Chapter 10
Sam never had trouble getting to sleep. It was the staying asleep that tended to be the hard part. That was in part because of the nightmares when he had his visions, not to mention the strange dream that bothered him worse than seeing Jess die over and over again. When he was forced to be woken up, he often had a hard time getting back to sleep. Sometimes he was able to go back to sleep. It was all reflective of his life.
This night Sam was having difficulty falling asleep. He was staring up at the ceiling of the room he and Dean were sharing. They were pretty much being semi-permanent residents considering their current situation and it was the same room they stayed in when they were kids. Sam's thoughts were on the events that led them to where they were and the fact that one of their own was not herself but… He had difficulty defining it but today was a good day and he knew that Dean had a good day playing grease monkey with Angela. He could help but smile at that.
Even though no one was saying it, Sam was prepared to dig in for a long haul. He didn't doubt that Nick would be able to find something for them to work with but he was astute enough, aside from the general dislike he had for the warlock, to see that this wasn't going to be a quick fix job like pretty much what they did regularly. He wasn't going to say that he didn't mind because he didn't but he was worried since it was apparent that Angela had her powers and she was in a physical and mental state that was probably not equipped to be controlled.
The incident in the grocery store was one incident. Sam hadn't been around enough four year olds with the exception of Hibah to consider that four year olds did wander. He figured that he was counting on the fact that it was a scary situation and that would be enough to keep her hidden from view. He should have considered the possibility that she wouldn't be scared and that sounded absurd since she was a four year old and seriously?
That was only the beginning and Sam started thinking about other things like what they would do if the other side found out about Angela. True they were pretty much scared of her or they hated her and would find it amusing to torment her in her size. If they came after her… he started contemplating the very real fact that she was vulnerable. She may have her powers but if she acted like she did as an adult… It was a very real possibility that the other side would try anything to get her and not to mention the enemies that weren't demons but she came across in the past and they didn't like her for whatever reason even if she saved them; they had to protect her.
The worrying ended up exhausting him and he eventually fell asleep and that was after taking a peek at her to make sure she was okay. He was slightly reassured that Cerebus was in her room and Sasha was in the hall and those two were loyal to Angela. He fell asleep but it was hardly a relaxing or deep one.
It was the dream again and it had him wondering why the hell he was having it. He only had this one before they met and then later when they were separated twice. Why was he getting it now? He wanted to wake up but he also wanted to see what transpired. It was like watching one of those gross horror films Dean liked simply because they had hot chicks in them. He knew the ending but he had to see it play out. God he was fucked up.
The dream started out like it always did; the whole alleyway scene and it was dark. It wasn't raining but the puddles and wetness everywhere signified that it had been raining. Another thing about this stupid ass dream was that the little details changed but the setting and the plot were the same. Yet there was always some variation of wetness whether it was rain or mist or snow though the last one was the oddball.
The twist in the plot was seeing Angela but not as an adult but as her four year old self. Sam blinked and wondered what the hell about this. He didn't have much time to think about it since she spotted him and beamed saying, "Sammy!"
Sam was surprised that she even saw him. For the most part he was the silent observer of the whole thing. This was a first that he was going to participate. He didn't really think about it since it was automatic for him to open his arms and envelope the little girl in a hug and he couldn't help but smile when her little arms wrapped around his neck. She said, "Sammy, you're here!"
"Yeah I'm here Angie," Sam replied as he stood up holding her to him. It felt very real holding the little version of Angela. "I'm here for you… always."
"Woves you Sammy," she said as she held him in a hug.
It was just the two of them hugging each other and Sam felt his lip twitch in a smile when she kissed his cheek. He felt happy being with her even if she was a little girl. She always made him feel happy. It actually was turning into a good dream until something happened and Sam started to think that the world was screwing with him as punishment for starting the end of the world and it was really enjoying it.
Angela had been showing Sam something. The what wasn't important since they were just hanging out with each other. The thing that was important was when the area they were in started to darken and Sam caught sight of a shadow. Angela did too and she did something that she never really did; she started to whimper and she said, "I'm scared Sammy. Badden coming."
Sam didn't have time to ask what she meant. His answer was put right in front of him. Lucifer was grinning at him and at Angela who retreated to hide behind Sam. He felt her head press into his hip as she said, "Why badden look like Sammy? Why Sammy?"
Sam looked up at Lucifer which was actually himself. It looked like him but it wasn't him. Sam could see his double's eyes and they looked cold. They were empty orbs. Sam assumed that his double was Lucifer since that dick told him he was his vessel. He patted Angela reassuringly and said, "The answer is no."
