Chapter 7

Dana sighed as she rang up another customer. She was worried about Rhett and hoped that he was okay. She wasn't sure if the cops were even going to do anything about him missing. They probably thought that he split on her. That wasn't true because she did know what happened and she didn't know what to think of it.

At least the monotonous chore of ringing up customers was something that didn't require genius or anything like that. She could work with it while she thought about things. Her next customer was someone who looked like a tax accountant even though the trench coat looked a bit rumpled and the hair could do with a little fixing. The eyes though were the most intense blue she had ever seen.

The customer just looked at her until a woman in dark hair and an unusual set of eyes came up with a stack of books. She looked at the man and said, "You know that leaving me to dry with a stack is not polite."

"My apologies."

Dana thought the voice was rather… she really couldn't place it. It was gravelly like it was rough but there was a sort of gentleness despite the abrupt way he apologized to the woman who placed her stack on the counter. She took the first of the books and started scanning the bar code. A glimpse at the title had her raise her brows slightly since the guy looked like a tax accountant and the woman looked like the business type dressed in the suit. "Interesting reading," she ventured.

"A hobby of mine," the woman replied in a firm voice that clearly said Dana wasn't to pry. It was polite though and had a nice timbre to it. Thing was she didn't care about what type of books they were. She long accepted people had their quirks and hell she had her quirks too.

Dana gave a nod, "Always nice to have a hobby."

"It is research for a case," the man with the blue eyes replied.

Dana looked up to study the man who had spoken. He had a serious expression. "I see," was all that she could reply to that. What do you say really when two people who should be behind an office desk are buying books on lore and stuff that is nothing but the imagination? Then again she had met stranger people. It was rather a bit of a normal addition of a book to teach another language to the reader.

"You know what happened," the man with the blue eyes said.

The woman muttered, "Cas."

Dana looked up at that and saw the stare intensify from the man. She replied in a low whisper, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know the truth. And I know what you are," the man said before being jerked quiet by the woman who hissed his name again.

Dana felt a moment of panic as she looked at the pair. Could they be with the people that took Rhett? Then there was the guy saying that he knew her. This was not good. Taking the strong stance, she leaned over and said, "I don't know what you are talking about but if you are up to something, I will call security."

The woman spoke quickly and said, "Just give me the total and we'll be on our way."

Dana looked between them. The guy still had hat intense stare while the woman was looking apologetic for the whole thing. She could be nice about that since it was obvious the woman was embarrassed by her companion. With a firm look, Dana finished ringing up the books and gave the total. The woman paid for them without a murmur in cash and surprisingly in small bills. At least it wasn't in coins in rolls. That would have been a pain in the ass.

Dana waited until they were gone before sighing in relief. That was weird and creepy. It didn't sit right with her and she wanted to get away. The thing was she couldn't just up and leave since it was her job. Plus there was Rhett. She felt responsible for what had happened and she wanted to make it right.

It was a relief when her lunch break came. She decided to head to her usual haunt at the café down the street since they did have the best tacos ever. She smiled gratefully at her relief as she went to the locker room to grab her purse. She pulled out her wallet and put it back in the locker that had been hers since she took the job. She shut the door and turned to leave in order to come face to face with the guy from earlier.

Dana let out a shriek. "What are you doing here?"

"I need you to come with me."

Dana started to protest and was about to hit him when he grabbed her arm. It felt like a whoosh and a breeze and suddenly she found herself in an open field near the highway. She blinked to make sure that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her as she looked around breathlessly. After taking in a few gulps, she asked, "What did you do?"

"We need to talk," the man said as he looked at her.

"Cas, what are you thinking?"

Dana looked to see the woman from earlier standing in the same field and looking very put out at the situation. At least I'm not alone in the confusion, she thought to herself. She looked at the man and the woman.

The man said, "We need information and she has it."

"That doesn't mean you abduct them from their job." The woman marched up giving a slight sigh of exasperation. She then looked at Dana and said, "I apologize for earlier and now."

"No harm done," Dana replied trying to put on a brave face. "It isn't every day that I get abducted by a tax accountant who can zoom to whatever place he wants. And I certainly didn't count on meeting uh whoever you are."

The woman gave a sympathetic smile, "Again I apologize. My name is Angela. I am here about the missing persons that have been turning up dead."

