Chapter 9

Dean couldn't help but worry since it was in his nature. Anything that involved Sam and was potentially dangerous, he worried. If it was extremely dangerous and involved Angela, he was worried. Sam was his little brother and Angela was his best girl. Sure he knew that they could handle themselves in any situation; he'd seen it but he was the big brother it was like the first thing in the manual for big brothers, though he knew that he couldn't really pull that card with Angela.

He was being the babysitter because he said he could do it and Hibah actually wanted him to be the babysitter this time. It seemed that she had fun with her Abba and now she wanted to have fun with her awesome uncle or whatever it was that she called him. He wasn't sure what it meant and his appeals to Angela fell on deaf ears and he figured that she knew what it meant but she wanted to make him suffer and look it up on his own. He held out so far and didn't ask or attempt to find out. He just let Hibah call him that and one time a cute Jewish girl cooed saying that it was cute. So he scored on that one.

The other reason for his being with Hibah was that he got her on his side to send Sam and Angela up together. From Dean's view, the more that they talked, the more that any outstanding issues between them existed were resolved. Since the job required a hike, it provided the perfect opportunity and he knew that it would kill Sam eventually if he had to endure that long of a silence even though they could do that.

It was not an attempt to get Sam to see Angela other than the ever protective sister or sister that needed protecting, and Dean was willing to bet that the latter was the first thought. It was just an attempt to get them back on friendly footing. He had noticed that Angela was treading a tightrope act when interacting with Sam, like she wasn't sure of what to make of it. Sure he had witnessed some lapses in that like when Sam pinned her that one time a little longer than necessary, but it was like she was… he couldn't describe it. He just noticed it more after they left Bobby's and then that whole thing where she seemed troubled about how Sam spoke to her.

The thing after Bobby's, he figured that it had to do with what he found out why she kept her distance. If she thought that Sam would be pissed at her for trying to kill him even though she wasn't really since it was a setup… the point was Sam would understand. It was more like it hurt her to do it and she couldn't tell Sam the real reason why. Dean knew she wasn't going to make the first move or say anything because she didn't want to make Sam feel obligated or ruin what little she already had.

To Dean, while entertaining, he thought it painful as well. He had seen how she looked; she wanted to tell Sam but she felt she couldn't and it was kind of pathetic. Dean wasn't mean but he could tell that his girl was stuck in a time when it was the guy that made the move first and if he didn't, then it was suffering in silence. He didn't blame her really since that was who she was and it was the era she grew up in.

"Ima will be okay."

Dean turned to see Hibah holding onto Boomer and looking up at him. The kid was like Angela in that she could be sneaky. It was why he called her Ninja. He asked, "You sure about that Ninja?"

Hibah looked up at Dean with childlike certainty, "Ima has Abba. Abba will always protect Ima."

You got that right kid, Dean thought to himself. Out loud he replied, "Well we look out for each other. That's what family does."

Hibah shook her head to disagree, "Abba will always protect Ima. Abba fought for Ima."

Dean wasn't sure where this was going. He wasn't sure if it was one of those things that was related to Hibah's god or angel powers. He knew what she was saying but just not what she meant. HE replied, "I know that Ninja. Sam always watches out for her."

Hibah shook her head. It was something that her Amitz wasn't going to understand just yet. He would though. Granpa Bobby did and didn't seem surprised when she told him that Abba would always protect Ima and would fight for her. She wasn't going to go too much into that now since she didn't understand it herself but she knew it. "Abba watches out for Ima. Amitz watches out for Abba and Ima watches all."

The way how Hibah made it sound it was like it was rather one sided in terms of who watched out for whom. Yet Dean managed to conclude that Hibah was on a different train of thought. Her vocabulary was simple and she wasn't quite sure how to explain things. "Well we are family Ninja. That's what we do. We look after each other and we look after you because you're family."

Hibah nodded in understanding. She took Dean's hand and held it. "Amitz play with me now, please?"

"Sure thing kid."

Hibah smiled as she pulled Dean over to where she was playing a game with Boomer and a few other toys that had been packed for her. Dean had watched her play before and she was extremely creative in terms of what she played. She mostly played what she called the hunting game and pretending things were the fuglies that they hunted. He knew that Angela tried to keep that world away, at least the gritty details but it seemed inevitable.

Dean sat where he was told to sit and was handed a doll. He was a little reluctant to play Barbie with Hibah but he liked, okay loved the kid. She reminded him of when Sam was that age but she had her own charm that endeared herself to him and he knew he would defend her to the death. He looked at the doll and then at Hibah and asked, "What are we playing Ninja?"

"We working the case," Hibah replied as she put Boomer down. She placed him aside with another doll that was sitting there. She picked up two more and added, "Ima and Abba together and Amitz needs to save them."

Dean looked at the doll he held and nearly yelped in surprise. "What the…?"

