothing when it came to pie. At least it would sustain them for a while. He also noticed a few other things. "Painkillers?"

"Just a thought. Her ribs are broken and Fi suspected bruising on her lungs." Sam felt his throat convulse as he recalled that conversation. That came after his all nighter after they rescued Angela. He couldn't sleep so Fiona gave him the run down on her injuries and it had him cringe since it was pretty bad.

"You know…"

"Yeah. Dean… can we just go?"

Dean would have been content to let it go had it been any other time. However, he wasn't going to let it go. The whole week Sam was oscillating between his emotions worse than when Angela had been sick. "Yeah. In a moment."

Sam recognized that as an attempt to get him to talk. He tried to avoid it, "You said that we would be there in a couple of hours. Come on."

"I know what I said," Dean began as he held a hand out to stop his brother. "But I want to know what's up with you. What you did, I get. Really I do."

"Do you really?" Sam wondered how much Dean thought he knew since he hadn't exactly been forth coming and Dean did accuse him of running off on his own to find Austin. He also wondered if his brother knew about the nightmares he had been having and the restless nights. He slept but it was hardly refreshing.

"Yeah I mean… the bastards hurt Angie and worse than what we are used to seeing." Dean shuffled on his feet a little. "Hell I wanted to rip the bastards apart myself. I just want to know if you're okay."

Sam was about to say that he was fine but something in his brother's demeanor told him that it wasn't a good idea to do that. There was a lot he wanted to say but he was still not sure of himself. Definitely nothing about what he had told Fiona that night. He didn't want to bear the scrutiny from his brother since he was certain Dean was upset with him for hurting her like he did and he didn't blame Dean in the least but he wasn't prepared for more of that. At least Fiona hadn't judged him.

After she came back from making her calls and probably giving Austin and Dean the rundown of the extent of Angela's injuries, she helped to tidy up and just offer help. It was then that she said, "It's not a bad thing. The way you feel about her… you should tell her."

Sam definitely didn't want to say anything. Right now it could have been construed as pity and he didn't want Angela thinking that. That was following by inwardly calling himself an idiot and he could almost hear her asking him if he thought that low of her. Luckily the subject in question was in a deep sleep meaning that there was a low chance of her overhearing anything. He told Fiona, "I… I… don't think so." He looked away, well aware that he was looking like he was guilty of something and he pretty much was.

Fiona countered, "Don't wait Sam. If you can't tell her… show her."

Looking at Dean, Sam knew that he wasn't going to say anything about it. He was still working out whether or not it was right to do so because of everything that had happened. So he followed Dean's line of thought about what they had done to get her back, "Good. Not great but good. It's different when it's human."

"I wouldn't call that bastard human but… yeah I get it." Dean paused a moment and then asked, "And about that guy Talley?"

Sam almost forgot about that. He remembered how it felt just emptying the clip into the bastard that knifed him. It was done more in revenge but then again wasn't recent events the same thing? To be honest, he didn't think about it much. What mattered was what they were going to do in the here and now. He shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know. Look… can we talk about this later?" Preferably never but that wasn't going to happen.

Dean could see that something was really eating at Sam and he got the impression that it had nothing to do with the subject of the conversation. He would let it go but he made a mental note to talk to his girl. If anything she could get to the heart of things without turning it into a shouting match though she could use one every now and then. "Alright then. You know I get ya right?"

"I know. It's just other things."

The brothers walked back to the Impala and were joined by Austin who said, "You know that there is a decent diner about ten miles down right?"

"Diner? You mean I could have waited for real food?" Angela looked at the Winchesters and Austin just as Fiona finished what she was doing and tugged the athletic pants leg down. Angela grinned at Dean and teased, "What's up with that, Dean?"

"You were the one that said you were hungry," Dean countered, feeling better that his girl was acting like her normal self. "You said that road food was better than nothing."

"But not when there is real food to be had."

Sam watched the exchange between Angela and his brother. She had been trying hard to let them know she was okay with her teasing manner. It was genuine since she didn't hide things that often but he could tell that a part of it was just for show. He could see the tiny winces and knew that her ribs pained her more than she cared to let on and her immobilized leg she saw more as a cumbersome limb that refused to cooperate with her. Yet she was willing to make an effort to get better; that was essentially what she was doing.

Sam knew that Angela would only be idle for so long. She would rest but complete bed rest meaning no doing anything related to walking around… that wasn't in her vocabulary. He had pointed that out to Dean when they had to leave her behind and that Grigori business. He was just worried that she might be overdoing it but it seemed that Fiona had things well in order. That and Angela…

"Hey you awake there, Sam?"

Sam realized that he had been asked a question and had missed it entirely. He looked to find four pairs of eyes looking at him. "What?"

"Told you he wasn't listening," Austin whispered to Dean a bit loudly. "We should have just gone."