Dana nodded. Well at least that was a legitimate excuse. She motioned towards the man, "And your partner?"

"I am Castiel. I am an angel of the Lord."

Dana opened her eyes wide and probably thought that they were going to bulge out of her head. That was absurd. There was no such thing. Was there? "You're kidding right?"

Angela had been studying the woman since Castiel made her aware of her. She was the same girl that bumped into her before when she was leaving with the boys at the café. She couldn't forget the red hair that looked like it had been polished by the heat of the sun. It wasn't fiery red but it suited the girl and the eyes were green; not like Sam's mossy green but more like emerald isle green. She was a unique person.

As to what Castiel had been hinting at, she wasn't sure of how to broach the subject without sounding like a loony. So instead she had been looking around to see if anyone had been tailing her. Of course that turned up empty until she was at the register with the angel and he had to say something. Inwardly she had cringed at that since Castiel was not known for subtlety.

The girl of course thought they were stalkers or something and threatened with security and so they left. The next moment Angela found herself in this open field and Castiel promising that he would return. He did keep his return and he hadn't been alone and now she was with the poor girl who thought she was on the crazy train and had no way off. Gently she replied, "Actually he's not. Cas is an angel and they do exist but then again you are familiar with the supernatural aren't you?"

For some reason, Dana felt comfortable under the gaze of Angela. Her eyes spoke of sympathy and trust. The way how the question was worded also had an impact. It was like she knew and was giving Dana a chance to fess up. Sighing she replied, "I know a few things."

Angela nodded. She thought Castiel bringing the woman here was a bad idea but maybe she could at least make the girl comfortable. She replied, "Well you're not alone there. You've met Cas and you know me. You probably know what I do."

"Well if you hang around angels," Dana replied still feeling weird that there was such a thing, "then I figure you must be a hunter."

"Right on the money."

"So that means you think that the missing people are not people," Dana ventured.

"Some but not all. Some people could possibly have walked out and just disappeared," Angela replied. She was well aware that there were people who just decided to up and leave to never be seen or heard from again. It was a sad thing but it did happen. That didn't mean that it hurt any less. "But there is a connection."

Dana nodded. It was nice that the woman wasn't being so pushy. "And you think that you know who has them?"

"Not really. All I have is a lead from another hunter who disappeared," Angela replied. It was probably a mistake to reveal everything to someone she had barely met but she had a good vibe about this woman.

"That's too bad. I'd like to help but I'm not sure if I could help you," Dana replied. It wasn't that she didn't want to trust Angela but she had been taught to be aware of the people that she met.

"You know what happened," Castiel said. "You will tell us what we need to know."

"And I'm sure that she would if you didn't sound like you were going to smite her if she didn't," Angela countered with an annoyed expression on her face. She looked apologetically at Dana and said, "Sorry about that."

"Um… thanks?" Dana was baffled at the whole thing and it didn't feel that all threatening. "Um… look, I am not sure of what happened."

"You were possessed," Castiel entered. He then explained, "It can be detected."

Angela gave a slight look and added, "It's actually true. There are ways to determine if someone has been possessed."

"I am not even going to ask but since you both seem to know something about me, I might as well give you the full picture. The name is Dana. Dana O'Brien and I do know what you two are talking about and I feel like crap because I saw what happened and I couldn't do anything to stop it," Dana rattled off in a single breath. It was a somewhat an amazing feat since she was kind of huffing more at the fact that these strange people found her out and she had been careful… well not careful enough since they took Rhett.

"I can imagine it must be difficult since you're a witch," Castiel replied.

Dana felt her eyes widen in surprise. That was completely out of left field and she didn't even want to guess how this angel named Castiel knew that. She looked at the woman named Angela and she looked like she was embarrassed but also like the jig was up or something. She wondered who was this woman that appeared to know things. She heard her hiss at the angel so at least she had manners. She sighed and replied, "Yes I know that. How do you know that? Wait don't tell me feather boy." A bit of her family accent cut through.

"Obvious is that Cas is an angel and they… have their ways," Angela replied, "As for me… um… I'm not what you'd call a normal human."

"You are the Malachi of Absolution."

