Chapter 10

Sam looked at his phone. He had one voicemail message from Dean and he still hadn't called Angela. He felt Sasha's head on his shoulder and didn't have to look to see that she was telling him with her soulful eyes to call her. She had been doing that ever since they packed up and started the long drive to Maryland. He wanted to call but he wasn't sure she would even want to talk to him. He stared at his phone.

"What are you, a twelve-year-old girl? Just play it already," Ruby said annoyed that Sam was looking at the damn thing and had been for the last twenty or so minutes. She gave a wary glance when Sasha growled at her.

"Mind your own business," Sam replied. His nerves were becoming shot since the nurse was still screaming in the trunk and Sasha was not inclined to desist with the growling at Ruby. He just didn't know if he could take any more of it. He thumped his head against the headrest and said, "God, I wish she would just shut up."

"Well that could be arranged," Ruby offered with a slight smirk.

Sam didn't say anything but glared at the demon. His look said, Seriously?

Ruby took in the look and felt disquiet. She managed to reply, "I don't get it; all the demons you cut with the knife, what do you think happens to the host? How is this any different?"

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Sam looked at Ruby while feeling like crap with what was to come. It was different when the demon was actually known and driving the bus. It was different. It was just… Damn what am I supposed to do?

"I know that you're having a tough time here, Sam. But we're on the final lap here. Now is not the time to grow a persqueeter," Ruby countered glancing at him as he drove. It was disturbing that he was now having doubts. She got him on board with this train and now that it had left the station he was thinking about jumping off of it.

This was definitely Absolution's hand in things. Ruby felt her lip curl at that. She really wanted to kill the bitch and maybe she should have the moment the bitch made herself known again. Then again she wouldn't have Sam's full cooperation in this. He would have been turned off right away and then they would be fucked since they would be following Absolution's banner.

"Would you drop the frigging attitude?" Sam snapped in reply, his eyes narrowed in anger and frustration. "I'm about to bleed and drink an innocent woman while she watches!"

"And that's not that much different from what Absolution would do if she were desperate," Ruby pointed out. "Besides you're saving the world as a result."

"Don't talk about her like that," Sam warned. He looked out his window. "She isn't like that."

Ruby pursed her lips. Out of all that he picked on the near insult to her. She shook her head at that and replied, "Sam, you can't deny what she is. Believe me after the beating I gave her she would be gorging on blood. Dean's probably lucky she didn't get him first."

Sam turned sharply and pointed in warning towards Ruby, "Shut up about that. You don't know anything about her."

"I know quite a bit," Ruby countered, "We were fighting long before she met you or have you forgotten that she was going to kill me the first time I showed up?"

Sam couldn't forget that. Ruby had come charging in to save him and Dean from the seven deadly sins with her knife. Angela had been fighting herself and used Absolution. When it was over, she marched forward and held her blade ready to strike at Ruby. The strange thing was that she didn't but hesitated. Being honest with himself, he was the one that told her to stop and she did. Since then Angela did what she did and that was to play nice.

Ruby mistook the silence and added, "Yeah I tried to kill her before and since then but she has done the same."

"Not without good reason."

"Hello… demon." Ruby sighed in annoyance at the whole thing. She couldn't believe that it was coming to this. "Look, she attacked me first and with good reason. I'm a demon and that is her thing. So I tried to kill her and then… back and forth thing."

Sam mulled over it for a while. He figured there was a good reason for the back and forth. Angela wouldn't leave things unfinished unless there was something preventing her from finishing. They had close encountered with unfinished business and then it was taken care of.

"Have you ever wondered why we go back and forth?"

"She has her reasons and more likely you made it that way."

"Ever considered that she likes chasing demons?"

It was a farfetched thought but in line with the way Absolution would go after demons once she got wind of them. Ruby knew that stretching the truth a little bit may be what Sam needed to stay on the train that they were on. The resistance he was showing was proving to be annoying and she was ready to pull out the big guns and stretch out the truth regarding her role in things.

Sam shot Ruby a look and Sasha did the same though surprisingly she didn't growl at the demon. He said, "She doesn't chase them."

"Right. She runs away."

"She doesn't do that either," Sam pointed out. While in some cases it did look like she was running away, in the end she got the demon. "Not in a long time."

"And what do you call what she is doing now with Lilith?"

"She has her way," Sam said with more confidence than he was feeling. Mostly he was still uncomfortable with the fact that he had to bleed a young woman dry in order to become strong enough to kill Lilith. "I just want to do this so she doesn't have to."

