Chapter 7

"There's gotta be something we can do. I mean, it's not just Sam but Angie here." Dean was trying hard not to cry but it threatened to occur. He had been left in that place alone with two dead demons. His brother and his girl were gone. He didn't even understand it that she didn't do anything, not even stop Sam like he thought.

"We can't stop it," Castiel was replying. He didn't like it either. He didn't expect to hear that his charge just lowered her weapons and was led away. He couldn't comprehend that even after the stunts she had pulled in her life.

"Listen to me, you junkless sissy. We are not giving up."

"And no one is saying that we should."

Dean turned to see the last person he expected to be there. "Hale."

Haley came into view looking at Bobby, Castiel and Dean. She had hightailed it from Liam's place to find the Winchesters. She knew she couldn't stop things from happening but there was a chance to change the gameplay a little. It was funny how that aspect of a mutual acquaintance seemed to bleed into the most hardened of souls. "Like I said, no one is saying that we should give up."

"There was never much hope to begin with. Even with Angie being all bubbly," Bobby said in a defeated tone. "I don't know what else to do. And the one person who would, according to you just dropped her sword and gave up."

"That doesn't sound like the Angie I know," Haley said, refusing to believe that the one who was the most fierce of warriors and advocates would just do that.

"You didn't see it Hale," Dean offered as he looked at the ground. He didn't want to give up. He couldn't but when even Bobby was… "We walked in and… she let Sam say yes. And then she didn't fight when he took her."

That was definitely not like Angela. Haley frowned at that as she looked away at nothing in particular. No, there was something else to this. There had to be something. "No. I refuse to believe that. Angie wouldn't just give up."

"Hale, she gave up. Not one show of protest or emotion." Dean didn't mean to be short with her. She had only come to help but this was not helping.

"It's not her." Haley shook her head in denial. "Never in a thousand years would she just drop her sword and let herself be led away. Not without a damn good reason. You know it and I know it."

"Makes sense. It's her MO. I mean she walked out on me and Sam before."

"Do you really want to go into that? Believe me I hear things too and to be honest if you spent a little more time seeing or attempting to see how she sees the world then you would understand her." Haley narrowed her eyes in anger mostly because she could see the defeat in everyone's eyes. She really couldn't get how they would give up like this. Dean was fighting but losing. "Because from where I stand she loves all of you way too much, more than she should ever, to just give up like that. She would fight tooth and nail for all of you."

Dena knew he had pissed Haley off but. "Hale…"

"Don't Hale me," Haley waved her hand angrily at Dean. "You of all people should know her. Who does she come to when she needs help?"

Dean looked up and saw the tears starting to brim in Haley's eyes. He thought about to what Sam had told him, made him promise, in the car. Haley wouldn't be stupid enough to take him in and she wasn't all about normal. Not at the rate he was going. "Hale, I saw it, alright? I saw it. She did nothing!"

Haley shook her head at Dean. "I can't believe this. And she even forgave you." She turned away to watch the news. It was better than nothing and it kept her from losing her temper. "She forgave you Dean in spite of everything you have done that most would consider unforgiveable. Sam too."

Dean looked away. He had heard Angela in his head but it didn't give him any confidence. He didn't feel reassured about anything. And yet Haley was telling the truth. He was having a hard time believing it himself since he had always seen her in action; she did something about whatever it was. That was her.

So you won't take her for granted.

Why do you forgive me Angie?

Because even what you did in hell… there are worse things one has done. I'm not one to judge. And the way to work through things, to make things right, that's learning forgiveness… on all levels. Even when it is not readily apparent.

Dean was struck with a sudden memory of a conversation he and Angela had after he had gotten out of hell. It was some time after the ghost sickness he had been struck with. He remembered that, the way she stayed with him. She told Sam to go with Bobby and she would stay with him. So he wouldn't be… He remembered.

Looking up, he saw that Haley hadn't left. She was wiping her eyes and he sighed. He glanced at Bobby and Castiel who were both looking at a loss and stepped to stand behind her. "Hale, you're right."

"Right?"

"Yeah, about Angie." Dean cleared his throat. He was sorry that he even thought that. "She would never do that unless she had a good reason."

Haley turned to look at Dean. He looked like he had come to a realization. "Okay. Then what?"

"So Sam wouldn't be alone."

