Chapter 14

Angela poked her head over the edge of the building to check the perimeter. She glanced around looking for any signs of guards, particularly demons. Any humans under thrall would have to be knocked out. No way would she have innocent blood on her hands. She narrowed her eyes as they adjusted like binoculars to pick out details. She was wearing all black since it was easier to hide in the shadows.

The plan was for her and Sam to split up. He would lay down the salt lines at all the entrances so that the demons wouldn't be able to leave. She would sneak in through the roof and he would through the regular doors. The plan was to knock out the humans and exorcise the demons. It was a kamikaze act for sure but it was the best one they had and Lenya wouldn't expect it.

Bobby of course thought she was stupid and didn't hesitate to say so over the phone. She agreed and said that if there was time to bring in help she would. The only thing they had going for them was the fact that they were only dealing three demons for sure. Anyone else was more likely under the thrall of the rage demon and could be taken out with tranquilizers. Problem was that tranquilizers were not in exactly high supply so the rest depended up her getting in to set traps to incapacitate. The only thing she was grateful for was the support that Sam offered even though she could see that he doubted the plan would work but she could see the devotion to his older brother.

How they knew that Dean was in there with Natalia, she didn't know for sure but she was sure that Lenya would do something like that. She had explained to Sam that Lenya played her games by using people and pressure points in ways that were not conventional. She had described it as being better than an interrogator. It made Sam more determined to free Dean from the influence even though this plan was full of holes.

Crouching at the top of the building near the target building, she scoped it out. She watched the guards and made careful note as she dialed Sam's phone. When she heard the telltale click of it being picked up, she said, "Two guards… human. North entrance. South only one. Heading in through the windows." She hung up and made sure her phone was secure in her pocket.

The building was abandoned and near the edge of town. It was the kind that Lenya would use since the bitch was capable of making anyone see anything. An innocent crate could become a giant man eating bear. It was all mind tricks and Angela knew that everyone was subject to them, even her. She couldn't believe that she managed to narrow it down and that was after Sam had a mind numbing vision. His description of the building helped narrow it down and then they scouted the remaining choices until they spotted the guards she didn't bother asking him if his head was okay but just handed an aspirin over and went to do her job. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she answered it.

Got em.

Angela sighed and then said, "Good luck."

You too.

She didn't want to say be careful because it sounded like a jinx to her. Instead she said good luck and it gave her reason to believe that this would succeed. She stood up and backed away from the edge placing her phone back in her pocket. Taking a breath, she broke into a run, increasing her speed as she went. At the edge, she propelled herself forward towards the target building. She was confident of her landing having done this multiple times before.

Landing on the roof in a crouched position, Angela looked around before standing up slowly. She moved her head in the manner a puppy would as she listened for any sign that she had been heard. Listening she heard a slight shuffle and quickly moved to hide. As it turned out, there was a human guard on the roof. She moved quickly and quietly as she would if she were hunting a monster and grabbed the guy from behind. She slowly applied pressure around the neck to make him pass out. Taking no chances, she pulled the pack of zip ties she had and tied the guy up. The less interference the better.

Finished she moved to the edge of the roof. It would have made sense to go down the stairs from the roof but knowing Lenya, there were probably traps lining that way. She did lay down a line of salt on her side just in case. Leaning over the edge of the roof, Angela looked for a ledge and a window to go into. Finding what she needed, she leaned over and slowly flipped her body over while gripping the edge. Her feet touched the ledge and she adjusted to have a firm footing. Once she was steady, she looked around and started walking the narrow ledge like it was nothing unaware that she was being watched by a shadow as it made its way to the ground entrance.

Angela found a window and edged it open enough for her to slip in. She clung to the wall as she closed the window. She heard voices and kneeled. She turned her head to where she heard them and saw Lenya walk out with another girl. At first she thought she was a human but the eyes were black confirming a demon. They were discussing something and it looked important. Fine tuning her ear she listened in on the conversation.

"I don't understand why you wouldn't let me finish her."

"Uncle wants to give her a fair shake at the big showdown. We have her now and our job is to keep her. At this moment those dicks with the Centurion will have figured out a few things by now."

"The Centurion?"

