Chapter 7
…They say that wisdom is the judicious study and application of knowledge; a deep understanding and realization of people, things, events of situations that result in the ability to apply perceptions, judgments and actions in keeping with this understanding. It often requires control of one's emotional reactions so that the universal principles, reason and knowledge prevail to determine one's actions. Wisdom is also the comprehension of what is true coupled with the optimum judgment as to action.
It sounds so cold when put like that but in its austere way, it is truth. Wisdom is passion free when the judgment is made. How else is one to see a bigger picture? Most of the world is focused on the immediate and in a way that would be the most prudent since life is sort and while few things are planned ahead… in the end the short term is often looked at.
I know that I walked into the lion's den when I subtly agreed with Sam about cutting the head off the snake. I know that turn of phrase is something that Ruby would say but she has a knack for reminding me of what I am so very good at when faced with the prospect of battle. Even I know that her suggestion is one that I would make whether it is an actual war or the ongoing war of light versus dark, good versus evil, or however the savants would call it.
I know that Dean will think I am crazy or worse but I know that I have to step up to what is coming. I could hide and deny it and having Hibah with us sort of fed that but I can't ignore the world and what it will face. It sucks being someone who understands how the natural order works and it sucks being one of the few who understand the ramifications of this angels and demons crap. I've been thrust into it my whole life and when I think I am safe from it, it comes back and bites me in the ass. So… maybe the time to be what the boys know me as is over or time for them to learn another aspect of me.
The hydra can be defeated. Hercules did it once before. Besides it's like what all three of us agreed on when we were trying to save Dean. We go in smart or not at all. I guess the great 'general' needs to come out. She needs to especially if the few crucial seals are being targeted by Lilith and her cronies. I just pray that it won't be too bad a toll…
Angela was sitting at the bar playing with her deck of playing cards. She shuffled and pulled the ace of spades out of the middle while seeming lost in thought. She had been pulling that particular ace out ever since she got there. It was no accident that she was doing that. She could even pull two or three if she wanted but she was deep in thought and her concentration was on crucial aspects of this case and one involved what she witnessed at the show. As it was transference from the original tarot cards, it was referred to as the Death card.
Putting that deck back in her jacket pocket, she pulled out her tarot deck and started shuffling. She pulled a card from the middle of the deck and pulled out Death. This time she had the sense of foreboding that it meant literally death was coming. Of course he wasn't playing a hand in it. Someone dabbling in the darker arts of magic was and it was really playing on the natural order.
It was like when Dean got his new lease on life after being electrocuted. It was like when she was brought back to life by her father. It was the way of the world… well the way how the natural order worked. It was a carefully balanced system that had its checks and balances in place to prevent the world from being tossed into total chaos. A life for a life was what it was called and it was a cruel but necessary thing.
It served the purpose of reminding everything in existence that all serve a purpose. All have a destiny that eventually ends up in the great unknown which is death. Some were lucky, if you could call it that, and were reborn. Reincarnation was not a thing or trend that the Hindus and Buddhists came up with. It was a real deal thing and these souls were often called old souls. She knew of one in existence and that was tied to another great mystery of the world.
"You're pretty good with the cards."
Angela looked up to see the bartender who had been watching her. She replied, "Nothing much to it except practice."
"But you were consistent in picking out the ace of spaces about ten times in a row. I counted while you sitting there."
Angela checked out the bartender. She was a nice girl and she could see that she wasn't just doing it to get extra tips. She didn't even need to tap into her empath to get that. She replied, "Some things you just can do mindlessly after years of working them. Muscle memory thing."
"And those cards?"
Angela looked at her tarot cards. She shuffled them and put them back together. "Tarot. The early form of a regular deck of playing cards… well the minor Arcana actually are the early form." Angela made time and rapidly sorted out her tarot cards. She then pulled out her deck of playing cards and splayed them out on the bar. She did the same with the minor arcana. She patted them to make sure that they were visible. "Now try to match them up."
The bartender looked at the two rows of cards. She could pick up the swords and spades match. The others she would make and Angela would give a yay or a nay. When she was finished, Angela flipped them so that the backs were showing to pick them up. "So you see tarot and playing cards have a similar background. But of course only the esoteric really care about that." Angela smiled at the bartender while she made a flourish of picking up the cards.
