Chapter 7

Sam hadn't wanted to get into an argument with Dean that night after everything but his brother was determined to point out the numerous times that Angela had seemed to know things but would completely side step the issue. Sam countered that it was just her way. That she never showed her cards until she was sure. He reminded Dean about when it clicked about that rogue Freemason and how she had been up front with them about it.

"Right Sam and I bet you didn't notice it when she seemed to space out when we met that kid's parents," Dean pointed out. He had noticed it but pretended not to and storing it away to ask about later if he saw it happen again. It did several times since they left Grant following simple salt and burns and getting rid of poltergeists. He had also seen the distracted look Angela had worn since their last night in Grant and hoped that she would come clean with it.

Sam had to admit that he had seen her space out but he was more respectful of the bargain that they struck up with at the Point. He didn't press her since it was clear she didn't want to talk about it but she did talk. He replied, "Dean I saw it too but I wasn't going to make an issue of it. Besides it could have been a quirk of her mental powers or something."

Dean said nothing but growled as he finished the minimart burrito that she had brought. It was not a greasy bacon cheeseburger with extra bacon the way he liked but it would do. For some reason he was annoyed with the fact that Angela once again saw to their needs without asking. Part of it was the fact that the burrito tasted like it came out of someone's ass. He then said with a mouth full of food, "Alright Sam then what about what that chick mentioned about Dad and the description was eerily similar to the trigger happy harpy? That can't be a coincidence."

Sam raised his brow at his brother for once ignoring the lack of table manners. This was the second time that Dean had called Angela a name and not a complimentary one. "Maybe it is Dean," he replied, "Of course the only thing to do would be to ask her about it."

"Always with the talking are you Sammy?" Dean threw the trash in the waste bin. "Whenever there's a problem, you want to talk."

"Obviously you need to talk. Dean what is this really about? You seem to be blowing up over things that have never bothered you before," Sam countered trying to get to the bottom of the problem.

"Little things bother me Sam. Angie bothers me and you bother me. Damn this whole stinking job with Yellow Eyes bothers me!"

Sam tried not to react to the accusation that Dean found him annoying. They both got on each other's nerves at times and right now he had to focus on getting Dean calm. "Calm down Dean. Yeah there are things that would piss anybody off but do you have to get into a fight over it?"

Hey shut up in there! There are decent people trying to sleep! Assholes!

"Great now you've woken up the neighbors with your talking," Dean retorted. He grabbed his coat and started towards the door. "I need a drink."

Sam reached out to grab his brother, "Dean, come on. Just sleep it off…"

"You sleep it off or better yet if you want an emo talk got talk to the harpy," Dean replied as he smacked his brother's hand away and took off down the hall. He felt the need for a drink and if he had to drive all over town to find a bar then he would. He just needed to get away from Sam for a while.

Sam watched his brother leave and thought about chasing after him when a slight sound caught his attention. He turned to see a shadow stumbling down the hall gripping the wall. Since he couldn't see the face, it appeared that someone was just going for a stroll and they were drunk. He called out, "You all right?"

When the person didn't respond, Sam decided to go over and check. When he got close enough, he recognized who it was and grabbed her upper arms to steady her. "Angie? Are you all right?"

He peered at her face and saw a nasty bruise forming across her left temple and eye. That brought back an unpleasant memory of the first time they met. Her gaze was unfocused, at least for a moment but then her eyes darted wildly as if she were seeing something before finally going limp. "Angie? Angie!"


The music was fairly decent and the bar food was tolerable. The best thing though was the booze. Dean managed to find the only bar in town and planted himself on a stool to try to mull through why he was stuck in this piss ant town stuck with two people who at the moment were bugging the crap out of him. One he trusted since it was his brother and the other he trusted grudgingly since she did save their asses quite a few times. The thing that was a holding factor was that she was half human and that made Dean nervous. There was the possibility that she was in league with Yellow Eyes but if Dean had to admit the truth to himself, he would have reasoned that she seemed determined to catch this sonofabitch and gank his ass. When he learned from Sam that she had been the one to set him free under a mistaken impression, he almost put her out right then and there but it was Sam and the Sammy logic, not to mention the puppy dog eyes in one sitting that convinced Dean to let it go.

Unfortunately he didn't let it go so easily. It was always at the back of his mind every time he watched her on a job. It was there when he saw her and Sam talking about anything and everything though he had to admit that she was good with her words. He could still smile at how she made Sam blush with her dirty rhymes and her references to pie. That was small though compared to the big picture.