It sounded ridiculous even since she was in the clutches of Lucifer even if he was wearing Sam's meat. Yet it made perfect sense to Dean. It was a trying time for everyone but the burden was on Sam. She knew that and she was there so he wouldn't be alone. She did it for him and it would make equal sense for her to do it for Sam. But the stakes were higher since Lucifer could find out about her and Sam being together.

Haley didn't think that it was ridiculous. She knew what was going on since she and Dean talked. "Now that sounds like her."

"And if I know her… Cas, can you sense her even as a human?" Dean turned to look at the angel with a determined look.

"If you mean like locate her, no. That…" Castiel hung his shoulders. "But I can tell you that she has had some physical pain but not enough to evoke a response from Kesset."

That had Dean and Bobby tense up. They knew Sam would never hurt her physically but Sam wasn't in control. Lucifer was and if the devil thought she was toying with him, then he wouldn't hesitate to do something that would make her suffer.

"Or she cut him off," Bobby countered, "She has done it before."

"No. No resistance."

It didn't make sense and Dean couldn't make heads or tails of it except that it was to be company for Sam. That was all he got. And then it became clear what he was going to do. He was going to do the same. The thing was they needed to know where the final showdown was going to be. The problem was that Castiel didn't know and it wasn't like they were going to ask an angel or two. They wouldn't tell. That left…

Dean had a sudden fit of inspiration and pulled out his phone. Bobby looked at him and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Calling Chuck," Dean replied as he looked up the number. He looked at Bobby and explained, "He can tell me where the showdown is gonna be."

"And you're gonna go there?"

"Just to talk with Sam." Dean looked at the grizzled hunter as he waited for the call to be picked up. Simple really is you Angie.

Mistress Magda.

Dean frowned at that, "Um… no Chuck."

Oh uh… Dean. Uh wow, I didn't know that you'd call.

"Who's Mistress Magda?"

Nothing. She's a… Just uh… You know. A close friend.

"Yeah I bet. What happened to Becky?" Dean frowned a little as he walked to where the Impala was parked. He didn't know that he was followed by Haley until she got into the passenger side with him,

It didn't work out. I had too much respect for her.

Dean glanced at Haley as he replied, "Wow you got a virgin/hooker thing going on." He couldn't help but grin slightly.

Okay this can't be why you called.

"Sam said yes."

I know. I saw it. And I saw Angie. She was taken by Lucifer. I'm working on the pages.

"Yeah." Dean didn't want to go into details about that. Chuck would have seen it if any part of it. He did admit that he only saw glimpses of her and it was always in an ambiguous fashion. "Did you see where the title fight goes down?"

The angels are keeping it top secret. Very hush-hush.

Dean sighed and tried not to be too frustrated. "Oh crap."

But I saw it anyway. Perks of being a prophet. Tomorrow. High noon in a place called Stull Cemetery.

Dean thought about it and looked at Haley who was waiting for him to give the word. She wasn't asking to hear but letting him talk. He felt her hand on his shoulder and it massaged it gently in reassurance. "I know that. That's an old boneyard outside of Lawrence. Why Lawrence?"

I don't know. It has to end where it started I guess.

That wasn't reassuring but at least he had a location and he was willing to bet that if Lucifer was the arrogant ass he was, he would bring Angela there. Get all the players there. Then… "Is there any way to short-circuit this?"

Besides the rings? No. I'm sorry. Unless…

"Unless what?"

Unless the Malachi strikes down both bringing Absolution to the brothers. But I honestly don't know. I don't know what's going to happen yet. I can't see her like I do you.

"Thanks Chuck." Dean hung up the phone.

"So… we going?"

Dena looked at Haley as she looked at him with a look. "I can't ask you to come, Hale."

"And I'm not asking." Haley shook her head. "I am here to help. I like Sam and I don't want this to end badly. And maybe I'm the idiot but… I believe there is a chance."

Dean looked at Haley and couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle. "God you sound like Angie."

"Addicting isn't she?" Haley couldn't help but laugh gently in agreement. She took a breath and adjusted her position in the front. "But it is the truth. And if all you're gonna do is go and be with Sam… then I'll go and just be there for you. I'll stand by you and if you need help getting to Sam… just ask like always."

Dean was grateful for Haley. He would like her there but he didn't want her to be in danger. There was a very high risk that Lucifer would kill them. "I'd like it but… Hale, this is dangerous. I mean it's the devil. He could kill you. Kill me."

"I know. And I want to come."

There was an air of finality in her tone and Dean knew better than to refuse. He had been on a mild business end of refusal with her and while it had been fun and games, he knew enough about her juju to know that she could be very physical and kill someone. He smiled and grabbed her hand. "Thanks Hale."