The doll he was holding was a very real lifelike version of him. It was dressed like how he liked to dress and even had a miniature version of his amulet. The thing even had his signature smirk on it. It was rather creepy since he half expected himself to feel the pain of having a pin stuck in it.

"That's fairy story Amitz," Hibah said as she adjusted her toys on the ground.

Dean looked at Hibah. Did she just read his thoughts? What else did Angela know that she wasn't telling? It was something to ask later. At the moment he was interested in the dolls. He peered at the two Hibah was playing with and noticed that they looked exactly like Sam and Angela. He looked over at the doll next to Boomer and caught the look of flannel and a trucker hat. No way. He had to asked, "Who made these?"

"Ima." Hibah picked up a stick that she had collected outside. She put it in her Angela doll's hand. She then picked up the Bobby doll and handed it to Dean. "Ima make them. I asked they look like my family."

Dean raised his brow. They were really well done. He knew that Angela was good with her embroidery work. The shirt she made Sam was proof of that. He knew that she art history but this was high quality craftsmanship. "Your family?"

"You, Ima, Abba, Granpa Bobby, Ceebee," Hibah held up Boomer. It was a St. Bernard and Dean had bought it because it looked more like Sam. Big and gentle but could be fierce. She held Boomer in her lap and then added, "I know Ima not my real Ima but I love Ima all the same."

Dean was surprised that Hibah would know that. Angela had tried to be upfront with Hibah when she was old enough to comprehend things but that flopped since Hibah continued to call them the names she gave them. "You know?"

"Ima didn't tell. I peeked. Not supposed to do that," Hibah replied looking a little scared. "Ima say that it not nice to peek unless you ask."

Dean figured that Hibah meant that she saw into Angela's mind or something like that. He had borrowed Sam's book that talked about the Nile gods and how they met. He actually was proud that his little brother read porn albeit the elegant kind but that was beside the point. One part talked about Satet and her ability to see into hearts and souls. It was a lot of flowery language and he wasn't sure that he understood it completely. He figured though that it was a trait that was inherent to this family. Hibah had to have gotten it from her mom.

He could see that Hibah looked scared. Apparently Angela had been strict on the no reading minds thing. She had good reason for that since she was that good at it according to Sam since he mentioned what she did to those biker guys. "I'm sure you didn't mean to. Angie will understand."

"Ima said no unless I ask. Ima say the head is private."

"I know Ninja," Dean replied trying to reassure Hibah. She knew she had broken a rule and she was extremely sorry. "Angie just is trying to protect you. She knows what happens when you don't ask." It was not really the best explanation but considering that his girl had a headache afterward that memory thing she did and she still had those memories… it was too difficult to explain. "She knows that sometimes people peek and they don't mean to. She still loves you."

Hibah looked at Dean. It seemed to be a good explanation to her. "I peeked. I saw Ima's pictures. Ima worried. Always worried."

Dean knew it wasn't a good idea to keep this conversation up but he was curious. She always had peculiar conversations with him and Sam before she switched gears and went back to whatever game she was playing. "What is she worried about?"

"About Abba, about Amitz… me. No worry about Ima," Hibah replied. She put something in doll Sam's hand. It was a mini model of a shotgun. She then put was unmistakably a mini version of Absolution on the back of the Angie doll and the chakram on. "Ima worry 'bout pictures in your head Amitz."

Dean realized that Hibah was talking about his nightmares. He still got them and he thought a lot about what he had mentioned to Sam and Angela about what he did in the pit and his memories. He hoped that Hibah hadn't been eavesdropping like Sam had a penchant to do. "What do you mean?"

"Ima loves Amitz," Hibah said as she put a small handgun that surprisingly looked like Dean's Taurus in Dean's hand so he could put it in his doll's hand. "Ima wishes Amitz would talk to her. Now Amitz talk to Ima and Ima feel better. Now worried about Abba. Ima not sure about Abba."

Dean realized that this little girl probably saw and heard things when they assumed she was supposed to be doing something else like sleeping. "What do you mean?"

"Ima think Abba upset with her but Abba loves Ima. Abba don't see it yet," Hibah replied. She looked at Dean and added, "See heart pictures."

That answered the mystery. Hibah could see into hearts and souls. It was still a confusing thing but now Dean understood. "I see. Well Ninja, it's a complicated thing that they have to work out. It's best not to say anything about it. Just keep it a secret between you and me. Okay?"

Hibah nodded, "Otay Amitz. We knows Abba don't see love for Ima yet and Ima love Abba but scared." She beamed and grabbed Dean's hand. "Amitz will help Ima."

Dean chuckled at that. He was already doing that. "You're a smart kid Ninja. You're gonna be okay." He picked up the doll he had been holding and looked at it and put the Taurus in his hand. "Okay so what are we playing? What's the case?"

