Chapter 10

… Sometimes I wish that adrenaline had an on/off switch. My blood is up and I know that it was unnecessary with the chakram but hey it was the first thing I grabbed and it helped.

I didn't like how Daggett looked at me though. My thoughts on that he was pleased with me being there and already being invited to the party… they seem to become more valid. What if what Azazel said to me has some merit? I know those who go downstairs and if they are able to get out, they never are the same. Is there something wrong with me?

This was the worst set of jitters that Angela had to deal with. She felt like she did when she killed her first human, one that wasn't into the supernatural and like it was for Dean, it was in self-defense. She gripped her chakram tightly in her hand. She wasn't in danger of cutting herself. She had better control than that and after what Dean mentioned about Sam doing to his hand, she needed to set some example of control. It sounded ridiculous now since she knew Sam knew how to handle the weapon almost as well as she could. She knew he did that spinning trick to annoy Dean and she was guilty of the same thing too.

The song was still playing and it was agitating. The voice had graduated from grating cheese to nails on a chalkboard. She leaned towards Sam and said, "Please tell me you know where that music is coming from. I have a date to put it out of its misery."

It would have been funny under circumstances that didn't involve life and death and hell even Dean would have exploited it to the fullest. At this point though it was easy to see that it wasn't funny and Angela's agitation was clearly showing as she prowled on the lookout for Daggett. She paused when she stopped by Corbett. It was pretty effective at stopping her from going into a frenzy and she reached out and with two fingers, she closed Corbett's eyes.

She always said that she wasn't afraid of death nor was she afraid of dying. It was just another step and another adventure in what the philosophical folks called life. Hell she had died and almost died more times than the average human and she was half human. She had respect for it and as Tessa told her, it was one of the reasons why the other reapers and Death himself liked her. She had to snort at that since most of those beings into the whole natural order thing didn't like her.

Staring at Corbett though, she felt like she was facing a future event. She knew that one day that she would see both Winchesters like this, dead, and not necessarily looking like their asses got kicked but that didn't dispel the fact that she was facing an inevitable end. Why did she fight so hard for them when the job itself called for the possibility of death and dismemberment and whatever other gruesome end that could happen? It was like trying to stay two steps ahead of the flood or something like that. People died every day.

Angela knew that she was sounding like a cynic in her mind. Yeah they may all end up going but hell she wasn't ready to give up. No one with a good heart deserved the pit. She muttered a few choice words for the passage of the dead but they were not really effective in putting a spirit to rest. It was more along the lines of peace of mind for those left behind. They weren't the words she once said to Sam. Subconsciously she was sliding her chakram through her hand.

When she was finished, she turned her attention towards Sam and Dean. At least right now they were okay but they still had to worry about the reappearance of Daggett. From what she had heard and what had happened, she was certain that he would be back and she was going to be expected to play. She had no idea what he had in mind for that and she wasn't about to find out but it would prove a problem if he didn't let them leave. Then she would have to get drastic and that meant vamping out… A holy mess indeed and again she was the center of it. The story of her life and that was not up for grabs for a reality show. Those things were rigged pieces of crap designed to diminish human intelligence to Neandertal levels.

It was Sam that made a slight look with his face as she handed him her shotgun. At the raised brow she said, "I'll shoot my eye out."

Sam coughed to hide the laugh. He had seen her intense look at Corbett's body like she was deep in thought. She was a serious individual considering she had seen people die. To use humor like that told him she was not willing to speak of it in front of others and it was something that she most likely would insist on dealing with alone. "Not really Tex," he murmured. "Later?"

"Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow," Angela replied quoting Shakespeare again. It was her favorite text to fall back on and ever since Sam revealed his knowledge of that playwright, she would have the most fun with their quoting game. "I can take it here in Hunger City."

Dean overheard her response and thought it was a queer time to be getting back into that game but then again Sam understood her better than he did at times. "Alright, so let's book." He started pushing them towards the exit muttering, "Mr. and Mrs. Geek."

Sam and Angela shared a looked which was a mixture of amusement and understanding. They would talk later which was what she had been telling him and he understood. The second part he wasn't so sure but he was going to take it literally meaning that she was doing fine and she could finish this.

"So what's this Daggett guy's problem anyway?"