Sam's double began to laugh at them both. Sam frowned in confusion at the laughter but it was mingled with a look of annoyance as he kept his hand on Angela as she buried her face into his hip. She was holding on tight. He would protect her.
"You honestly think that I am Lucifer?" The double laughed at that like it was a very good joke. "You really have no clue."
It was quick that Sam felt himself being flung aside and into a wall. He heard Angela whimper as he hit the wall and slid to the ground. He shook his head and looked to see his double advance and grab her roughly by the arm. She was whimpering and wearing a scared expression on her face as she looked at the double and she said, "You're not my Sammy."
"Oh I am Sammy," the double sneered, "But the best kept secret. Even I don't know it." The double grinned at Sam while still holding onto Angela who was pulling to be let go. He looked at her and asked, "I wonder if you would ever be able to raise a hand against us?"
"Leave her alone," Sam said as he got to his feet. He would have tackled his double but Angela was still in the crossfire. The best he could do was give a look stating that his double was not to mess with her.
"I think I might just hold onto her for a little while," the double grinned. He held fast to the little arm. "What are you going to do about it?"
"Sammy?"
Sam looked at Angela. She was looking at him with a face that was asking him to rescue her, to help her. She was trying hard not to cry but it was clear that she was scared and didn't know what to think. He didn't understand why she wasn't using her abilities since it was clear that her body and mind were reduced to the age she was put at but her personality and her abilities were still her adult self. "It's okay Angie," he said.
"It's okay Angie," the double mocked. "Are things really okay Sam? How long will you continue to be blind to what is in front of us?"
Sam stared at his double until it started walking away with Angela. He went after them but was prevented from following. He tried to again but was prevented. This time his double looked at him with the pitch black eyes and he felt himself flying and he hit the wall and the ground hard. He heard Angela grunting and struggling. He looked up and saw her pulling against his double and grunting trying to get to him. "Angie!"
"Let go!" Angela struggled and tried punching and kicking his double.
In the end the double yanked hard and picked up Angela and held her. His demeanor shifted when Sam got to his feet to try and take him down. Sam paused when he realized his double was in a position to break her neck. "Don't," he said.
The double gave a slow menacing smile, "Don't what Sam? When are you going to get it that I'm not who you think I am." The double's hands began to slowly squeeze on Angela's windpipe.
Sam started forward and tried to shout but nothing came out. Instead he felt a slight pressure on his chest like the air was being squeezed out of his lungs. The next thing Sam knew was that he was wide awake and as he turned, he found himself looking at a pair of tawny eyes and an innocent face looking at him with a puzzled expression. He looked around and found that he was in his room at Bobby's and it was still dark outside. He looked at his visitor and ventured, "Angie?"
Angela looked at Sam with a confused expression and replied, "Sammy bad sleeps?"
Sam took a moment to puzzle that one out and figured that she was asking if he was having a nightmare. He was also wondering why she was even in there since her room was at the end of the hall. "Yeah but what are you doing here?"
Angela looked at Sam and replied, "Hears bad sleeps." It had been uttered in a simple matter of fact tone. "Sammy in twouble." She shrugged her shoulders.
"You thought I was in trouble?"
"Bad sleeps hurts. No like Sammy when hurted."
It was cute to hear but it was also weird to because the grown up version of Angela was very well articulated. Even her simple responses were eloquent in that quiet way of hers. Sam looked at her as she stared at him and replied, "Thanks Angie." He tentatively reached out and gave a gentle rub of her head.
Angela gave a smile and said, "Sammy feel better?"
At this point Sam realized that it was quiet and he propped himself on his elbows to take a look. He found that Dean was still asleep and he wondered why he hadn't been woken by his thrashing around. He then looked at Angela who was propping herself up on his chest, her little elbows digging into his chest. He gave a slight smile and said, "A little. You should go back to bed Angie."
She looked disappointed at that as she said, "Sammy otay? No more bad sleeps?"
Sam wasn't even sure how to answer that one. The nightmare had been very real and he knew that once Angela was gone he would be in deep thought. Then that would mean virtually no sleep on that account. He contemplated lying to her but that didn't appeal to him. Besides more likely she could tell if he was lying to her.
"Sammy?"
Sam looked at the little girl. She looked a little worried but to Sam she looked like how she did in his nightmare. He noticed though that she had managed to crawl closer and was trying to look in his eyes like she did. "I'm okay Angie. Come on let's get you back to bed."