"Always with you."

Dean sighed and got out of the car. He had to make sure he had his gear ready. You couldn't get rid of habits even if he was going to do something like try to talk to Sam. He walked around to find that Zeppelin, Moira and Xander had followed and were sitting in front of the trunk. He shook his head and said, "I bet you're thinking I screwed up huh?"

Moira whined slightly as she stood up and walked towards him and rubbed her head on his leg. She then sat and looked up at him with a somber expression. Dean looked down at her and couldn't help but rub her head. Kneeling he was level to receive all three and they came forward. "I guess this means you want me to fix this huh?"

Zeppelin barked and tugged on Dean's jacket. He pulled hard enough to cause a small rent in the cuff. It had Dean chuckle and he rubbed his dog. He looked around and sighed. It was then he saw Cerebus. The hellhound looked at him in the eye with a firm look like he wanted to challenge him but Dean didn't see it that way. It was a missive in those eyes. It was weird but he could tell that they were telling him to fix this. "Alright, come on."

Dean opened the door to the back and the puppies climbed in followed by Cerebus. He closed the door when he heard, "Are you going someplace?"

Dean saw Bobby and Castiel approaching. He knew they wouldn't approve even if he took the dogs and Haley with him. He couldn't say anything.

"You're gonna do something stupid," Bobby stated rather than asked. He knew something was up the way Dean had walked away and followed Haley after he moved away. True Dean said he was getting the where but he knew that boy well. "You got that look."

"I'm gonna go talk to Sam," Dean said with finality.

"You just don't give up."

"It's Sam."

"You couldn't reach him here. You certainly won't be able to on the battlefield," Castiel said.

"Since we've already lost, I guess I got nothing to lose, right? And Angie will be there." Dean looked at the pair. "She won't leave him alone. That's why she went."

"Just understand that what you'll see…" Castiel paused since this was hard. He looked at Dean and continued, "Is Michael killing your brother… or the Malachi killing both. It was a possibility since this began. The Malachi…"

"Is the protector of man. I know," Dean finished. "But I ain't gonna let Sam die alone and if I know Angie… she won't kill Sam but she will be there to make sure he isn't alone and I won't let her be alone."

Angela sighed as she kneeled on the ground and soaked the towel in water. Her nostrils flared at the scent of blood all over the place. She looked at her own hands. There was blood on them and she knew where it came from. Squeezing out the towel, she dabbed the towel to the cut on her face. If she were a normal human, she was going to have a fat lip.

Not resisting was proving to be more trying than ever. Well to be honest she held out against the punches until she realized that it wasn't going to do any good and defended herself. It was probably what Lucifer wanted all along but she knew that it was stupid to just take it like that for long but she also knew a thing or two about being a prisoner and the benefits of biding your time.

"You know I never thought you'd be one to defend a demon."

Angela finished dabbing her lip and soaked the towel again. She glanced at Lucifer and replied, "I wasn't defending anyone. I just happened to be in the way." She calmly went about squeezing the water out of the towel again to dab on her face. "I'm not good at being the observer like Morrighan is. I get in the way."

Lucifer scoffed at that as he looked in the nearby mirror. He could see the look on Sam's face. There was something about it that had him intrigued. "You've always been in the way whether you aim to or not," he said as he turned to look at her. "Always there throwing a wrench in my plans but still coming down to this point."

Angela made a slight sound at that. She continued to dab her cuts and she tenderly touched her cheek. It was going to be swollen. Without a mirror she couldn't tell if she was going to get a black eye or not. She might not since her body did heal faster given her genes but she wasn't going to get her hopes up on that. She ignored Lucifer as she tended to her face.

It wasn't the reaction Lucifer wanted and she suffered for it when she was grabbed roughly and yanked to her feet. She then found herself looking at Lucifer in the face and her hair had been grabbed to yank her head up and prevent her from looking away. Angela looked up and gave her most bland of expressions. It was the one that Sam hated.

This is not Sam. It may be his body but it is not him.

It was a simple mantra and one she had been telling herself ever since Sam said yes and she knew for certain that it was Lucifer in control. It helped her to steel her resolve in doing what she was doing. The only small comfort because Sam's scent was mingled in with Lucifer's and it was wreaking the most havoc with her nose. Pursing her lips and hissing in her breath since her hair was being pulled and there was a hand tightening on her arm.