The conversation they had in the car helped dispel his anger a bit. At times Dean felt like she understood where he was coming from more so than whenever he had a sort of conversation with his dad or Sam. He took a sip of his beer and glanced around the bar. He wasn't having much luck picking up girls since they all seemed to want to bite someone's head off.

"No luck with the ladies?"

Dean turned to see a youngish man in casual attire that would have looked better in a country club but for some reason, it fit. The guy had taken the stool next to him and had waved towards the bartender to order his drink. Dean replied, "Bad day all around. What about you?"

"I could say the same. It's not easy defending people you've grown up knowing all you life." The guy managed to get attention of the bartender and ordered a rum and coke on the rocks. He looked at Dean and asked, "What about you? Someone get your dander up about something?"

"Call it a family argument," Dean replied with a smile as he took a sip of his beer.

"Oh one of those," the guy said as he took a sip of his drink. "Sometimes though I wish I had a sibling, a younger brother perhaps. Then maybe life would have been more interesting instead of being an only child. Talk about boring."

"You wouldn't want a brother. Believe me," Dean replied. "You wouldn't want a freakishly huge brother that goes emo on you about every goddamn problem that happens." He thumped the counter for good measure just to get an edge off his frustration. He finished off his bottle and called for another one. It was going to be a long night so he might as well take something to make it enjoyable. He looked at the guy sitting next to him and asked, "Why would you want a brother? Or any sibling for that matter?"

"Like I said: boring," the guy said. He then held out his hand and introduced himself, "Tony Ramos, Attorney at Law."

Dean took the hand out of politeness but raised his brow more out of sarcasm. "Lawyer eh? Great. Well if I ever need Matlock in this town I'll know who to call."

"It's not that bad. Just when you have to defend essentially good people that you've known your whole life," Ramos replied taking another sip of his drink. He studied the hunter sitting next to him and found that his talents had been working. The poor guy had the recognizable look of confusion as he was trying to sort out his thoughts. It was also a sure sign that a few more pushes and complete rage will take over until someone or something close to the infected one manages to stop it. Of course Ramos was biding his time with that while Lenya worked on her end. The key was to gain Dean's trust. He started talking, "So anybody you know that suddenly went from good to bad?"

Dean looked over at the guy. He certainly was a nice guy and there wasn't anything strange about him. In fact he was probably the only one that wasn't giving him the evil eye for being an outsider or whatever was putting peoples' panties in a twist. He picked up his beer and huddled over the counter, "Nothing like that. Just my brother being the freaking emo that he is. That and our partner is just being irritating by being… nice."

"Ah being the nice guy often gets irritating," Ramos replied. He tapped the counter for a refill and motioned for another beer be brought to Dean. "I used to be the nice guy in court but that got old real fast. Now I do both and it works. Sometimes you have to be a little tough if only to get to justice."

"You got that right," Dean replied giving a slight nod as he drank from his second beer. "You know sometimes looking out for someone else is a pain in the ass but hey I do it because what else is there?"

"So I take it you and your brother are close?" Ramos knew the answer but he had to keep Dean talking and gain his confidence.

"Have been since he was a baby." Dean was beginning to feel comfortable in this guy's presence. It was like they were on the same page even though the guy didn't have an annoying younger brother. Dean turned to face the guy while leaning against the counter. "I don't know what it is with that kid. He ran away from me once and then he decides to ditch his family for Stanford."

"But he came back right. Obviously he couldn't last too long without his big brother."

"Sammy can take care of himself. Occasionally he needs a push in the right direction." Dean swiveled back to face his beer. "Though he seems to be listening to the harpy more," he muttered before taking a drink.

"Ah women troubles."

"If only," Dean replied.

Ramos chuckled. This was pretty easy. He decided to step it up a bit and encourage Dean to tell a little more. The more he had to work with, the better this would be. He suggested letting him buy the drinks and started ordering the harder stuff for both him and Dean. They talked about anything and nothing with Dean getting decidedly tipsier than ever.

At one point, Ramos decided to test his influence over the elder Winchester by sending a shot of annoyance to a burly pool player. He then suggested that they shoot stick with the guy. Even drunk, Dean managed to hustle a few hundred dollars from the guy. When Dean wasn't looking, Ramos whispered the suggestion that Dean had cheated and the burly guy reacted and demanded his money back. Dean reacted by saying that he won fair and square and said that Chuckles better sit and have a drink.