"Stay with you pwease?"
Sam was going to say no but it was difficult when she burrowed in next to him and cuddled. The only thing that was visible was her face looking up at him and she had her puppy eyes on. He couldn't say no and he understood better Dean's predicament when he gave the look. He sighed and smiled, "Okay."
The response was her smiling up at him and her tiny arm trying to wrap around his torso in a hug. She cuddled next to him and gave a yawn before saying, "Pwotects my Sammy." She then closed her eyes and went to sleep.
Dean was not an early riser. In fact he loved his sleep as much as anyone and claimed that Sam was a whole level of weird for declaring his day beginning at five or six in the morning. True he could rouse himself when the job needed him to but with his brother it was nearly obscene and he wondered how they could even be related.
This morning though, even though eight in the morning still felt too early for him, he was wide awake and that was from the smell of coffee and most certainly the smell of bacon. He wasn't surprised when he found Sam's bed empty. No doubt he was out running a marathon and attempting to try whatever it was that their girl could do and occasionally tease them about embarrassing her. He gave a slight smile at that since mostly she had been grilling Sam for his thing with the tournament. What happened to them?
He made a slight face at that as he got out of bed and stretched. He was dressed in a t-shirt and sweat pants and his hair was in a state of bed hair but that didn't matter. He could smell the sustenance that kept a man going and he started following it thinking that maybe Ellen was in a generous mood today. She certainly didn't say anything when Angela gave her pie to him and he decided to have fun and share it with her so maybe…
As he came down the stairs he was nearly tripped by Sasha who was waiting at the bottom for him. He didn't swear though the temptation was great. Besides even though their girl had and could swear like a sailor, it was best not to considering her size. He muttered, "Hey, it's not a race to the bacon you mutt."
Sasha merely panted in a doggy grin and bounced on her feet. Dean raised his brow and gestured that it was okay to go and followed the pup. As he got closer to the kitchen he got a slow grin on his face and he was partially frowning since he couldn't believe he was hearing it and he wasn't sure that he wanted to see it. His curiosity knew no bounds though and he decided to find out what was going on in that kitchen and was also wondering why no one else was awake since some people would consider it a racket.
The kitchen was bustling and full of smells that were actually good. The bacon was sizzling and it looked like there were eggs frying and his little brother at the stove and managing not to set the house on fire. That wasn't what had his attention. Standing on a chair next to a counter was Angela and she was stirring something and she was bouncing on her feet singing along with what was playing on the radio.
Dean couldn't help but smile at what Angela was doing as she stirred happily what Sam had given her to do. He stayed out of sight as he watched and listened. What was even more surprising was that Sam actually joined in with her as he went to check on what she was doing. Dean ended up grinning mischievously as he snuck away to get his cell phone. This was way too good to pass up.
By the time he got back another song was starting to play and he grinned. He liked this one but he was interested in what Angela was going to do. She had jumped down from her chair and was bouncing around like she had taken a hyper pill or something. She was saying, "Knows dis one Sammy. Sing."
Sam was trying to make sure that the batter for the pancakes was serviceable. He was surprised that he hadn't managed to mess things up so far and he prayed that it would continue until there was plenty of food for the people of the house. Then again it seemed that his little helper knew what to do and had him thinking that there were some things she could remember or it was manipulated so it seemed that she had always known them and it was taken for granted. It gave another angle to work with when Nick decided to grace them with his presence.
He had woken up with Angela sitting on his stomach and looking at him like he was an interesting thing. He had to ask why she was doing that and she said that she was watching out for the bad sleeps. It had him wanting to laugh at that since it was funny but he got the underlying meaning behind it. It wasn't too serious since she gave him a kiss on his nose and a soft giggle before giving him a hug that turned into a cuddle.
They made it downstairs still in their sleeping clothes since Angela said that she was hungry and asked Sam to make breakfast. He thought it was going to just pour cereal and that was that. He was wrong; she insisted on 'eggs and bakey' and Sam felt he had to oblige even though he really wasn't that great with a stove. Yet things were going okay and he did manage to put the coffee on since he felt that they were going to need it especially since Angela turned on the radio and started singing in her little voice.
Sam had been obliged before to sing with Angela and while he knew that if Dean caught them and he ended up giving his brother blackmail material, he was willing when she urged him to sing with her. He set her to work stirring up the batter for pancakes. He figured that she couldn't get into too much trouble with pancake batter and that was because he was operating under the assumption that certain faculties were still locked up in her head somewhere.