Sam frowned at the light that flashed in his face. He felt like hell and the camera was still rolling. He noticed that Angela had compensated for the sudden light by looking down and he caught a glimpse of her eyes flickering. He replied as she did, "Loneliness."

"Has he never heard of a RealDoll?"

Angela gave a slight eye roll at Dean's sense of timing. The sex jokes she got and that was something she didn't want to get into since her mind was still stuck on the fact that Daggett wanted her to play. She got the feeling that Sam knew that too and he was just biding his time until he would ask her about that.

Sam knew what was bothering Angela the moment Dean said that and he didn't have to look at her. Her wrist bumped his arm and it was the one that Daggett bruised. He would talk to her about it later since at the moment they were the only two that knew about it. He replied, "No, no, no. Daggett was the Norman Bates stuff-your-mother- kind of lonely. I mean, that's why he lifted these bodies from the morgue. He threw himself a birthday party, except they were the only ones who would come. Anyway, so at midnight, he sealed them in the bomb shelter and went upstairs and OD'd on horse tranqs."

"How do you know this?"

"Because he told me."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Sam replied giving a slight chuckle and looked back into the shelter.

"And I thought consuming dead bodies to absorb their spirits was messed up," Angela replied as she looked back in as well. She still had her chakram out and was rubbing her thumb on the flattened side. Occasionally her thumbnail clicked on the sharpened edge. She understood now Jo's habit of tapping her knife. She had good reason. They weren't out of this yet.

Dean looked at Angela with a raised brow for her comment. "Okay so now that he's dead, now what? Same song, different verse, trying to get people to come to his party?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Stay forever," Sam replied.

"Nice way to spend eternity," Angela muttered as she looked around. She held her weapon hand up and occasionally twirled the chakram around as she looked for any signs of Daggett showing. She could feel cold and it was cold like Darby cold but she wasn't going delusional from hypothermia.

"Those real bullets?"

Dean looked at Spruce. He hated this but at least the attention was away from Angela. She had way too many weird weapons and it was sheer luck that Spruce hadn't asked about the chakram. He wondered why she had it out. It looked silver and rock salt and iron worked best against spirits. He replied, "It's rock salt." He handed some extra rounds to Sam for the gun Angela handed him before starting up the basement stairs.

The door was still shut and tight. Dean started banging on the door trying to open it. He wasn't going to ask Angela to use her mojo. Maybe her strength since they already saw it…

"Why not let super girl here do it?"

Sam looked down at Spruce with a look, "Seriously? You're still shooting?"

Angela replied trying to divert attention away from the fact that she used her strength to open the last door. However she did have the nagging thought that Daggett let it open when she stepped up and… "It makes him feel better. Don't ask."

"Okay and what's this about the super chick comment?"

Dean paused. Leave it to Sam to pick up on everything. "Angie helped with the door."

"Dean."

There was a lot said in that statement. Dean knew that Sam was pissed that she did that but more at him for letting her do it. He knew Sam would realize that she was left with little choice and that they were trying to rescue him from Daggett. He replied in a low voice, "Sam. Did what she had to." He glanced at Sam before going back to work.

Sam was upset. He wasn't trying to be an ass but there were people out there who had never heard of the things they saw every day and that he lived with one such person. They wouldn't be as understanding and if they were like the two goofballs that they were stuck with, they would try to exploit either her or go after those things and end up getting themselves killed. He knew she wouldn't want that on her conscience and he sure as hell didn't want her to be used like that.

Dean groaned in frustration. Time for Angela to get with the super strength thing. "Angie…"

Angela looked up at him from where she was and made a slight clicking with her tongue. She was going to start up when she stopped suddenly. There was the chill again and Spruce was saying, "Oh hell, guys. Get into your ghost role thing. Something's coming."

Sam and Dean didn't need a second opinion. The second they saw Angela freeze, her eyes flickered in response and in that darker ember shade. Her back was to Spruce so they were safe on that but they knew that Daggett was coming. They started coming back down but she was faster and followed Spruce.

Angela followed Spruce, determined to put a stop to this. She saw Daggett appeared and she made to swipe with her chakram but she was pushed out of the way and hard. She collided with something and it did a shake, rattle and roll. She glared and started to get up just as Sam rounded the corner and shot at Daggett with his shotgun. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Sam replied as he held out his hand. He pulled her to her feet and she automatically went to check on Spruce.