"All well and good Sam but you have to get your head into this and why you're doing it. You're saving the world and sometimes sacrifices have to be made." Ruby paused a bit and then added, "She knows that too."

"I don't know. I'm just starting to think… maybe Dean was right," Sam said quietly. He stared out the window and went into thought.

"About what?"

"About everything," Sam clarified.

Ruby looked at him with a slight look. This was not going like it was supposed to. "We're gonna see this through, right Sam?" When Sam didn't answer, she looked at him and didn't like what she was seeing. She repeated his name, "Sam?" Now was not the time for this. They were so close and she had to get him out of this funk.

Sam was fingering his phone and looking at it deep in thought. He felt Sasha put her head on his shoulder. The muffled cries of the nurse were becoming softer. She was wearing herself out with all her screaming. It was a relief but it didn't relieve the pit in his stomach that he was feeling. He felt it inside with all the demon blood; the hallucinations and what happened there… he was changing. He didn't know if he liked it and he felt a little afraid.

"Sam?"

"Pull over." When Ruby didn't obey Sam looked at her sharply and repeated, "Pull over. Now."

Ruby pulled over, a bit surprised at Sam's forcefulness. It was a bit scary but she didn't let on as she pulled the car into a complete stop. Sam's door was already open before she stopped and he was out of the car. She got a face full of fur as Sasha followed Sam, smacking the demon with her tail as she jumped out. "Damn it," she hissed.

Sam was out and walking a bit away from the car while holding his phone clenched in his hand. He heard Sasha's pattering of her feet and knew she was following. He even heard the jingling of her dog tags as she trotted after him. He turned and said, "No Sasha."

Sasha paused a moment but stood there looking at him. She stared at him long and hard. I follow the alpha and the alpha said to follow her alpha.

Sam looked at the dog. She hadn't moved but was staring at him as if to challenge him or something but the stance wasn't aggressive. He said, "Just get back in the car."

Where the alpha's alpha goes, I follow.

Sam realized that this effort was doomed to failure since he hadn't been successful at getting her to stay behind or leave. The pup was determined to stay and it was then that it occurred to him that his suspicion about Angela giving the pup orders to stay with him was a high probability and instead of being pissed that he was being followed, it was oddly comforting. He kneeled and beckoned for Sasha to come closer, relieved that she did. He rubbed her fur and grasped her neck in a hug. "I'm sorry."

You are the alpha's alpha.

Sasha licked Sam's hand reassuringly as she whined that it was okay. She sat back on her haunches and looked up at him and reasserted what he should have done. Talk to the alpha.

Sam patted her head and stood up. Flipping open the phone, he looked at the number that he needed to press on the speed dial and looked down at the dog. She was giving him the look and he finally pressed it.

This is Angela. You know what to do.

He almost hung up since it went straight to voicemail. Then again she could have it turned off or it was broken or there were about a hundred things that could be wrong and one of them was the fact that she didn't want to talk to him. But given that it went straight to voicemail said otherwise. Upon hearing the beep, Sam took a breath and left his message, "Hey Angie. Uh… listen… I know that you think I may be going about this wrong and… maybe you're right. Look uh… I need to talk to you so if you get this… please call. I'm sorry."

Sam pressed the button to end the call and looked down the road. He stared and thought about everything that happened. He felt Sasha paw at his jeans and he looked down. "I called. She didn't answer."

Sasha pawed at him again. Sam didn't know what to do. He could listen to the voicemail that Dean left him but he just wasn't ready to hear his brother's voice. There was nothing else to do so he started back towards the car, followed by Sasha. He only paused for a moment when he felt a tick, like it was something fierce and sharp. It had him looking around trying to find where it was before he opened the door and got in with the dog.

"You done?" Ruby was impatient to go and it seemed the nurse decided to start screaming again.

Sam sat in his seat and paused a moment. He rubbed Sasha's head when she put her head on his shoulder. There wasn't anything he could do now. Quietly he said, "Just drive."

Ruby got back on the road after giving Sam a look. She wasn't too sure what that was all about. She was pissed that the mutt was making her life miserable by being around and yet Sam refused to let it go. She was going to have to find a way to get rid of it. She hadn't forgotten the implied threat it gave her before they left. She didn't say anything though and continued the long drive, hoping that Sam would get his head into the game and they could end this.