Dana just stared at Angela. Like that name meant anything but coming from the otherwise stoic angel, it seemed pretty funny since it was so out of place. "Okay, like that means anything but I am guessing that you're like my boyfriend and don't like to tell because basically it could be seen as an equal or freak."

Despite the badly timed response from Castiel, Angela liked the witch Dana. She was direct and didn't put a fuss over something that meant nothing. She liked the fact that she didn't seem to care that she was what she was and it seemed that she liked her boyfriend who was in a similar category. She nodded, "I see you're no stranger. This could work. Tell me what you remember and I'll do my best that my friends and I will get him back."

Dana liked Angela. She didn't think she was crazy and just accepted her for what she was. She also believed her. It was in the assertion and the determination. "Alright. Two nights ago we were…"

This is Angela. You know the drill.

Dean frowned but couldn't help but shout, "Damn it Angie. Pick up the damn phone!" In frustration he threw it and hit Sam square on the shoulder since he was occupying the passenger seat of the Impala.

"Dude, seriously," Sam frowned as the cell phone hit him. "Trying out a new weapon?"

"It will be if someone doesn't pick up their damn cell phone," Dean replied and ended in a near shout. How he managed to keep the car on the road in the middle of a rant was something that couldn't even be answered unless a study was made of it.

"You got her voicemail?" Sam knew it was a dumb question but he couldn't help it as he picked up the abused phone. It still worked like it did when Dean got it. Sam couldn't help but marvel at the fact that with all the abuse they took on hunts, it was a wonder that the phones were able to take a beating and still function. Well the only time that they were completely busted was when they got t-boned and that was before they met her.

"Thank you Captain Obvious. I was afraid that I got the messenger pigeon instead," Dean retorted as he scowled at the road like it offended him in some way. It stayed in that glare position as he drummed his fingers lightly on the steering wheel.

"Don't you think you're overreacting a little?" Sam looked over at Dean with a slight look on his face.

"Hell no. Not with what we got."

"Dean," Sam began patiently. He had to remember not to talk to his brother like he did on the phantom traveler case. That would only piss his brother off though come to think of it, she did that a couple of times and he didn't complain. Putting on that annoyed polite face, he continued, "She's not looking for trouble. She's just going around to the places she marked on the map. That's all."

"And with her luck, she ran into those douches," Dean replied.

"Dean, she's like a master at disappearing," Sam pointed out. He was concerned too since there was the issue that whoever this group was, they could figure out that she wasn't completely human. He had faith though that she was keeping an eye out on stuff like that. "Hell I'm betting the times we got a helping hand before we hooked up, that was her and we didn't know it."

Dean had to concede that Sam had a point in all this. It just bothered him that Sam wasn't acting as overly concerned as he usually would. It had to be a conspiracy or something unless they were out to make his life miserable. "Still, if this is a bad mother and they are that good to snatch theses monsters, some in broad daylight… that's something to be concerned with."

Sam sighed. "Dean, she told me once that she was a survivor and that some of the things she learned…"

"Don't start Sam," Dean replied, "I don't want to hear about that douche cause I'm already pissed and I just want to gank his ass."

"I do too but Dean just calm down. You're acting like you don't trust her to be careful. I think she's shown that enough," Sam replied trying to make Dean understand. "She made a promise Dean. You know as well as I that she doesn't go back on it."

"Yeah but she can reinterpret it if she sets her mind to it." Dean pursed his lips and stared forward.

"Come on. You know she wouldn't do that if it were that important." Sam wondered why they were even having this conversation.

"Sam, she was willing to go to hell and leave you topside. She knows the rules and she was willing to break number one. Don't tell me that didn't bother the hell out of you." Dean pointed his finger in a warning gesture.

"Alright it did and you want to know why? Because she didn't tell me… not at first." Sam tried to keep his voice even as he turned to look out the window. "Look… she was going for you and I didn't want her to but she…"

"What? She gave the look?"

"She said it was something she had to do; she thought she failed in her promise to Dad."

"That's stupid," Dean countered heatedly.

"Dean, her word is all that she has in her mind. When have you ever known her to go back on anything she promised? Dad made her promise to watch out for us." Sam had a lot of time to think about that while he was trying to look for her and get Dean back.