It was fun to watch her bounce on her feet as she stirred the batter with vigor that was astounding for a four year but she wasn't any normal four year old. At her prompting Sam sang along with her even though he could admit that he was as tone deaf as a tree and they sang along and completely unaware that Dean was listening and thinking that they were a good pair.
Angela was finished when the song was done but started on the next one. She grinned and said, "This one good Sammy!"
Sam resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He knew that Angela had an eclectic taste in music and when she drove the Impala, she really stuck it to Dean with the rules of the car. She would like Led Zeppelin and the fact that she started singing the words with surprising accuracy… He chuckled at her and looked at the batter.
"Sing with me Sammy!"
The song was Houses of the Holy and Sam was familiar with that one. He indulged trying not to get too loud since there were other people sleeping and there was the fact that Dean liked to poke fun at him. He couldn't help but smile down at Angela as she just bounced or 'danced' as it could be called for a little girl. He sang with her as he put the first pancakes on.
"Bigger Sammy," Angela said.
"Sure make 'em bigger Sammy," Dean decided to interrupt and make himself known. He eyed the first ones that Sam started to make with some mock trepidation. "Those are fit for the mutt."
Sam narrowed his eyes at Dean and flipped what was already in the pan before shoving the container of batter into his brother's hands. "Then you make them."
"Uh-uh," Dean said as he shoved it back. "You're the one going domestic on me Samantha with you cooking." He grinned knowing that Sam was resisting the urge to cuss him out but wasn't going to with Angela there.
Sam was going to say something when Angela said, "Sammy make pancakes. Deanie make twoast." She looked up at the brothers with an expectant look.
Both Winchesters looked at the little girl who was looking up at them with a look that would have been very intimidating had she been her adult size. Here she looked very solemn like it was a church moment or something like that. She was being serious though and Dean said, "You want me to make toast?"
Angela nodded and said, "Yes. Deanie only make toast."
Sam started to chuckle as he went back to making pancakes. The eggs and bacon were ready and staying warm on the stove. He was chuckling because he understood the context of what she was getting at.
Dean looked at his brother and asked, "What's so funny?"
"If you have to ask then I'm not saying a word," Sam replied as he glanced to see Angela pushing the chair that was next to the counter back to the table. He was grinning as he said it but it turned into a smile as he watched her.
"Oh now you're talking in riddles like Angie?" Dean eyed his brother like he had been possessed. That was impossible since they both had anti-possession tattoos. "First the girly session with her hair, then cooking and now riddles… who are you and what have you done to Sam?"
Sam looked at Dean like he was nuts and shook his head. "Nothing's up Dean. Just…" He gestured at nothing as he flipped the pancakes. He was actually surprised that they weren't turning into a mess.
"Deanie, twoast."
Dean was about to answer and ended up turning towards Angela who was holding out the loaf that they had bought towards him. She was looking at him expectantly. He said nothing in the form of a retort and took the bag of bread. He was on his way to where the toaster when Ellen came in saying, "Good Dean. You do that. Thanks for getting things started Sam. Nice work."
"Thanks Ellen," Sam replied with a slightly sheepish grin.
"Now you get Angie dressed."
Dean couldn't help but smirk at that. Suddenly making toast wasn't that bad. He watched as Sam shot him a warning look before taking Angela by the hand and back up the stairs. He was busy at work when he got the feeling that Ellen was looking at him as she took over what Sam had started. He looked at her and asked, "What's up Ellen?"
"Just wondering if there was a reason for the spell on Angie," Ellen replied.
"It's obvious," Dean answered in a matter of fact one, "To screw with us. Whoever it is knows that Angie is an important card on the table." He put in a couple of slices and pushed the lever down. "Maybe they figure that as a kid…"
Ellen looked at Dean and then back to the skillet with the pancakes, "Maybe but it sounds a little awkward. You know what I mean?"
"Okay I admit that it's not the usual target her to kill her like everything else but this is Angie. Who knows what reason except to get her out of the way?"
Ellen would have said something but the phone rang. It wasn't one of Bobby's phones so Dean automatically went to answer it. He picked up the handset, "Singer Salvage."
Sorry for the early call…
"You have something Nick," Dean replied immediately recognizing the warlock's voice.
I do but you might not like it.
A/N: Looks like Sam has a nightmare and Angie can sense it. Nick brings back news and what is it? Find out next time on Two Brothers and a Lil Angel...