Dean stared at the walls. He was fucking pissed at the whole situation and even more pissed that Castiel allowed their girl to be taken to that fuck face he and Sam should have killed. Hell he should have let Sam do it when they met. Sam knew the score better than he but like when someone messed with Sam, Dean saw red when it involved Angela. She was in the one place he was certain she didn't want to go back to and now…

Picking up a brass candle holder or statue, he held it like a club and took a hard swing and hit the wall. God that felt good. He kept hitting and making a bigger hole. He almost succeeded until when he went to swing again, the wall was repaired. Sonofabitch! He touched the wall and threw down the statue and said his thoughts out loud, "Sonofabitch!"

"Quit hurling feces like a howler monkey, would you? It's unbecoming," Zachariah's annoying voice came from behind.

Dean turned to see the smug faced angel and his featured contorted into anger. He failed to see that the angel was pissed having been sent away from the other location. All he wanted was out and with his brother and his girl and they take that hell bitch out together. He demanded in a low growl, "Let me out of here."

"Like I told you, too dangerous out there. Too many demons on the prowl," Zachariah offered.

"I've been getting my ass kicked all year," Dean countered, shouting, "And Angie has been cleaning up your messes. Now you're sweating mine and her safety? You're lying. I wanna see my brother. I wanna see Angie."

"That is ill advised." Zachariah knew this was going to happen. It was not going to plan now that Absolution had escaped and it looked like she had some help from another hunter and someone who could breach the vampire's lair. Still it could work. The cards had to be played just right.

"You know, I am so sick of your crap riddles, and your smug fat face. What the hell is going on, huh? Why can't I see Sam?" Dean had advanced to get close to the angel. "And why did you send Angie to that fuck head vamp?"

So he knows about that, Zachariah mused to himself. "Who says we sent her there?"

"Lucky guess dickhead," Dean replied. "Why did you send her there knowing full well what that place did to her?"

"I think you should be more worried about important things rather than the state of Absolution. When the time comes she will step up and do what is necessary."

Dean knew he wasn't going to get any more out of this. He could rant and rave all he wanted but that wasn't going to get him the why on why they sent Angela there. She barely talked about it when she did and from what Sam told him… It had to be like hell for her and he knew a thing or two about hell. He focused then on what they wanted him for and asked, "Okay then how am I gonna ice Lilith?"

"You're not going to ice Lilith," Zachariah in a cold tone.

"What do you mean?" Dean paused in his prepared rant. Something wasn't right about this.

"Lilith's going to break the final seal," Zachariah replied with a smug expression. And either Sam or Absolution is going to do it. "Train's left the station." He sat down on a chair looking like he was getting ready for an executive business meeting.

"But me Angie and Sam, we can stop…" Dean paused and looked at Zachariah, who was smiling calmly. He understood now. "You don't wanna stop it, do you?" His tone reflected his realization but it still held hints of the fact that he wasn't happy with it.

"Nope. Never did. The end is nigh, the apocalypse is coming, kiddo. To a theatre near you." Zachariah grinned as he looked at Dean. "The main attraction is you paired with the lovely Absolution."

Dean hardly saw this as entertaining. It still was a shocker even after everything he knew about the feathered dicks known as angels. "What was all that crap about saving seals? What about Angie risking her life for those you call the fucking Essentials?"

Zachariah shrugged it off, "Grunts on the ground; we couldn't just tell them the whole truth. We'd have a full-scale rebellion on our hands. Besides the Essential… well think of them as a means of jump starting Absolution's engine. They are important and we couldn't let the keys fall into the wrong hands. I mean think about it – would we really let sixty-five seals get broken? Unless senior management wanted it that way?" He looked at Dean in the eye as if to challenge him to say otherwise.

"But why?" Dean couldn't think of anything else to say without coming off as downright rude and tempting fate to have his guts lying on the ground. So he went with a favorite tactic of Angela's and that was to keep the conversation going and learn more. Fine time to be listening to you Angie.

"Why not? The apocalypse… poor name, bad marketing… puts people off. When all it is, is Ali-Foreman… on a slightly larger scale. And we like our chances. When our side wins – and we will – it's paradise on Earth. What's not to like about that?" Zachariah looked at Dean to wait for his answer. It was the same pitch or similar he gave to Angela but about her role.

Dean looked at the paintings on the wall that showed angels and demons painted. He still thought Angela was much better and he had seen her gory stuff. He started to see though what she had meant about larger pictures and the choices people made. God Angie, was it like this for you before you met me and Sam? He could see how her seemingly reluctance was part of a larger picture; her willingness to spare even a demon's life. "What happens to all the people during your little pissing contest?" He looked at the angel.