"Yes stupid girl. They have already hidden away some hopefuls and it was all little sister's doing."

Angela couldn't help but smile at that. At least her aggressive negotiations worked out for some of the kids and Sam had Dean. She felt a pang for Ava, one she couldn't save. She reaffirmed her focus on the pair talking. They were joined by a third and this one was a demon as well. She had missed one and maybe more! She could only hope that Sam was sticking to the shadows and laying the salt down. She waited until the group left and started a light run across the beams of the building.

There were hardly any distractions like guards down the way she had taken which was following Lenya and the demon. It made her uneasy with everything that was going on. She knew Lenya was clever and she probably had a few things planned that she didn't account for. She only hoped that she hadn't royally screwed hers and Sam's chances. She slide down the wall to start walking down the hall while looking around.

She rounded the corner and found it empty. There was a door down the end of the hall but no one was in sight yet. She approached the door and was halted when a chill ran down her back. She stopped and turned to come face to face with one of the guards. A flicker of the eyes told her it was a demon. He smiled at her and said, "I knew I smelled a bloody half breed."

Angela backed slightly away to give herself some space to maneuver since the demon moved in close. Her hand brushed Absolution and she was tempted to pull it out but the hall was too narrow for that kind of fighting. She would have to resort to other means. She narrowed her eyes and smiled a teasing grin and replied, "I never knew that I was so well loved by you hell bitches."

"She said you weren't to be harmed but she encouraged us to have fun," the demon replied as he moved into an offensive stance.

"Queen hell bitch usually allows for some fun. Tell me something, what poor sap did you kill to ride in his meat?" Angela stood ready even though it looked like someone could take her down with a body tackle.

"Some local drunk with no future." The demon advanced and grinned maliciously at Angela. "Now you can make this easy and I won't have to present you at near death along with your human pet or I can have him killed anyway and beat your ass and the girl will go into hiding forever."

Angela narrowed her eyes into dangerous slits. She was not going to let anything happen to the Winchesters or the girl Natalia. She said in a dangerous tone, "Where is the girl being held?"

The demon smiled, "Now that I could give you but you would have to earn it. Unless you wish to call for your overgrown giant?"

"I'll just kill you and find her on my own then."

The demon smiled. He had been told that if you gave the right pressure points you would get one hell of a fight from her. The boss lady was right. He could practically see the anger boiling from her even though she was poised and calm. "As you wish." He then launched forward to attack.

Sam knew that they probably didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding since they were outnumbered. Yet he had faith that they could because she made it seem like it was possible. It was probably foolish of him to listen to her but he knew that if he backed out now, she would have gone in alone and most assuredly not come back. Before they had left she offered him the chance to back out stating that he didn't have to put his life at risk just because she said to.

Sam wasn't going to let her do this alone and he needed to do what he could to help his brother even though they both didn't know if he was captured by them or not. However when Angela mentioned that it was possible because it was the kind of thing the demon Lenya would do to draw out her favorite playthings, he figured that it was possible and was ready to jump in with both feet. It was then that he had the vision of the location and of the girl Natalia fighting a demon.

Angela had narrowed down the radius when he was able to describe it to her and they found the place. It was mostly her ability to eliminate the likely suspects and of course the fact that she seemed to know this demon so well. That bothered Sam to a degree to the point was that the history between Angela and the demon must have been a painful one. It was disconcerting that she hadn't wanted to share what that was but that was something that would eventually be talked about later when she was ready. Sam was determined to give her that kindness since she returned it and then some even if Dean couldn't see it now.

After they found the building, they scouted along and Angela told him what to do in terms of the ground invasion and she would go through the air. He didn't doubt that she would make it and since she was wearing all black, she would be well hidden. In keeping with the element of surprise, he wore his darkest clothes as well. When she wished him good luck it was his cue to move.

There were two guards at the door. He could have knocked them out with his fists but that would have caused too much noise. He risked two of the tranquilizer darts that Angela had managed to scrounge up from her own bag. Being a hunter himself, Sam knew when to ask and when not to ask and after a while some things just became the norm. He got them both and they were down in an instant. He pulled out the zip ties in his jacket pocket and tied them up before laying down the salt lines.