Dean calmed down a little and realized that his brother was right. She didn't go back on her word and she even told him that it was all she had and had asked him to help her out. Personally Dean thought that she had so much more worth of value and didn't get it. "I hear you Sam but something doesn't sit right. What we saw at the morgue and the reports… Just a bad feeling."

"She'll call."

"Right when the shit hits the fan," Dean muttered since he knew her tendencies. Even when she was blind, she waited until she felt comfortable even though she had headaches to ask for help. Then again Sam probably saw the injury and then just took matters into his own hands.

"Maybe she might call that angel for help."

"Him? The dick with wings?" Dean looked at Sam as if he went off his rocker.

"Dean you said it yourself that she knew the guy. You said that she didn't even flinch when he did his angel thing." Sam couldn't even think of what to call it.

"And she looked ready to kick his ass into tomorrow and probably would have. No wonder her ears didn't explode…"

Sam said nothing more. He had heard the whole story from Dean about how Angela didn't bat an eye at when Castiel spoke to Dean in that high pitched ringing sound. He had to admit that it was unusual since she had very good hearing and that kind of thing could damage it. Then again he suspected she knew something from the way she reacted during the séance with Pam. Since then it has been nothing but…

At the burger joint, Sam pulled up the laptop and searched for the missing person's report filed earlier that day. It was cakewalk for him since he learned a few tricks from Ash and then practiced some more on his own time. Most reports filed were easy to access anyway since it was linked to those hotlines and making it easier to follow up on cases.

It didn't take long to find out the name of the girl who filed the report. Now he just needed to find out about her which meant hacking into the DMV. He glanced at his phone which had been laying silent by the laptop. He was tempted to call but he had to give her leeway.

"Find anything?"

Sam looked up to see Dean putting two beers on the table and sitting across from him. "Uh yeah. The girl who filed a missing person's report is one Dana O'Brien twenty-one and moved here a year ago from a small town not even on a map."

"There's psycho-killer written all over it," Dean replied teasing Sam as he took a drink.

Sam stared at his brother and narrowed his eyes in his annoyed version of the bitch face. "Very funny," he deadpanned. "Anyway I got an address and check this out; it's roughly a block from where she was supposed to meet her boyfriend. Some restaurant club or other; one of those places where you need to look like James Bond in a dinner jacket to get in."

"She can afford a place like that?"

"Not on her salary. Oh."

Dean looked up from the notes he had been scouring while Sam was feeding him the girl's vitals. "Oh what?"

"Nothing just that we have actually met her before," Sam replied as he looked at the driver's license photo. He turned it around so that Dean could take a look.

Dean took in the redhead's appearance with a speculating eye. She was a looker. "Nice girl. One I wouldn't mind picking up."

"Good luck since she works in a bookstore and is taking a couple of classes at the community college." Sam paused to take a sip of his beer.

"Fine," Dean replied since he recognized that tone of voice when he heard it. "So why are you saying that we may have met her before?"

"More like we bumped into her or rather she bumped into Angie at the coffee place," Sam clarified as he watched his brother look at the screen. "The guy she was waiting for is next to hers. See anything familiar?"

Dean looked at the girl and was surprised that they had met but when Sam directed his attention to the guy, he paused. He peered closer hoping that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. He had seen that look before. "Whoa. I see why she wasn't willing to tell the whole truth."

"Yeah because her boyfriend is either a Lupei or like Lycan and his kind," Sam replied. He had seen the eye flare even though it was faint and it looked like the photo had been doctored to hide it. Most people wouldn't notice it if they didn't know what to look for. "So…"

"So what? You want me to admit that you were right? Grow up Sam," Dean replied.

"Just at least acknowledge that what I told you has some value."

"Right and what happens when you get someone like Angie? That girl could lie through her teeth and make it sound real. You've seen how she played the guys we hustle from."

"That is different."

The conversation would have continued into an argument if the phone hadn't rung. Sam gave a look as he picked it up and answered. "Angie? Yeah we got the reports and everything. Listen I may have a lead… What? Really? Um… okay then." He pulled the phone away with a puzzled look.

"What?"

Sam looked at Dean and replied, "Nothing. Just that she found Dana and that she's a witch."

A/N: Cas is doing his angel thing again and Sam and Dean argue in brotherly fashion... sort of and about the usual, Angie. Nice surprise that Angie knows their lead. Stay tuned for more on The Caged Dhampir Sings...