The bartender watched as both decks disappeared. "Wow you are really good."
"Not as good as the greats are but thank you." Angela patted her pocket and moved away from the bar and started walking away.
"Nice card trick there. You wanna tell me about it?"
Angela looked at Dean and scrutinized his expression. "What specifically?"
"Oh maybe the fact that you know a thing or two about tarot cards and forgot to mention it. I had to learn from Sam," Dean countered.
"And what did Sam say?"
"That you call this the karma card," Dean held up the tarot card. "And I saw you teach Ninja. I overheard everything." He anticipated that she was going to try the whole semantics thing with him and he decided to be ready for it just in case she did try it.
Angela had to hand it to Dean but then again she knew he was on a food run that day and it was inevitable that he would find out. She replied, "I taught Hibah yes but only the game itself."
"So you think this is a game then?"
"Only what the basics teach us. Yeah it is real magic if you know how to work it but really," Angela shrugged her shoulders. She peered at Dean and added, "But that's not the reason why you are acting pissed now are you?"
"Well I am pissed because you never said anything."
"Dean, I can't tell you everything all the time. Besides even I wasn't sure it was the tarot cards." Angela replied looking like nothing was wrong with her methods. She then said, "My comment earlier, I was being honest that the hydra can be killed. It's not impossible. Just gotta be smart about it." She gave a slight smile and would have left.
Dean stopped her though by asking, "You said you got out. How?"
"I retired… mostly," Angela replied. "I became a librarian of sorts and actually lived a good life for a couple of months or so." She looked at Dean for a moment and said, "There is a light at the end of the tunnel but it all goes to what you see." She shrugged her shoulders.
"You got out. What made you get back in?" Dean was curious about the whole thing.
"A stubborn hunter by the name of John Winchester," Angela replied with a slight knowing smile. "Let's just say that we saved each other's asses from getting greased. Then I realized I missed the hunting game and maybe I was concerned with how you and Sam were faring."
Dean could tell that she wasn't going to give more on the subject. He let it go, "Okay. Did you find out anything?"
"No but I do have a few appointments to keep." Angela looked at Dean. She added, "I'm trying the angle I got myself into. We might get something. And I tell you Jay didn't do it." She gave a gentle point and turned to leave the bar.
Dean watched Angela leave. He didn't have anything more on the tarot cards and the connection and he felt stupid for not asking. It did occur to him that it was her funky way of teaching them something and he would have cussed at the very idea. He thought that she shouldn't be doing that but if he thought about it, they had all learned on the job where people's lives were at stake. So he couldn't complain. Something was up with her and while it wasn't anything that would set his big brother radar off, he was a bit worried and wondered if this was something to compensate for the fact that Hibah was no longer with them.
Sighing, he turned to go back into the bar and ask questions. At least he could figure out the connection between Vance and Jay. Maybe he might find something to show Angela that she may be wrong in thinking the guy was innocent. He walked up to the bartender and smiled his most charming smile and began to ask questions.
Angela looked around the town and things were pretty normal except for the fact that she had seen the authorities go into a hotel. She suspected that there might have been another murder. Well actually there had to have been since Jay did slip the noose when it wasn't humanly possible. Well it was possible to slip it but you needed more than sixty seconds. She could steal a car in less than sixty seconds but without some form of mojo, that wasn't possible.
The alleyway that led to where Dean had gone to meet Chief was perfect in terms of keeping away from prying eyes. There were a couple of homeless people there but they were minding their own business and from their mutterings, she could tell that they were suffering a psychological disorder. They were harmless if she didn't bother them and she had no intention to. Most of the time if left to their own devices, they went about their business, and she had seen plenty of it over the years.
It was raining and the water was pouring down hard. Some of the main streets were flooded with puddles of water that came up to mid shin. Cars looked like boats but they had their limits considering that they could get stalled if flooded. The safest bet was on the public buses or the El-train. It was just one of those nights that guaranteed to get you soaked.
The alleyway was typical of the movie sets and the possibilities of unsavory characters were lurking in the shadows. To Angela, it was nothing. She knew what lurked in the shadows so to speak and knew certain tendencies. For the most part the only things there were the people who didn't have a home in the normal sense of the word.