The burly guy wasn't going to take that for an answer and started swinging. Dean was annoyed at having been in a fight twice in one day and fought back. At one point he managed to grab the fist of the guy and wrench the wrist down before shoving him away. At that point Ramos reduced his influence since he didn't want the sheriff involved again. He said, "Boy you showed him."

"It was nothing."

"Still not too many guys could take on Harry there. I bet your brother couldn't take him."

Dean laughed, "I can hand Sam's ass to him. Then he goes crying to Angie, the meddling harpy." He then started mumbled and going on about how nice she was and it always made him feel like a jerk and how Sam ate it up.

Ramos listened grinning. This was going to be good. It was partially mingled in jealousy. He replied, "Sounds like you're wondering if she'll take your place in your brother's life." This was going to be a profitable night.


The morning sun was always associated with warmth but at the moment it was associated with annoyance. Angela frowned slightly as the sun hit her face and slowly opened her eyes. Finding herself flat on her back and on her bed was disconcerting when she vaguely remembered collapsing on the floor of her room. More vividly she remembered stumbling down the hall chasing… Angela sat up quickly only to feel the remnants of a headache hit and she put a hand to her head and gave a low moan.

"You're awake. Good."

Angela turned to see Sam standing near the coffeemaker that came as standard issue with the room. She noticed that he spoke with that deliberate calm he used when he was annoyed or pissed at someone. Looking around, she saw her journal lying open as well as a stack of letters from Mary. She realized what had been going on while she was out. She closed her eyes and murmured to herself, "Oh no." She could understand the attitude. Curling up on the edge of the bed, she pulled her legs up to rest her chin on her knees. She was surprised when Sam handed her a cup of coffee; enough that she almost didn't take it but she did and held it while he pulled up the seat he must have been sitting in and sat across from her.

Sam didn't know what to say to her. After Angela passed out, he carried her back to her room and found her 9mm semi auto on the floor and the door wide open. He took it to mean that something had happened in this room and putting her down, he checked everywhere and re applied the salt lines that had been blown away. It was while he was doing this that he tripped over her duffle and kicked out the journal and some letters.

It was after he made sure that he was comfortable that he started to clean it up and got a good look. The letters had been postmarked from Lawrence, Kansas and addressed to a post office box. The journal though caught his interest. At first he thought it was one of her lore books and he decided to read while he watched over her. It was a huge book like those seen in those wizard movies and the first pages were written in a language he couldn't read and were dated around the 1500s. Sam realized that it was her journal and felt embarrassed to be going through her stuff. He knew Dean wouldn't care and he didn't want to.

Curiosity got the better of him and he flipped forward until the language changed to English. It was dated in the 1700s and it spoke of riding with the army. Sam was bombarded by the history she had lived and could have spent hours just on those pages. He flipped forward towards the present and one caught his eye.

May 2004

Went by Stanford with a check in/out. S. was okay. Was out and across state to check on D. and J. Usual salt and burn. Met J. at the bar afterwards. Gave info and reported on S. Left and headed to job in Utah. Werewolves.

Realizing who the people she was referring to by initial were, Sam scanned the entries feeling guilty and yet interested in what she knew about them. It was then he found the last entry dated the day his dad died. He skimmed through it, a few paragraphs catching his eye.

… J. summoned me to his room. Waited until S. left after visiting D. Had a plan to help D. Just needed a few things.

J. told me to forget it. He told me he found out something big but wouldn't tell me. Instead he told me that he had a job for me. He had me swear it upon the lady's name. Curses that I showed him that. He wouldn't tell me until I swore…

… Summoned Y.E. as promised. Brokered conditions: Colt for D. Wouldn't take it. J. did something stupid…

Sam couldn't read any more after that. He realized that Angela had been well spying on them. For what reason, he didn't know. Then it began to click. He remembered a couple of times when he and Dean were kids and when they really needed a helping hand, someone came along. They never saw the face but it was always a woman. Now realizing that it was here, Sam had no idea what to do with the knowledge. He could fess up and have her go on about privacy, or grill her about it. Neither seemed to be a good choice at the moment and when she had woken up, he spoke rather curtly to her. He made it up in a small way by giving her some coffee he had made in that piece of shit that passed for a coffeemaker and was startled by the surprised look on her face.

"I once said that when people find out things about me, I am either still a fellow hunter or become the hunted."

Sam looked up at her sitting on the bed. She hadn't moved much except to better hold her coffee. "What?"

"Remember?"