"Well… can't make an omelet without cracking a few eggs. In this case, truckloads of eggs, but you get the picture. Look. It happens." Zachariah shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal and in his mind it wasn't. "This isn't the first planetary enema we've delivered. And the Six led by One were a much bigger pain in the ass than Absolution but at least they got the picture. She needs a little convincing but otherwise she gets it too."

Dean refused to see how that was any better. Of course Angela would see that. No wonder she wished to run from it at times. He narrowed his eyes thinking how much he would like to smack that smug grin off. He glanced over at the statues.

"Ah, no Dean, you probably shouldn't try to bash my skull in with that thing," Zachariah warned with a knowing smile. "Wouldn't end up too pleasant for you and I don't want to deal with a pissed Absolution."

"Well at least you know a little about what makes her tick," Dean allowed. So it seemed that the angels were still afraid of Angela and what she could do. Frankly he didn't want to know and he briefly recalled something Hibah once told him about him saving her from her dark self. So it could be pretty scary if the scale went the wrong way and he could only imagine what would happen if something were to happen to Sam. "I'd hate to see what would happen if you really piss her off."

"Nothing we can't handle."

"You wanna bet on that?" Dean knew that making that challenge was probably not the best idea at the moment. He had no idea what could be done and he wasn't prepared for the consequences if the dick angel decided to take him up on his offer. Plus it was like throwing her completely under the bus to see if she would lift it.

Zachariah looked at Dean and took it to mean that he was being serious. He decided to throw Dean for a loop, "Already did. Escape attempt number one and already there are injuries to boot."

Dean tried not to let his emotions show through. He knew that she would try to break out. She would do it to get to Sam and that demon bitch. She may get hurt but knowing her, she would give hell. That didn't mean that it didn't hurt to find out what happened to her. He replied, "What about Sam? He won't go quietly. He'll stop Lilith."

Zachariah smiled at Dean. This kid learned a few things from Absolution. "Sam… has a part to play. A very important part. He may need a little nudging in the right direction, but I'll make sure he plays it. It will be interesting to see what he does with it."

"What does that mean? What're you gonna do to him?" dean paused and then demanded, "What are you going to do to her?"

Zachariah was surprised at how much Dean was jumping back and forth and the connections he made… "Sam, Sam, Sam! Marsha, Marsha, Marsha. Forget about him, would you? And don't worry about Absolution…"

"She has a name dickhead," Dean muttered.

Zachariah continued as if he hadn't been interrupted and put his hand on Dean's shoulder, "You have larger concerns. Why do you think I'm confiding in you? You're still vital, Dean! We weren't lying about your destiny. Just omitted a few pertinent details… though she certainly figured a few things out. But nothing's changed – you are chosen. You will stop it and with Absolution by your side."

Dean blinked at what he heard. He was well aware of what Angela meant to the angels but he still didn't get what his place in all this was. "I know about Angie and she's not happy with it."

"Well she should," Zachariah replied. "Just that you both won't stop Lilith or the apocalypse, that's all but Lucifer." He gestured to the painting of an angel stabbing the devil and killing him. There was also a fair rendition of Angela in that painting of her holding Absolution also standing over the fallen devil but she was trampling on something that looked like an angel but it wasn't. "Magnificent isn't it, Dean?"

Dean looked at the painting. He recognized Angela standing on top of a fallen angel, a Grigori. It was a vivid depiction and he could see blood and the look in her eye she got when she fought to the death. All he could do was stare.

"You're going to stop Lucifer," Zachariah added, making it sound like it was going to be the greatest thing ever. "You're our own little Russell Crowe, complete with surly attitude. And when it's over – and when you've won – your rewards will be unimaginable. Peace, happiness… two virgins and seventy sluts…"

"And Sam and Angie?"

"Peace and happiness," Zachariah said, not fully answering Dean's question. In time he would find out soon enough what it meant. He patted Dean on the shoulder, "Trust me. Someday we'll look back on this and laugh."

"In a cold day in hell," Dean muttered more to himself. Without knowing what would happen to his brother or his girl, this whole thing was not even close to rosy. Hell his happiness would be on the road, the three of them and Sam with the stick finally out of his ass and admitting his feelings for her. This was… it sucked. How could God let this happen? Out loud he said, "Oh yeah, then tell me something. Where is God in all this?"

Zachariah had been walking away when Dean asked that question. He paused and replied, "God? God has left the building." He continued to walk away leaving Dean to look at the painting.

Dean shook his head. That… that didn't sound right. Angie what the hell does this all mean?

A/N: Looks like Ruby is bad mouthing Angie again and Sam finally calls her. Dean learns what his role is and still is pissed about what the angels want. All this and more next time on Descent into the Maelstrom...