"Ceebee with Bobby. They hunting. Abba n Ima went hunting but something happened. Big nasty tried to hurted Abba but Ima protect Abba. Something happen to Ima. Ima is Ima but not Ima," Hibah explained. She used the dolls to animate the story she was telling. She was holding the dolls of Sam and Angela and moving them. "Not Ima attack baddens and eyes glow. She not like black eye baddens and really not like Suit Man. Abba hurted bad n make Ima madder."

"She gets madder?"

"Yes. Ima get madder. Not like other times. Much badder." Hibah demonstrated with her doll. She fluffed up Angela's hair and positioned the limbs. "Ima like Ceebee baby," she added.

Dean frowned. Cerebus with offspring? That was creepy. Sure Angela made reference to puppies that belonged to hell on four legs, but that was just plain weird. "Cerebus' puppy?"

"Yeah. Ceebee baby. Sweetie but har… harridan. What's a harridan?"

Dean had a good idea but he wasn't sure how to explain it. He held his doll and replied, "Um… I don't know. What happens next?"

"Ima save Abba from bad hurt but she hurt herself. Ima always doing that," Hibah replied in a sad tone. "Ima loves everybody." She sighed a bit. She continued with her story, "Ima fall in deep sleep. Can't wake up. Abba badly hurt n can't do it. Amitz," she paused to point at Dean's doll, "Amitz only one. Amitz help Ima fight nasty inside head. Only way to save Ima."

Dean could admit that he had come up with some interesting stories to tell Hibah when she asked for one from him or Angela. This though was the most detailed that he had ever heard of when Hibah played or told a story. He looked at Hibah who was looking at the Sam and Angie dolls and stroking the clothes with her fingers. She appeared to be thinking. "Where's Bobby and Cerebus?"

"No," Hibah replied. "No here." She continued to stroke the clothes on the dolls. "Amitz need to save Ima. Make things better."

Dean looked at his doll upright in his hand. The Sam and Angie dolls were on their backs. Hibah was looking forlorn. "Any other stories?"

"Abba and Amitz save Ima." Hibah replied. She picked up the Sam doll and put the Absolution sword in Sam's hand. "Ima hurted. Old baddens hurted Ima. Abba mad, very mad. Abba find Ima with Amitz but not happy. Ima hurted bad."

Dean thought that this was getting a little too graphic for Hibah. They were very distinct. He was wondering if she saw more than what she was supposed to when she peeked in Angela's head and was confusing them with them. He wanted to ask more but the way that Hibah was looking at the dolls… he had a better idea. "Well, don't worry. Me and Sam will always look after Angie. That's a promise."

"Pwomise?" Hibah looked up at Dean.

"I promise Ninja," Dean replied. He was greeted with a hug that could have choked him. He returned the hug and cradled the little girl as she snuggled in. "Okay then. How about I read you a story from one of the books I gave you for Christmas?"

"The one about Abba," Hibah automatically replied.

"Okay," Dean replied as he miraculously managed to get up holding onto Hibah. He put the doll down and went to go get the book she wanted before settling on the couch with the little girl. He kept his thoughts to himself as he read the story and hoped that Sam was doing a good job of watching Angela.


Sam opened his eyes since he felt the cold snow on his cheek. It was cold and was effective in getting him to wake up. His body felt sore but nonetheless he was in one piece and relatively unharmed. He turned over to find he had a light covering of snow on him. Sitting up he dusted himself. He couldn't figure out where he was since the last thing he remembered was the tumbling off the edge and the wendigo falling on him and… "Angela," he whispered.

Sam scrambled to his feet. He managed to find his shotgun but didn't see Angela. "Angie? Angie!"

Sam knew he couldn't wander aimlessly in a direction. He had to look in the general area first and work his way out. She had to be around somewhere. Looking around, he saw broken brambles and disturbances from their tumble. "Angie? Come on. Talk to me."

Angela felt groggy as she opened her eyes. She had claimed that she was hardy and that was true given her race and the genetics. However, her body was still human and she could feel every ache from the weight of the wendigo and probably the bumps and bruises she sustained on the way down the hill. She was definitely feeling it as she pushed herself up to get to a seated position.

She had been dusting herself off when she heard Sam's voice. She called, "Over here."

Sam came through the snow following her voice and found her. She appeared relatively unhurt except for the bumps and bruises. No doubt he looked just as bad since they did just roll down a hillside. "You okay?" He looked her over and actually moved her arms to see if they were injured and didn't notice the raised brow she gave.

"Aside from bumps and bruises but otherwise okay," Angela replied. She was taken by surprise when Sam grasped her chin and inspected her face. Mostly he was looking at her eyes to make sure her head was okay. "Sam, I'm okay up here." She tapped her temple to make a point.

"Sorry. Just that wendigo hit you on the way down… I think."