Sam did remember but did this constitute that choice? "Yeah I do." He watched as she took a tentative sip. "Can I ask you something?"

Angela held her cup. The stuff tasted vile but it was something to keep her hands occupied and it was something that could keep her awake during the day. She replied, "Ask."

"Did you…" Sam couldn't find the words without sounding accusatory. Dean would have jumped on this right away but Sam decided it wasn't worth it. Besides, Angela had been nothing but honest when they asked questions about her. Sure there were a couple of times when she was close to saying something but Sam took it to mean that it was something either private or not ready to share.

"If it's about your father, yes I knew him and I was there when he made the deal, the Colt and his life in exchange for Dean's. I was the one that summoned the demon and made the initial terms. He wouldn't take it though. The pot had to be sweetened. I thought it was me and would have offered but…"

"Dad did first," Sam finished. He decided to fess up now. "I read your journal about that. You said he made you swear something. What was it?"

Angela looked at Sam who was staring at her. She could see the curiosity and the concern. She thought there was a bit of anger as well. She didn't blame him. She wondered if she explained it now, would he understand what it meant to make such an oath. There was no way of knowing except to tell and so she did, "He made me swear to watch out for the both of you. He wouldn't tell me his plan and I could tell it was going to be a stupid one and he had me swear the oath in the name of the goddess. So I've been doing that ever since."

Sam knew she was not telling the whole truth about watching them. He wanted to know why on that account. "That's not true. You've been watching out for us before that. Why?"

So he did read more than I thought he did. Might as well give him a little more, Angela thought to herself. Out loud she said, "The answer is in my journal. I'd rather you read it than tell you because that was a different time then." She then moved to put the cup on the nightstand and went back to her spot resting her chin on her arms as the hugged the tops of her knees. She then sighed and waited.

Sam eyed her with some trepidation. He got the feeling that she was waiting for an ax to fall across her neck. Yet she also seemed resigned and he thought that maybe that this thing had happened more than once. Slowly he picked up the heavy book and held it. "Where do I look?"

"Look for the one dated 1973."

Sam skimmed backwards amazed at how many entries there were. Most of them were short and clipped with few details. Others looked like novels. He finally found one dated in 1973 and it looked like the one that was similar to a novel since there were completed sentences.

April 1973

M. came to me so happy I could practically see her jumping for joy. She told me that J. proposed to her and she said yes. I was ecstatic since she was going to enjoy a life that was going to be hers. Old Man Campbell already hates my guts for encouraging her to marry a tool from the local garage but to hell with that. M. is a good friend. There has never been anyone like her except for the glimpses I caught of her and J. together.

When she told me I told her how happy I was for her. I got the feeling she wanted me to be involved but I knew I couldn't. It was time to move on. Such a thing isn't easy to break to someone who had stuck up for you when the going gets tough. Yet I explained that a break was necessary. I did tell her though that she could contact me if she needed me, but I highly doubt that. Still I will make the effort to make sure that no one interferes with the life she wants.

Sam looked up, "You knew Mom?"

Angela nodded. "I didn't meet your father until years later. He actually found me."

"And the letters?"

"Your mom wrote me. Told me how things were going." She saw the question forming on Sam's lips and headed him off, "I didn't write back but she knew I got them." Angela then sighed as she stared at the pile of letters. She could tell he hadn't gone through them and she wouldn't have known what to do about that.

Sam for his part had no idea what to say. In some ways it was kind of creepy that she had been around when his parents were young and alive and now she was around him and Dean. In other ways it could have been chalked up to crazy. He closed the journal and put it back on the table. A thought then occurred to him, "Wait, how come when Dad made you swear, you waited so long to actually show yourself?"

Angela gave a slight shrug of her shoulders mostly to stretch them and to mask the fact that she was getting hungry. She replied, "Mainly because it's what I am and force of habit. Honestly would you have been as receptive if I showed up knocking on the door?"

"Probably not."

"Plus I was still pissed at John for what he did. I was going to toe the line and watch. It didn't necessarily mean I had to interact but it didn't work out that way and I forgave him." Angela sighed again as she felt her stomach rumble. She still needed to know one thing and that was for Sam and eventually Dean to answer. "So now you know, do you see me still as a fellow hunter or something that should be hunted?"


A/N: Well some secrets have been spilled and Ramos seems to be enjoying himself. Will Dean be able to break the thrall of this demon? What will Sam do now that he knows much more about Angie? Find out net time on Darkened Rage...