Angela put her hand on Spruce's head and made a cursory inspection. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

Angela checked one more time to make herself convinced he was okay. "No bumps. Just a little toss. You were lucky." She grabbed Spruce and hauled him up. "Up we go." When he was up, she bent over and picked up his camera. She was tempted to not hand it back but she wasn't mean. She gave it back to Spruce, holding it in one hand, aware that she was really defying possibilities there. That particular kind of camera was really heavy to hold with the support and she was holding it like it was nothing. "Here. Now point that thing somewhere else." She turned to avoid being looked at by the camera.

Sam made a slight step to shield her. Yeah they were in trouble. He looked at Spruce, "Hey, you all right?"

Angela had moved to get out of the way of the camera. She was looking all around and poking at sore spots on her body. Her self-inspection was something to do while she pulled herself together. The spike she had felt hadn't dissipated when Sam shot Daggett. He was coming back and he was probably pissed. She came across the stuffed head and backed away from it in a jerking fashion. She wanted to rip it down and hack it to pieces. She really was getting into that violent tendency mode. She looked back at the group looking for any sign.

"Uh guys."

Angela spotted Daggett and shouted, "Dean!" She brought her throwing arm up.

Dean turned mostly out of reaction to Angela's movement. He saw her bring up her arm and was ready to throw. That meant he had to duck or she would be backup. He remembered when he once asked her how sharp her chakram was. She gave a demonstration in her corner of the Salvage Yard by stringing up a pig she somehow managed to procure. He didn't ask except to ask why a pig and she told him that pigs physiologically were the most like humans.

Dean was surprised when she had Sam throw it. His brother was pretty good and she said that he just made a paraplegic. The chakram was wedged in there and Dean could see that it would have severed the spinal cord. Then she threw it and he watched as the body of the pig dropped to the tarp she had laid out. The only thing dangling was the head. So he knew what it was capable of and to be honest that was the best few weeks of bacon, ham, pork chops and whatever else she was able to make. As soon as he turned though, he was grabbed by Daggett and thrown aside like a rag doll. He collided with something hard.

Angela was quick in her reflexes and threw her chakram but because of the sudden movements, it missed and buried itself in a wooden shelf. It was instant reaction when Sam put himself between her and Daggett and for his trouble, he was shoved hard and it looked like he hit his head. Her throat convulsed with her adrenaline rush. She looked at her chakram and tried to get it to move but it was wedged in there.

Daggett for his part looked at her and then started towards Spruce. No way was she going to let Daggett take another victim. She jumped to stand between Daggett and Spruce and held up her hand. "No." It was probably ridiculous since most spirits didn't really communicate with the living but went right to what they did. The one exception was the Silver Streak and that was because Tessa was there.

"You want to play?"

Angela made a slight face of disgust. Daggett was effectively stopped. He didn't move but it seemed like he was waiting for an answer from her. "Just stay back."

"A pretty lady came to my party. We're having fun."

"Uh, what's this about?" Spruce was whispering.

Angela felt her breaths increase. If she didn't slow it down, she could hyperventilate. Like she often told the boys, her body was human. It responded to stimuli like anyone else. She wasn't invincible though she did get the impression that Dean operated under that impression. She whispered back, "Um…"

"You came. You want to stay."

"Uh," Angela didn't know what to do. She was feeling very uncomfortable. The way Daggett was looking at her… Sam was right in describing him as the Norman Bates loneliness. She could feel the fear and loneliness crawl up her spine and it was wrapping itself around it. She managed to motion to Spruce to move aside as she took a step back.

Daggett responded by taking a step forward. "You feel it like me. You are drawn because of it. We're outsiders."

Angela backed up and her breaths were coming in hitches. She was capable of moving but she couldn't do it. She shut her lips tight and tried to still her breathing. She widened her eyes slightly when Daggett extended an arm towards her. It was like being backed into a corner as she watched those fingers extend towards her. Her back hit the wall and she continued to press. "Stop. Don't. I don't know what you mean but stop."

"I am lonely. You are lonely. I am afraid. You are afraid."

Angela saw the fingers come closer. God, where was salt when you needed it? She blinked and her mind's eye flashed back to a similar time when she was cornered like this. It was another tiem when someone came that close to things locked away.

"What is the matter with you Cat? Do you have a death wish?"