"A big pain, I know," Angela replied as she made to get up. As soon as she stood up her left ankle gave out and her leg buckled. She gave a short gasp of pain but was trying to keep from falling.

Sam saw her fall and reached out to catch her. He caught the gasp. "Whoa. What is it?"

Angela was grateful that Sam had caught her. She gasped as she tried to steady herself but her left wouldn't take the weight. "My left. Ankle."

Sam helped her sit on a nearby rock and found that was even hard for her. It didn't help that the snow was deep either. Once he had her on the rock he lifted her left to take a look and moved it. The foot winced under his hand and grimaced. He even pushed her foot against his hand to test it and the hiss was enough.

"It's not broken if that's what you're worried about," Angela said as she hissed. When Sam looked at her, she said, "If it were broken, you would know it."

"You broke it before?"

"Sam you were there when I broke my hand," Angela replied as she took a couple of deep breaths. Her foot was going to swell but she couldn't take her shoe off there. It was impractical. "And I've broken bones before that. Believe me, I know the difference."

Sam knew that. How could he forget that? He looked at Angela and sighed. "Can you walk?"

Angela wriggled her foot. It was sore and it hurt when Sam applied pressure. It was a really bad sprain and there might be a fracture in one of the ankle bones. She wasn't going to worry Sam further about that. Fractures did heal fast with her. The trouble was that she could walk, but they wouldn't get very far. "Hobbling but we won't get very far and that's not good."

"Tell me about it."

"No I mean that it's not good period."

Sam looked at Angela. "What do you mean?"

"I looked it up this morning. There is an expected storm tonight and temperatures are expected to drop to record lows," Angela replied. She pursed her lips. She certainly didn't expect this and they didn't even have a clue about the wendigo and where it was. They were in trouble. "We could get started but we need to find someplace like a cave, build a fire and dig in. We won't make it back by night fall."

Sam looked up at the sky. The sky was a light gray but that didn't mean that it would stay that way. He knew that Angela was right and if she was hobbling, then they wouldn't get very far. Still it was a start. "Okay. So do you know where we're at? Direction?"

"What am I a freaking compass?" Angela couldn't help it since she had been feeling her ankle. She could feel a fracture. Damn, the fall was hard enough to fracture her ankle. Then again it didn't help that the wendigo fell on her after Sam grabbed her. "A road map?"

"Forget I asked," Sam replied. He could do this. Dad taught him and Dean coordinates and how to do that survival training stuff. All part and parcel of the Marine stuff they learned as kids. He knew the cabin was to the east so…" There was no sun out. "No sun."

Angela managed to calm down since the fracture did hurt painfully. She replied, "I know but north is that way." She pointed in the direction of north. "So that means that due east is to the right." When Sam looked at her, she replied, "The growth patterns. Things that don't require a compass."

Sam made a slight sound. He couldn't stay upset for long with her and he cut her slack since it was her ankle and she was in pain. He could see it visibly on her face and he suspected that there was more to it but wasn't going to press. "Thanks."

"Hey, teamwork," Angela replied as she stood up. She was glad that Absolution was still on her back and her chakram nearby. Her knife was another story though she did remember stabbing the thing when they went over. "We better get started. The sooner we find a trail, the better. We might get lucky and come across a cave."

Sam was more than willing to agree to that and moved stand beside her. He moved her arm so that it was over his shoulders and his arm wrapped around her waist. They started off heading up and over. It seemed to be a good idea at the time.

Angela was right in that they weren't going to get very far but they were making good time she pointed out. She did have to point out that they might have to dig in literally and build the fire in the hole. That wasn't a delightful prospect but Sam knew it was the difference between staying warm and freezing. It also meant making Anasazi symbols to keep the wendigo away.

"Angie, you wanna stop?" Sam's question was legitimate since it was starting to get dark and he thought he saw a couple of flakes falling.

Angela looked at Sam. Her ankle was throbbing and she wanted nothing more than to take off her shoe but that wasn't an option. She replied, "We got to cover as much ground as we can."

Before Sam could say anything something brushed snow over them and knocked Angela over. Sam fell as well but nowhere near Angela. He looked up to see the wendigo. It had something sticking out of its back and it was roaring mad. Sam could see that the wendigo was between him and Angela and she was grimacing. Her ankle was doing bad.

Sam started to get up but he didn't have anything to kill it with and Angela had Absolution. The flare gun was lost. Sam took a step and the wendigo turned towards him, growling. It was one ugly thing and it was pissed and the claws were out for him. His throat convulsed as he took a step back and the thing came towards him like a predator ready to spring.


A/N: Looks like there's more to little Hibah than meets the eye as she talks to her Amitz. Sam and Angie are stuck on the mountain and a storm is coming. Throw in teh wendigo... will Sam be able to protect Angie? Find out next time on Solstice Beginnings...