Chapter 14

"You knew didn't you?"

Jensen looked at the blade as he cleaned it off and put it in its sheath. He glanced at Riley and teased, "Knew what?"

Riley gave him a slight punch to the shoulder. "You know what I mean. The whole thing about this forest, the bunker… everything." She gestured all around her to make her point.

Jensen sighed and straightened up to look at his cousin. He couldn't really lie to her about it but he did give a shrug, "I knew there was something special about the forest… I read about what happened here and I had been keeping my eye on it."

Riley looked at her cousin as he looked at her. She always disliked the fact that he was taller than her even though they were both tall people but one thing that always made sense was when they would look at each other in the eye. The eyes never lied when it came to talking about serious stuff. Looking at her cousin, she knew he was being serious. "When?"

Jensen looked at his cousin, not sure if she would believe what he had to say. He looked at the sheathed blade and then put it aside to stand up. "Would you believe me if I told you I had dreams about this place?"

"Considering our line of work… maybe some skepticism in there but not totally unbelieving," Riley replied with the usual answer they used and more in a joking manner. She just couldn't believe that he would keep this place a secret. "Just that… why didn't you tell me? You know I can research anything."

"I did have help. CB helped."

"CB?"

Jensen raised his hands in a placating gesture to calm his cousin down. "He just helped me with research. I…"

"I'm the researcher," Riley retorted pointed at herself. "I know most dead languages. And you know Tia Lana likes me best. I would have talked to her about dreams." She raised her hands in an exasperated gesture. "Why?"

"Because I didn't want to drag you into something that would probably have the others think I'm crazy and because…"

"Don't say it was to protect me," Riley warned, her eyes narrowed in anger. "You always do this when you think a job is too tough. I know how to hunt. You taught me." She pointed at herself angrily and her nostrils flared. She wasn't sure if she wanted to hit him or not.

Jensen said nothing but let her rant a little bit. He merely stared at her but his expression was a bit saddened. He knew that he hurt her feelings. He was the one that told her that she was a good hunter, the best one after him. He was sorry for that. "Riles…"

Riley said nothing but just waved her hand in silence and turned to leave. She didn't bother to see if he followed. Besides it wasn't like she could get lost here and she wasn't in any danger now that the demon was dead and Aideen was keeping an eye on Crowley and his hellhound. That was something to smile over but she really couldn't smile over much. She marched to an area where she was certain to find some peace and cool off. She found it and started pacing while muttering angrily and calling her cousin names she wouldn't have tried in the presence of their family.

"Don't be mad."

Riley turned abruptly and made to strike whoever it was that came up behind her. She felt her wrist blocked but not held. Rather the block was gentle and she looked to find that it was the woman that had suddenly appeared with the other two. It was like staring at her face but the only differences were the eyes, hair and there seemed to be a sort of glow about her. She knew that it was the Malachi. "What are you doing here, Malachi?"

"Please," the woman said with a raised hand, "Call me Angela or Angie. I've already had my time with titles." She gave a gentle smile as reassurance.

Riley snorted at that, "Okay, fine. What are you doing here?"

"Just telling you not to be too mad with your cousin," Angela offered in an offhand way. She shrugged her shoulder a bit.

"He always does this though. He keeps trying to protect me," Riley said stomping her feet slightly in anger.

"And it's what he does isn't it?"

Riley looked at Angela. She wanted to be upset but she really couldn't and dejectedly, "Yeah. Even with experienced people like the twins, he always looks after them."

"Just a part of who he is. At least one side of it," Angela replied with a slight grin. She sobered and she continued, "It's not that he doesn't think you're capable. It reaches a lot deeper than that."

"You telling me that it's love or something like that?"

"Yes." Angela hummed a chuckle a bit as she watched the expression flit across Riley's face. "I was the same way with my boys. I always thought I could shield them from the really bad stuff that was coming. After the things I've seen…" She shook her head and looked at the settlement. "I've done a lot of things that were geared towards protecting the ones I love and sometimes at the cost of other things… Like this place." She gestured at the forest.

"What do you mean?" Riley looked around at the place. It certainly looked different from the last time. She looked at Angela with a raised brow.