"I am not afraid to die, Gabe," Angela said as she turned away. "I do what has to be done. You can't be the 'nice guy' on this job."

"You are such a cynic and it's not you."

"And who do you think I am?" Angela turned to look at Gabriel in the eye with a challenge. She had managed to clean the blood from her cut lip.

Gabriel walked up to her with that piercing look and pushed her back. She took a step back for every step he took forward. She put her hand up for him to keep his distance. She hadn't let people into her personal space since that last incident.

He ignored it and pinned her against the wall. He reached out and touched her. She grabbed his wrist but he put his fingers on her cheek and leaned in close. He said, "You're afraid. You are afraid to lose."

Angela snapped back into focus. She saw the fingers just inches away. She narrowed her eyes and said, "Alright. You want my answer?"

That got a response from Daggett. She stared at the spirit and took in the dirty pallor, the nasty looking teeth and blue eyes. He looked like he had spent too much time cleaning. "Tell the truth."

Angela gave a slight grin. She glanced at her chakram and it started jiggling free. She narrowed her eyes and stilled her breathing to normal levels. "You want the truth," she ventured. As she spoke the chakram became looser from its holdings. She started taking a step forward, "I'll tell you the truth."

At that moment, the chakram came free and came to her free hand. Angela felt the metal in her hand and gripped it tight. She replied, "The truth is that I am angry." She swiped with the chakram across the throat. If Daggett were alive, she would have sliced the jugular vein and probably have the head nearly severed. She whirled around still glaring and ready for a fight.

Daggett wasn't finished. He reappeared saying in a pitiful voice, "You don't want to stay for my party."

Angela turned and was gripped hard and shoved headfirst into the wall. That hurt and like a bitch. She did manage to turn as she held her head and throw her chakram again and he disappeared. He reappeared again but this time heading towards Spruce. She moaned under her breath and tried to get to her feet.

Her head was pounding. She was going to have a massive headache later. That was for sure. She closed her eyes to focus. She could sense that another echo appeared somewhere. There was a spike of fear but it changed. It had been broken from its loop.

Suddenly there was Corbett. He appeared behind Daggett, injuries and all. Well that was how it usually was with ghosts; death echo or not. Spruce said, "Corbett?"

Angela slid to the floor with her hand on her head. She watched as Corbett looked at Daggett. Suddenly he ran forward and grabbed Daggett in a body tackle worthy of a linebacker. She took in deep breaths as they wrestled, their essences swirling like smoke. She could feel it.

There was a shift in the energy. She could feel the fear ebbing away. It was replaced by determination and courage. She watched the two spirits wrestle and courage took over. She couldn't help but remember a poem she read about courage as a bright light appeared. The light grew larger and would have probably blinded her but it didn't as she watched. It was rather soothing. Then it was gone and so was the splitting headache.

"You all right, dude?"

That diverted Angela's attention. She saw Dean grimacing on the ground. He probably had a nice head beating. She stood up and walked over and extended a hand out. She knew Dean wasn't squeamish about being helped up by a girl and that was proven by his grip in her hand and her pulling him up and supporting his weight. She looked at him and made a slight gesture with her head.

Dean made a slight frown and waved her away to go see Sam. She gave a grin and said, "You know you love me."

Dean took a breath and shook his head as he watched Angela help Sam up. He noticed her chakram on the ground and walked over to pick it up. He turned to see Sam frowning and looking at Angela and rubbing his thumb on her head gently. He walked over towards them noticing that Angela was not daring to touch Sam's injuries though he could tell that she was just itching to. He held out her weapon and said, "Hey I thought you were a dead eye with this." He grinned at her to show that he was teasing.

Angela took her chakram with a slight grin on her face. She knew Dean was teasing her. "I am. I got him while you were getting shut eye. Reminds me of that time in a cemetery…" She glanced at Dean, daring him to remember.

"Alright, alright." Dean looked at his brother and then Angela. He could see why Sam was frowning. She had a small cut near her hairline and the bruise that had just started to fade was more prominent on her face. She looked like someone beat her up.

"You guys okay?"

Dean rolled his eyes and put his hand over the lens of the camera with one hand. With the other he grabbed Angela's arm and pushed her behind Sam. Enough was enough.

A/N: The fugly has been dealt with but there's still questions to answer. Stay tuned for more on Leap Year Fears...