Lucifer looked at Angela as she looked at him. He twisted his head to look at her, trying to see what it was that kept her from putting up any resistance. It was a puzzle to him and he didn't understand it after everything she had been doing this past year. "Don't you have anything to say?"

Angela let out a slight sound from the pulling of her hair but she didn't avert her gaze. It wasn't like she could do that anyway. She opened her mouth slightly to reveal the slight elongation her teeth had taken. It was nothing unusual since dhampirs could elongate and retract their teeth at will just like their full blooded counterparts. From what Sam and Dean told her, she did that frequently when she was shrunk and she occasionally did that but mostly to tease. Looking at Lucifer, she managed to say, "Only that for an angel you have bad breath."

Lucifer growled and flung Angela aside. He took satisfaction in hearing her crash into the dilapidated furniture. He felt Sam scratching away when that happened. He looked at the mirror and saw Sam looking at him with such loathing and said, "Now come on Sam. You know that you wanted to do it. After all, she was the one that started everything. If she hadn't met your mom…"

"Not true," Sam retorted hotly as he glared at Lucifer.

Lucifer grinned at Sam, "Don't lie. After all she lied about knowing them in the beginning and then what about Madison? Jess?"

In the meantime Angela pushed herself up slowly. She put a hand to where she had hit the table and it came away clean but it was sore. She winced but she heard what Lucifer was saying. She said, "You know that I tried to stop it, Lucifer. Don't lie."

"I never lied," Lucifer shot back.

Angela slowly got to her feet. The broken wood clanked as she stood up and turned to look at the devil. She rubbed her lip since it was sore from the previous blowing off of some steam. She also rubbed gently the other sore spots on her face before running her fingers through her hair. She took a breath and said, "Please. You left out the fact that Azazel's gang had the bigger agenda of me before the whole business with the children. For centuries he was trying to draw me out and went to… extreme lengths. On your orders."

"Only shows what you have been and that is a thorn in my side."

Angela gave a slight smile and a shrug at that. "Huh. And here I was thinking that you wanted me for something." She looked at Lucifer in the eye. "Something about a sword and shield."

Lucifer paused and looked at her with a raised brow. She was biding time. He was certain of it. He was well acquainted with how she could misdirect if only to keep attention off of whatever else she was planning. He grinned and raised his finger and waved it at her. "You're going to try something and knowing you… probably has something to do with the attack dog leashed to you."

"If you mean the Avian guard, then no." Angela shook her head to emphasize that. To her it was almost comical in that Lucifer wasn't understanding that she wasn't going to fight him. She could see the puzzlement on his face and if she wanted to be sentimental, she would have taken out her phone to get a picture. "As to having some grand scheme, as I told you before, I don't have one. I am not resisting you, Lucifer." She stood there looking at the devil. "No resistance." She gestured with her arms to make a point.

"And you're willing to let billions of people suffer; forsaking that which you are? The protector of man? The Malachi of Absolution?" Lucifer looked at her with a wry look. He glanced in the mirror to see Sam looking at the situation like he wanted to do something but he wasn't sure of what to do.

"You once said that if there was no resistance, you would allow them to live," Angela countered knowing that it was a deal with the devil in the most literal sense. "If you wish, I could pave the way for acceptance."

"But you are operating under the assumption that I care about these flawed beings," Lucifer replied with a smirk and waved his finger at her. "The truth is… I don't. What I do care about is Sam, this vessel, my destiny… oh and of course… you."

"Me?"

"Don't play coy," Lucifer warned as he circled her. "Apart from obtaining my true vessel, I wanted you and it's not because Michael wants you. Well… that is true."

"I am not important."

Lucifer was on her in a moment and grabbed her and pinned her to the wall. He glared at her as he pulled on her hair to keep her looking at him. "Don't even start. You've been important since the beginning. All these centuries…" Lucifer got close as if to sniff her. "And you still haven't grasped the power you hold."

"Maybe I have and just came to the conclusion that I won't resist you but that doesn't mean that I will use it for you." Angela choked out a laugh and grinned. "I won't be your tool Lucifer. I am merely an observer."

Lucifer had enough and slammed her head against the wall. "You wish to toy with me? Then I will give it to you. I have a sudden urge to blow off more steam." He drew his fist back and threw a punch.

A/N: Dean finds out where the final showdown is and decides to go. Lucifer has a sort of heart to heart with Angela and is baffled. Stay tuned for more Light's Evensong...