Angela looked at Riley with a raised brow of her own and a slight smirk formed as she replied in sober tones, "This is a sanctuary. It and the beings that inhabited the place were given to my custodianship a long time ago. The cabin or altar where Tanit was bound was the site of a cabin that held a lot of memories. In order to do that, I had to get the demon here and ask Aideen and her folk to sacrifice the peace and sanctity they knew and that was something I had regrets for. Still do."

"But they seemed happy and willing to help you," Riley pointed out. "I read about it and Aideen had a few things to say."

"True but all I could see was that they would be keeping vigil over something evil because of the nature of the spell." Angela sighed as she looked to the side and at nothing in particular. "It's a part of. I've always considered the effects and often they did eat at me. And it is why your cousin is the way he is. Consider it a family thing."

"But I'm not your descendant."

"But you're still family and I like to think it came more from mother." Angela smirked at Riley and mentioned, "After all aren't you the same way in reverse?"

Riley made a slight face at that. "Yeah. I see your point. I know Jensen can't help it and he's always looked out for me ever since my parents died. He does the same with the team."

"It's not a fault unless you make it one. And there are times he will be the same with you and your friends but he'll need it. It's the way it goes. I was the same. And it is love that drives it. I could let you ask Sam. He knows that better than anyone and yet he still stayed with me all those years and we had a family." Angela gave a slight smile at that as she looked at Riley.

Riley chuckled in return. She couldn't help but like the woman. Even though it was a bit strange to be looking at herself smiling and glowing to add to that. She nodded in understanding. She got what the woman was trying to say. She grinned and then asked, "So… what was it like being inside my cousin?"

Angela chuckled and looked at Riley with a playful smirk, "What do you know about when I possessed Sam?"

"He looks exactly like you, Sammy."

"Yeah and the other one sort of looks like you but I think he had more of Hale in him."

Dean looked at his brother with a slight glare before looking at their doubles who were talking and also eyeing them with curious looks. He gave a shrug, "Could have been worse. Angie could have gone into my double. Actually that is better."

"Jerk," Sam replied with an elbow to his brother's gut.

"You actually can pack a punch now," Dean teased. "Must be that whatever this is." He gestured at his person to make his point.

Sam didn't say anything since they both knew the reason why. He looked at Jared and had to admit he looked a lot like Dean but he had a lot of Haley in him too. His lip twitched at the thought of the juju Celtic queen. Then his focus turned towards Jensen and he could admit that he looked like him. Of course it was just a product of genetic resemblance if you wanted to get technical and it was a good one too. Of course it was a lot different seeing them up close rather from afar.

"You're pretty handy with that thing."

Sam looked to see Jensen looking at him and gesturing at the chakram in his hand. He had held onto it since he came down and grabbed it. He was twirling it between his fingers in the manner that would have annoyed Dean to no end. Actually it always freaked his brother out since the blade was pretty sharp. So he would do it to be a pest. He noticed that Jensen wasn't put out by it. Then again with the things that they've been through… "Thanks."

Jensen looked at his other ancestor who looked like him except his hair was probably a shade lighter and there was this glow around him and the other. So the same but not the same. "Did she teach you?"

Sam looked at the kid. It was a good flow of logic to assume that. "No. A god taught me."

"More like downloaded it into your brain. It's a wonder your already freaky smart brain didn't explode," Dean added in a side bar and with a smirk on his face. He grinned bigger when Jared made the same expression.

Sam and Jensen both shot a bitch face at them. The appearance was freaky and any normal person would have probably run screaming for the hills. Of course they had a few run ins with look-alikes in their day so it was nothing. "Jerk," they both said.

"Bitch," Jared and Dean replied with their smirk.

Both pairs glared at each other for a moment before Jared decided to join in on the conversation, "So how did a god give you the know-how on that thing?"

"It's a chakram, asshole," Jensen corrected much to Sam's pleasure.

Dean wasn't much help and considering that Sam was always telling him he acted like a child anyway… "And a god rode Sam's ass. Literally."

"Hapi manifested through me," Sam corrected, not really wanting to go how it felt having a conversation in his head with a god that healed his damaged body and gave him knowledge on a weapon that was rare to use. "And he needed my help getting Satet's attention."

"So you can impress a girl," Dean teased and was surprised and pleased that his brother could blush even with all the glowing thing they did. He looked at the younger hunters and said, "See, Sam here was chosen at a tournament where he kicked ass in and I guess the god liked him but he secretly wanted to impress the girl he liked. He just doesn't like to admit it." He glanced at his brother and noted the look on his face. Priceless.