There were a few jokes at Sam's expense until Fiona had pity and filled him in. They were going to head to the diner since it was never a good idea to deny a starving dhampir their food. Upon hearing that decision, he shot a look at Angela asking silently if she was okay with that. He didn't blame her for not wanting to be in public too often since she looked like the product of domestic violence and he would tear a new one at anyone who suggested that he or Dean hit her.

Angela looked at Sam and gave a slight nod. He accepted it and could concede that they had been traveling for hours now. She slept as well as she could in the back of the Impala while Fiona and Austin drove the Camaro with the dog riding in the back. Dean had been adamant that she be with them and was only voicing what Sam wanted. She wasn't vain either but he could understand if she wasn't in the mood to be out in public.

Seeing her decision Sam added and attempted to be a bit humorous, "Okay. I'm anxious to see where she puts it all." He gave a glance and caught Angela looking at him. It wasn't playful like their previous exchanges. It was more thoughtful and sort of borderline of the look that he really didn't like seeing. His lip twitched in a slight smile but it was hardly reassuring.

Bobby had his fair share of surprises and curve balls thrown his way. In fact they seemed to have increased the moment he first met Angela. Normally he would have been put out by it had it been anyone else but since that first day, she had grown on him. He took her in and pretty much demanded that she stay and she made it seem like she did of her own free will. That was quite possibly the way of things since she had a knack for doing that as much as she could make a harebrained idea seem like his own invention.

Sam and Dean he had looked out for since he first met them through their father John Winchester. As the years went by, he saw them as his own boys and grew to love them like a father does his sons. It became the same with Angela except it felt different. True she was an adult and had done things to survive her long life but it was different. At some point Bobby felt that if he and Karen had ever had kids, he would have wanted a daughter like his favorite idjit.

He had been worried sick but tried not to show it when it was certain that she had been kidnapped. He wanted to be out there with the boys looking for her but he had agreed to Sam and Dean's assertion that just in case someone happened to call… they needed him there. The downside was that he felt too damned helpless to do anything about it. And it didn't help that he was still stuck in the damned wheelchair.

Bobby knew that he had hurt her feelings the moment when he went on an emotional spill about being old and broke down and damned near useless when Dean got into trouble and added years onto himself. Angela had been the only person that he actually indulged in deep and meaningful conversation with. He told her the truth about how he became a hunter and she gave her story. She opened up to him about her time without her father. From that he surmised that father and daughter had been extremely close and to lose him and then spend nearly four centuries alone… It was hands down on the winner of who deserved to mope and moan.

While she had been amused when he and a very aged Dean argued back and forth, Bobby could tell that she was hurting just as bad and it didn't help that she had been trying to piece together what happened to the missing months of her life. He wondered why she still bothered with him and he could almost hear her say that it was because she was attached to the grumpy old man that took care of her favorite cat. Being straight to the point, Bobby Singer loved Angela and the moment he found out that she had been hurt bad, he was ready to head down there himself and start in on the mayhem.

It was Dean that called and from the tone of voice, Bobby could tell that it was bad. True that they all had suffered injuries that were bad and some were memorable like when they were all younger versions of themselves but this… it was different. Bobby had to ask for the details… well not chapter and verse but just enough. It had Bobby want to see for himself and it wasn't that he didn't trust Dean's account, it was more because he had a hard time believing that something like that could happen to her.

It certainly had him relieved that they were coming back to the house. He would get to see for himself and it would relieve some of the tension that he had been living with the past week. He certainly had been mean to Cerebus and Setna but they showed nothing of hurt feelings. They were more sympathetic and Setna purred extra loud on his lap; they understood what was going on.

Looking around he made sure that there were ways and means of Angela getting around. He had heard from Dean that she was already on crutches but moving around slowly. He didn't have a spare chair and he knew she would throw a fit at it. She more likely would say that she just needed her battered old couch even though she had a room all to herself and he got that. No doubt she was being driven crazy by the boys looking after her. It had been so much easier when she was four and didn't have a worry in the world.

"Dammit it Angie. You really have us whipped… idjit," Bobby muttered to himself as wheeled through the house to make sure things were more or less ready for a patient who was mobile but not in the best of shape. Setna had jumped onto his lap and made himself comfortable. "Not now ya damn cat."

Setna merely gave a slight meow in a lazy like fashion and Bobby grumbled while petting the cat. He knew that cats had their own mind and more or less acted like you were the boss. The only exception seemed to be Angela since one look had those animals obeying her. He also noticed that Sam had an effect on the cat though what it was looked more akin to using the younger Winchester as a punching bag. Still having Setna around was a good thing and despite the feelings of depression being stuck in that damned wheelchair he was soothing company.

"The perimeter is clear."

Bobby growled trying to hide the fact that once again Kesset got the drop on him. It was as annoying as Castiel dropping in unexpectedly. He turned to see the Avian guard standing at what was the equivalent of attention and barked, "Don't do that."

Kesset looked at Bobby and replied, "I informed you that I would be patrolling the perimeter. I am reporting in."

"I meant sneaking up on me Feather Boy," Bobby clarified as he wheeled himself through the living room. "Now I'm glad you think my property is safe and it is considering half of the stuff is Angie's doing."