Her contact was in her 'house' and she was huddled with the only other living being that was a companion, a dirty dog that recognized her off the bad and gave a slight bark. Angela crouched down and peered in as she always did. "Fine night for calling me out Christine."
"The night is a cloak. It protects but sometimes I need to see what the night looks like," Christine replied.
Angela reached for her jacket pocket and pulled out a Mag Lite. It was the perfect size for crime scene investigators. She turned it on and reached in and handed it over, "Perhaps you can see the dark now?"
"Yes. Now I can."
Angela watched as Christine took the light and shone it about before turning it off and pocketing it. She gave a tentative smile and said, "Christine, you said that you had something for me. Can you tell me what it is?"
"The shadows talk. He will come for you. He knows you escaped and he will come for you." Christine huddled and shook a little as she said that. "He will come for you."
Angela looked to the left and right as the rain poured down. A chill came down her spine…
That was during her two month on the run stint after her escape from the Old Man. Angela had learned to trust sources that appeared too crazy to be right. Often times they saw things that others couldn't because they were taken no notice of. She was in that category herself since she could make herself appear to be a nonentity.
Looking around the alleyway, Angela took out what she had put into her pocket that morning and put it on the ground. She looked around and noted that the club was actually quieter in the morning. She could hardly imagine what Dean was thinking and feeling.
"Well I guess I could say that this is a step up considering our relationship."
Angela turned to look at the one person that she could kill but wouldn't and it wasn't the whole thing about his being what he was. She replied, "I wouldn't have expected less out of you Cary."
Cary pouted slightly at that as he took a step forward. He lit a cigarette and began to smoke it. He puffed out some smoke and looked around the alleyway. "Well certainly your taste in meeting places hasn't changed though I do think it is a step up from Whitechapel."
"You had to bring that up."
"Well I certainly wasn't the one who decided to go after the serial killer that made the big screen in this century," Cary deadpanned, "Though I think your story is better. Who would have thought that you actually killed a vampire?"
"He was a sadist," Angela retorted, "And you are just a worm."
"And a very useful worm as you are fond of pointing out though I think we got a little carried away a couple of times." Cary showed the scar she had left behind on his arm from her knife when she came to him to get info on Crowley.
"You were being a piss ant," Angela countered as she crossed her arms. She looked around for a moment and then continued, "And I need that again."
"You always did come back for more from me," Cary replied with a grin. He put out his cigarette and flicked it aside. "So what sort of deal are we making?"
"The usual," Angela replied with a knowing looking, "You get what I ask and you get to live another day. I'm not in the market for any expansions on that." It was the same every time she dealt with Cary but it was almost ritualistic between them.
Cary mock pouted at her. He knew she wasn't going to cave in on making a deal for something more valuable like her soul and he wasn't stupid enough to try. "You know Katherine is still pissed that Sammy killed Tippy."
"Cerebus did that, not Sam," Angela corrected and emphasized Sam's name. It was probably not the best time to be doing that but even she had her limits and it was a good indicator to Cary that she meant business this time around.
"Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a twist. God knows that it's 'Sam'." Cary air quoted Sam's name to emphasize his point and to make fun of her. "So what have you called me here to do? Are we making a deal?"
Angela gave a slight nod and put her hand in her jacket pocket. "Same as always. The usual product that is most valuable in my line of work."
"Ah going back to that. I love it," Cary replied with a slight hint of sarcasm but otherwise genuine delight that he was to be doing what he did best. He was a little bored lately even though he had gotten a few specialty items for important people like the boss. He really wanted a job involving his favorite handler. Yeah he was her bitch but what the hell?
"Thought you might like that," Angela replied with a slight grin. She figured that Cary would be up to a job.
"So who do you want blackmail material on? Anything to get a deal to go your way?"
"Nothing like that exactly." Angela felt like she was dealing with an overeager puppy but Cary was a specialist. He dealt in information and in the line of work that she was in, it was the difference between life and death; whether or not the side she was on could gain an advantage and of course putting her in touch with certain characters.
"Oh I get it. Strictly recon. Either way it works for me." Cary gave a shrug of his shoulders to indicate that it was no big deal to him. As long as he dealt with information, he was good. He was surprised that she hadn't decided to take him out or threaten him with dismemberment. She didn't do it the last time when he was following up on Katherine's job so he was wondering if she was off her rocker of if she had something else up her sleeve.