"Actually it wasn't to impress me," a third voice entered.

Dean and Jared both got a slight scared look on their faces when they saw Angela approach with Riley. Sam was smiling slightly more out of the fact that he was seeing Angela and Jensen was looking at his cousin silently asking if she was okay and if he was forgiven. Dean said, "Just telling them how Sam is the only other person that knows how to play with that thing." He gestured at the chakram.

Angela twitched her lip, amused since Dean knew when he was caught and he never could really lie to her. Actually he had managed a couple of times but for the most part he never could charm his way out of trouble with her. "You mean when I summoned them to appear because just needed to be served?"

"Yeah that."

"Wait, you summoned a god?" Riley was looking at the trio wide eyed.

"Twice," Angela offered and she thought about it before adding, "Not to mention doing some sort of unexplainable feats as well as killing a couple of Grigori, battled guardians of ancient secrets, met up with a couple of people that history declared dead… oh and I accidentally killed myself."

It was a chuckling moment for the Winchester brothers since they were used to Angela telling the truth but the manner of it was so absurd that one had a hard time believing if it was true or not. They looked at the 'youngsters' and it was a hard time trying not to laugh at them. It was Riley who asked, "Really?"

"That and whole bunch of stuff that was weird the day we met her," Dean replied in a gruff voice but not meaning it as he gestured at Angela.

"Crazy works," Angela offered as she crossed her arms over her chest with a smug expression, knowing Dean couldn't counter it if he tried. "And don't bother. You know you can't win with me."

"Just because Samantha here says that doesn't mean I have to hear it from you," Dean retorted without realizing that he had called Sam over and she started pawing at his leg to get his attention. He looked down and asked, "What the hell?"

"Hey Sam," Jensen grinned and kneeled to welcome his dog. He rubbed her ears and took in her happy dog expression. "Good girl." He explained, "You called her. Samantha is my dog."

Dean looked at the Wilder and then grinned and looked at his brother, "Always knew you were a girl, Sammy."

"Shut up."

"And I can think of another mutt that had an interesting name. Her name was…" Angela teased, grinning.

"Don't…"

"Oh I know," Riley replied, "Deanna. She was a mean old thing when she older but was a big softie." At the look she explained, "Sam here is from the Wild Hell line. I keep track when I'm not researching for this jerk here," she pointed at her cousin.

"You're the only one that looks after them," Jensen pointed out, knowing that he was forgiven.

"Wild Hell line?" Sam looked at Riley, curious about it.

"Oh the line of Cerebus and that Wilder wolfhound… Lilah. Considered the best by most hunters but some like a little meaner like from Shepherd line." Riley would have gone onto a whole spiel of lineage but she realized that her audience, at least some of them, would lose interest. "In short Sam comes specifically from Zeppelin's line."

Dean grinned, "Way to go Zep."

"You think Sam was badass since she's a harridan, you should see the males from Moira's line. Berserkers every last one of them and huge."

"Told you," Sam teased his brother.

"Yeah well she still was a runt and that was a girly name," Dean retorted.

It would have continued but at that moment Aideen came up stating that everything was ready. Actually the bickering between Winchesters and Jared and Jensen continued while Riley and Angela merely looked amused at the whole thing. It wasn't a long trek back to the original site where the demon had been imprisoned. The ring was still there as well as the sort of altar but there was a change in the atmosphere. The younger hunters looked around while they watched basically the ghosts of hunters past just came and stood looking at it.

"It is done," Angela said as she looked at the place.

"Yeah I can tell. And you know how weird that is coming from me?" Dean looked at Angela. He looked at the place. "Well the job's finished. I guess we go back."

"Wait. You're going?"

The trio looked at their doubles. Angela repeated Dean's words, "The job's done. The spell completed."

"What about Crowley?" Jared countered a bit angrily, "He betrayed us."

"Actually it was all part of this elaborate plan," Crowley replied making his appearance. "That and morons with the gorgeous brain here set up." He ignored the slight growl that Sam emitted and the glare from Dean and continued, "Gorgeous one here knew that Tanit bitch would want to get out but the direct approach wouldn't work."