"The princess knows her wards well."

"So why can't you take her word for it?" Bobby stopped and turned to look at Kesset knowing that the Avian followed him as he moved. And that had to do with the fact that he hadn't been given leave to go away.

"It is my duty to make sure that wherever she is at is secure."

"You know she would shoo you away if you try that."

"I will not fail her again," Kesset bellowed a little forcefully. His wings were visible and they flapped slightly in agitation.

Bobby saw the feathers start to rise and knew that Kesset was upset. He seemed to get upset quite easily lately but given recent events… Being himself, Bobby replied, "And you're an idjit if you think you failed Feather Brat."

Kesset gave a slight low growl in his throat and looked down at the grizzled hunter. Bobby knew it was a gamble since the Avian was not completely his normal self and still susceptible to becoming violent if he couldn't keep his emotions in check. To the grizzled hunter, the Avian was becoming more like a normal human except that it was a bit more than that and the depressive moods could be bad if not diffused. Kesset was well aware of that and had been trying but he had been troubled the past week and he didn't want to put his friends at risk. "She was taken from us."

"Yeah and from what I hear it was when she least expected it."

"I was given orders. I was to watch her. I gave my word to the Lady."

Bobby had gone through this before to some degree but it clearly looked like Kesset was on the verge of spilling his guts. "Yeah I know about that whole oath of veracity bit but ya didn't break it ya idjit. So stop your moaning."

Kesset looked at the grizzled hunter. "If you were anyone else, you would pay for that," he said in a low tone, well aware that he was threatening someone that meant a whole lot to Angela. Yet his emotional state was driving him crazy.

"Eh you and Sam both," Bobby retorted. He was worried about what the Avian would do but he wasn't put out by the threats.

"Then why did she send me away?"

There was the crux of the issue. Bobby accepted the fact that Kesset had been sent to the salvage yard since he wouldn't go voluntarily. The hunter was shrewd enough to guess that the reason was twofold or it could be just as simple as not to have too many people hovering around her. He could see how Kesset would perceive it and she didn't see it like that. It was a conundrum that Bobby wasn't prepared to handle but tried, "She didn't send ya away idjit. She sent ya here."

"It is still away. I did fail in my mission."

"Now yer sounding like Sam and it's damned annoying. She doesn't see it like that. If anything she wanted you to check up on me or go out and get a life. She did it for your own good."

Kesset blinked. His feathers flattened of their own accord as he thought more about what the elder hunter said. It was like anything that he had been worked up about was gone. "You… have a point. I apologize." He lowered his head and averted his eyes downward.

Bobby groused a bit. "Don't do that. You're not a servant and I don't think she sees it that way."

"Still… my behavior is abhorrent. What I am is no excuse."

Bobby made a sound at that and started moving to put a book back. He was surprised the cat hadn't moved but then again it took a lot to get that cat scared. "Angie's half a vamp and she's got issues up the wahzoo. Don't worry about it. And thanks for making sure the place is secure. Been working on it since that demon bitch took her the last time."

It seemed too simple for Kesset. Then again he had been subject to worse when he was in training and the mistakes he made. It was odd but strangely enough a relief that he wasn't going to be beaten or worse for essentially breaking his oath of being a guard and his oath of veracity. Yet the elder didn't see it that way and it led him to believe that he was right about the princess feeling the same way. Certainly the Winchesters didn't blame him. Sam especially and in fact the younger Winchester sort of gave guidance. He certainly managed to get him under control at that place when he wanted to tear up the place. Sam was exhibiting his alpha but not flashy. It was different.

Bobby studied Kesset while it was apparent that the kid was deep in thought. At least that worked. Still he had to ask, "You okay?"

"You have given much to think about," Kesset replied, "And you may be right. I still apologize."

"Think nothing of it."

Kesset would have said something but at the moment he picked up something. His head darted towards the window and his eyes began a quick search. His head made slight movements like a bird of prey would. "They are here," he said without preamble.

"Okay then," Bobby replied wheeling himself to get the door. He nudged Setna off his lap; the cat meowed in protest. "Now don't overreact. Dean said it looked worse than what it was."

"I was there but… I understand." Kesset followed the grizzled hunter to the door. They were joined by Cerebus who gave a slight woof moan. "The dog of Hades wants to see her too."

"Yeah well we gotta go easy. If she thinks we're mothering, she'd throw us out."

Kesset said nothing but acknowledged that with a slight nod. Finally he said, "I'll go and keep watch." He turned into his bird form and took off to his favorite perch on the roof. It was a good vantage point but it would also allow him to be with his thoughts.

Bobby made a sound and directed his attention to the Impala that had pulled up. The Camaro was already in and Austin, Fiona and the dog were out. They were going about business as usual when the boys got out and Sam opened the back door. He conceded that it was bad given the way that she allowed Sam to pick her up and carry her princess style towards the house.

A/N: So they are on the road again and Bobby and Kess have a heart to heart. Keep watching for more Broken Wounds Heal...