"Good because it is recon and something that both sides want to know badly," Angela replied. She gave an intense look at Cary to make sure he got the point.
Cary did once he caught her eye. "You got to be shitting me! You want to know the location of a seal?"
"Seals," Angela replied. "I want to know the location of several seals; ones that Lilith would most likely go after."
"And you do realize that there are literally hundreds of them that she could choose?" Cary looked at Angela to see if she had gone crazy or not. He did find it strange and crazy since even he wasn't sure as to upper management's methods. He was just the delivery boy so to speak.
"Yes but there are a few that are considered crucial meaning that there is some benefit of it once the seal is broken," Angela countered, "Much like Sköll and Hati."
"But you put a stop to that and queen bitch is pissed still. She would like to tear you a new one." Cary had begun pacing back and forth as he thought about the job he was being offered. True he had located a seal or two before but if it was covert, it was going to be tough as shit to keep it a secret since upper management seemed to know almost everything.
"Same story, different verse and I'm sure that she knows how much I'd like to pay her back." Angela sighed as she looked around looking a little impatient. "Can you do it?"
"It isn't so much as finding a seal. It's keeping it a secret," Cary replied as he pointed it out. "Upper management wants the seals and if they are crucial like you say, then they really will be having their eyes on it because your feathered dicks of friends will be looking for it too. This is more like trying to tell a blind man to see or something."
"I've considered that but I still would like them found." Angela had crossed her arms across her chest and had adjusted her position to get a good look at Cary. "If anything, Lilith will want those broken. She wouldn't leave them in place especially if they could be of some benefit."
Cary made a motion with his head and expression to concede the point. "Alright I get you there but like I said, if Lilith wants it then the angels want it too. It's no secret that they are losing this battle with the seals."
Don't I know it. "Yes I know. Thirty-four are broken and thirty-two remain."
Cary studied Angela. It seemed that she wasn't going to budge on this decision. She was going to do this. "Okay, I'll do it. It is great personal risk to myself but I'll do it. And don't think it's because I like you. I do this because I value my skin too much to cross the likes of you." He pointed at her for emphasis and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Oh yes because you and everyone knows about my nice little trick. Poor Billy," Angela replied in a mock drawl. She gave a pout that was also mocking. "So be very afraid."
"Oh I am," Cary replied in a mocking tone. "I'm afraid that queen bitch will find out that I am telling you what she is after though I wouldn't mind actually seeing what she has in store for you. She was pleased at Alistair's report about that whole thing about a week ago."
Angela narrowed her eyes slightly. Lilith would like hearing that. Of course she had a dead minion and Lenya was screaming bloody murder since she did give her a matching scar on her arm when they fought. She would probably pay a hefty price for that later but it was worth it. "So she did send Alistair."
"Don't be stupid. Alistair listens to Lilith because of her position. He may be the grand master of torture but even he knows not to mess with her if she is in a mood," Cary shot back as he crossed his arms. "Then again he does the same with you."
"He just wants to see what I can do. He's worse than the Old Man," Angela countered though in reality she would put them both in the same category. "So you will do it?"
"I'm a man of my word… well you get the idea," Cary replied as he extended his arms with a flourish. It was similar to what Crowley would do if he was in the mood but he added a more sheepish grin to it.
"Yes I do and sometimes I wonder if I should continue to give you another day to live," Angela deadpanned, not looking amused.
"I am allowed a little fun," Cary shot back.
Angela said nothing about that as she fished out a scrap of paper. She handed it over to Cary, "Here is what I have on the seals. As you know they are significant in that there is your favorite genre of literary you know."
Cary took the slip and read it. "Oh joy. I just love poetry," he deadpanned. "Gotta hand it to them old fogies that wrote this stuff."
"You and me both," Angela replied relaxing her shoulders just a smidge.
Cary looked at the scrap and put it in his leather jacket. He was curious, "Why do you want these seals so bad? You planning on going after queen bitch?"
"Something like that."
"You know that's crazy."
"Better me than someone else going down that road." Angela looked at Cary with a wry smile. "At least I know that road well."
"That you do."
A/N: Things seem to be moving along and Dean goes to work and Angie comes up with a plan. Keep watching for more Do You Believe in Magic?...