"Please," Angela snorted, "Everyone knows you came crawling to me because of what she did. We tried the direct approach and it didn't work and it didn't work. So we went… a different route. It took long enough but…" She shrugged her shoulders and looked at the younger hunters. "The point is that Crowley is the devil you know and he's… relatively harmless. A pain in the ass yes but nothing like Apocalypse."

"Considering he ditched after giving us the Colt," Dean muttered.

"And I told you to stick it in the bastard's face and pull the trigger," Crowley snapped back. "You couldn't even do that."

Angela sighed as Dean and Crowley started to bicker. She finally said, "Enough." The force of the voice was enough to have everyone there stop. Even Sam sat and gave the dog pose of submission. She took a breath and looked at Jared, "The point is… you need a balance and to be honest, he's the better one out of the assholes I've met."

"Nice of you to think of me love," Crowley simpered. He looked at Jared who was looking at him with a death look, which was the same Dean would give him, and added, "I'll just be a regular demon and you can try to foil my plans to your heart's content. That's a deal. I don't suppose you want to kiss on that?"

There was a snicker that came suspiciously from Dean as Jared and Jensen both gave Crowley the finger. Angela shook her head and gave Crowley leave to go with a warning to not let Brutus out unless it was necessary. She pointed at her eyes to indicate that she was watching. When he was gone with a snide comment, her attention went back to the rest of the group. "Anything else?"

"No," Aideen replied with a smirk. "If you were a fairie you'd be ruling here instead of me. Right now I'm content with you watching over the sanctuary." Her Irish lilt filled the night air.

"About that," Sam said, "Angie… kind of passed it on. To anyone in our line." He looked sheepish as he said that.

"And I'm fine with that but…" the fairie queen gestured towards the trio who were looking stunned at that.

The younger hunters looked at each other before Jensen said, "Alright. Might as well since I plan on going back to the bunker."

"You'll find it a great Batcave," Dean pointed out before he flipped the demon killing knife towards Jared. He grinned as he caught it and said, "Nice catch. Take care of that."

"Thanks," Jared offered.

There were a couple more exchanges including Angela telling Jensen to keep Absolution and that she chose him. It was not a sad or teary farewell but more like an awe moment. The older hunters looked at the younger ones before they disappeared in a ray of light. The last words from Angela hung like a whisper on the air as the younger hunters looked at the remains of the cabin and then all around.

"Well, that's that," Aideen said with a content sigh. She turned to look at the trio of hunters and said, "I suppose you'll be coming by every now and then?"

"Um…" The three of them were unsure what to say.

Aideen grinned and waved her hand, "It's all right. You three pretty much own this sanctuary. You can come and go as you please and do what you want. We just ask to live in peace." She turned on her heel to walk away.

"Well that was pleasant," Jared said after the fairie queen left, followed by her people.

"Yeah," Jensen replied a bit thoughtful before turning back to head towards the cars. He looked at the sword and just held it looking at it, not sure what having it would mean. "Come on Riles."

Riley lingered a moment, looking at everything. This was one interesting hunt no doubt the team would think them crazy. She looked at the medallion in her hand and smiled. She smiled as she remembered what Angela told her and turned to catch up with her cousin. As she did an idea came to her and she thought of how to bring it up, "Hey Jensen… I've been thinking."

"About what?"

"Maybe we could use some new blood." Riley thought it best to come out and say it. It usually worked.

Jensen turned to look at his cousin with a raise brow, "What do you mean?"

"Well…" Riley gestured at Jared who was watching and caught onto what the whole exchange was about.

Jensen looked at Jared with a narrowed look. "No way."

"Don't tell me that I'm not that attractive," Jared muttered.

"Bite me."

"Kinky devil."

Jensen glared at Jared but there was no malice to it. He was in the same mindset as Riley even if the other hunter annoyed him. He turned and started walking away only pausing to ask, "You coming, Jerk?"

Jared grinned and replied, "Only if you can keep up, Bitch."

Riley shook her head as she followed. She was probably asking for it but it was worth it. She gave a bemused smile as they piled into the car. As they drove away she muttered, "We've got work to do."

We'll always watch over you.

A/N: And here we come to the end. Seems like history might be repeating itself eh? Stay tuned for the next episode Kind, Enlightened Giving...