Chapter Two.
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Dean paced the room like a caged tiger; if gladiators had still been beating the hell out of each other in the arenas, Dean would have won the thumbs up from the Emperor after taking out all the opponents thrown at him; such was his pent-up rage.
He grunted impatiently at his surroundings.
The inaction of the past days had gotten to him, although it wasn't just that, it was an accumulation of reasons, and he couldn't blame Sammy for getting the hell out of his way earlier.
It was usually his broody little brother who spaced him out, but on the rare occasions when it was Dean who had a mood swing, Sam automatically took on the role of peace-maker and worked the puppy-eyes combined with all the hand waving and earnestness he could come up with, to try and calm him down, but it hadn't seemed to work this time. Dean was just too tensed up.
He resisted the almost overwhelming temptation to kick the room to splinters, for the simple reason that money had never been as tight as it was now and he didn't need to be paged for repairs by the eagle-eyed harridan who manned the desk at the motel entrance.
Hell, he had even lost at pool; something that had never happened since his Dad had first taught him, and he was still green around the gills.
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In the past, he would have spent a little of his energies on the fun courtship of a hot chick but recently, other than admiring the eye-candy when he saw it, he never took things any further.
Dean Winchester wasn't afraid of anything, except of losing his brother; that was a given and it didn't count, but he had become cautious around women, because of Emma.
Whichever way he tried to twist things around, she had his DNA, she had been his daughter, born because of his carelessness in not realising the sexy chick at the bar had been a supernatural being.
Hell he had even recognised the family likeness in Emma's face. She had spoken with lips identical to his own; she had John's eyes.
Family had always been Dean's weak spot; it was what touched him the most.
He still didn't know if he would have pulled the trigger on Emma if Sam hadn't. It was a doubt he would always carry in his heart.
He understood that Sam had done it to save him and if the positions had been reversed, he would have killed in a heart-beat to save Sam, but to save himself…? Not so sure.
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He looked at the time.
Sam had gone out about an hour ago and knowing the kid, he would probably be sitting in a bar somewhere nursing a drink and trying to figure out a way of calming his big brother down.
Somehow that image began to push away his funky mood.
It wasn't Sam's fault that things were as they were, and however mad he got nothing could change that.
Sam had blurted out that he should go take a course in meditation, one of the times he was trying to get through to him, and maybe the Sasquatch hadn't been all that far wrong. He had to find some way to deal when he didn't have the adrenaline thrill of the hunt to keep him occupied.
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He huffed in surrender.
He was about to shrug on his jacket and go find his brother now that he felt a little calmer.
He knew that despite nearly coming to blows, Sam would be happy to see him arriving.
It had been a while since Sammy had flashed him any kind of smile, let alone one of his sunny ones and Dean sort of missed it. He would buy him a beer; show the kid that his efforts in getting him to calm down hadn't all been in vain; maybe have another go at pool and get his pride back.
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He was making his way to the door when a knock echoed in the silence of the room
Dean cocked his head.
Sam had a key and unless he was so terrified of Dean landing him one, something that his gigantor brother wasn't, he wouldn't have knocked.
Dean fisted his gun in his right hand as he opened the door with his left; onto the cute worried-looking face of a young woman.
Huh!
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"You must have the wrong door, lady," he said not too kindly.
"You're Dean Winchester, right?" she asked in a polite, educated voice.
"Actually, no," he answered smirking. " I'm Gerard Gatsby. At least that's what my credit card says!"
The woman furrowed her brow. " No, no," she repeated convinced. "You're definitely Dean Winchester."
Dean was caught off-guard.
She looked like a perfectly sweet young thing, and although he was well aware that the most evil of beings could take on the most innocent of appearances, he couldn't just gank someone because they had knocked on the door and knew his real name.
"Uh, why are you so sure that's who I am?" he asked curiously.
"Because I 'm your guardian angel. Well, at least I was," she said rather hesitantly, as if it was something she wasn't quite sure of.
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Well, after all that he had been through with those feather-assed douche-bags, 'angel' wasn't the favourite word in Dean's vocabulary, and if this was truly an angelic creature standing at his door, he wanted rid of it as soon as possible.
"Well, I don't want to be rude," he hissed, his face taking on a threatening expression. " But you've picked a really bad time to come knocking. I've had a foul week and you don't want to cross swords with me right now, so take your feathered ass off somewhere else."
He made to close the door in her face when she suddenly appeared behind him, inside the room.
"You don't understand. I was assigned to be your guardian angel from when you were a baby, " she added.
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Dean felt his anger building again, just when had managed to get it under control.
"Listen, bitch. I couldn't care less about what you're telling me. If you were my guardian angel; you did a hell of a poor job!"
"I realise that," she answered apologetically. "You have all the right in the world to be angry; but hear me out. Your mother used to tell you that angels were watching over you and it was true. I was that angel and I wanted to be there for you but stuff happened."
Dean shook his head. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I said, get out.!"
"Please," she pleaded. "I have to tell you what happened. Why I wasn't there to look out for you. Do you remember Anna? She was my friend and my comrade-in –arms.
She informed me of her doubts, of how she had begun to suspect all was not right in Heaven and with the orders we were receiving. She had decided to fall, to lose her grace and become human.
I was afraid, hesitant.
I could never match her courage but when she fell, I realised that something shady was truly going on and I too wanted to join her on Earth, so I followed her example and was reborn as a human child.
At a certain moment my memories of who I was began to return and I tried to find Anna, but to no avail; without my grace I would never have been able to trace her.
I started to search for where it might have ended up and I found it; and with it all my memories came back.
I remembered that my assignment had been to watch over you, Dean Winchester. I'm so sorry," she said.
"I did not realise what your destiny was to be. I was selfish in wanting to join my fellow angel here on Earth and I deserted my post, leaving you open to the most horrific of dangers. What is done is done, but I had to explain. My guilt can never be wiped away and if you wish to kill me I am ready to die," she said pulling out an angel blade from under her coat.
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Dean had let her talk, the words "angels are watching over you," had the power by their simple association with the memory of his mom, of making him stop and listen, but he wasn't going to cut her any slack.
"Well, now that I've heard your confession you can get the Hell out and take your wussy angel sword with you. You deserted your post, fine. You're not the first person to let me down!
Sammy and I have gotten through it all without your help, so we certainly don't need you now."
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He held the door open and waited.
She nodded as she walked through. "I understand and I am so sorry, but if ever you have need of me I will answer your call. My name is Hope."
Dean closed the door behind her. He waited for a moment and pulled it open. The parking lot was empty .
He walked along the road until the first bar on the block came into view. Sam wouldn't have gone too far. He was probably in there.
He quickly pulled back around a corner as he saw his little brother exiting the bar with a woman whose face looked familiar. Dr Roberts, I presume, he smirked, remembering how she had preferred his geeky little brother over him. Such strange taste!
Huh, way to go Sammy, he thought as he pulled further into the shadows, watching as his brother looked round towards the motel.
Sammy had been waiting for him to show up but had found female company first, and Dean certainly wasn't going to rain on his parade.
He watched as she nuzzled Sam's neck and his brother turned back towards her.
They walked off together and Dean remembered when Sam had kissed Sarah; his first approach with a girl after Jess' horrible death, and the words he had said then came spontaneously to his lips once more. "That's my boy!"
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When Sam got back he'd tell him all about Miss Angel Face, but for now he swaggered into the bar.
Tonight he felt lucky. He would fleece them all to the last penny!
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