He entered the building cautiously, holding his shotgun at the ready. It was quiet and he didn't like it at all. Angela had warned him that there the possibility of traps and that they weren't necessarily the kind that were of the physical variety. The mental ones were the ones that could kill you or make you end up killing yourself. Sam hoped that he wouldn't encounter any of those as he inched forward.

It was like a maze inside the building as Sam made his way through. He managed to take out single human guards by making them pass out when he locked them in a head lock. Once they were unconscious, he tied them up with the zip ties. It disturbed him that he hadn't seen a single demon but it was also a good thing since what Bobby and Angela scrounged up, specialty demons like the rage demon probably could carry out the threats he heard from demons and then some.

He rounded a corner when something swooped at him. He raised his gun and saw something dark that swooped down. He would have let out a shot but whatever it was jumped him and he fell on the ground. His hand went to a pocket knife that he put in his pocket and clicked it open. He brought it up and started stabbing the thing. Sam had no idea what it was but it was making a racket with its screeching as he was stabbing it. Suddenly his wrist was grabbed and he was hauled to his feet with surprising strength. He tried to bat whatever it was away.

"Focus," a voice ordered.

Sam protested some more even though he recognized the voice. He was pinned to the wall and he was face to face with the guy he met at that feed store. The thing that he had been fighting was gone and all he saw was the empty hallway and the guy in front of him. He looked at the guy who was giving that intensive look that was like he was dinner. "What was that?"

Austin looked at the young hunter. After managing to convince the old man to let him go, he headed to town to search for his friend and the psychic he was to look for. He used the old method of seeking out other Centurion members and spoke the old words. He watched the night sky until he got what he needed and took off.

He knew he was at the right place when he saw her lean over the edge of the roof and flip over. She always was good at that kind of thing. He headed for the ground entrance thinking to meet up with her inside when he realized that someone else was in there. He took a sniff around the door frame to take in the scents. Realizing whose scent it was, he walked in. He came across Sam batting something with a knife. Looking around he realized the hunter had triggered a trap.

Now he managed to get Sam to focus. He replied, "You triggered a trap." He released Sam and kneeled to look on the floor for the signs of the trap. He smiled as he brushed away the dust on the ground to reveal the sigil. "From the looks of it a mental trap designed to create a hallucination. You must've triggered it when you crossed the sigil."

Sam kneeled to look at what the guy was looking at. He saw the lines. No wonder there were too few guards down this way. There were probably more. He asked, "How do you know so much about these?"

Austin gave a side glance and replied, "Almost every member of the Centurion has gone up against one of these at one point or another. Part of the training."

"Fair enough but why are you here?"

"I came to help."

Sam glanced around. He was reluctant but he did make an allowance to give help if the guy gave it back. He replied, "I'm looking for my brother. He may be under the demon's influence."

Austin nodded. The hunter before him was good but he was way in over his head. Then again it was probably because he trusted her. He said, "Well you came to the right place. It would be the place that the psychic I came to protect would be taken to." He walked up and down the halls a slight ways in order to check for any sign of guards. "If this layout is what I think it is, your brother would be in the direction you were taking… unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Unless you were being intentionally led in that direction," Austin replied as he finished checking down the halls before pulling out a small blade and checking it out. "Tell me something, do you have any idea what you are dealing with?"

"A rage demon," Sam replied stating the obvious. "And his minions."

Austin looked at the young hunter impressed that he was keeping his guard up. He was good and probably his brother was a good one too. He replied, "If that is the case, I think he is not working this solo. Since a psychic is involved I am betting an old adversary of our mutual friend is involved. This would be typical of her games."

"Could be," Sam allowed. He glanced down the halls, "Why would this be intentional?"

"The elaborateness of the scheme is part of the game. The players have to figure it out. Your brother is a part of it but it's a lot more. Just be careful and don't trust anything a demon or a human under thrall tells you. Rely on your instincts." Austin said nothing more and took off down the hall leaving Sam to continue on alone.

Sam watched the guy leave and wondered what he was going to do and if he was going to screw this up. A part of him thought that he should stop him but he also had an obligation to Dean. If anything Angela would have encouraged him to put Dean first. With reluctance, he continued down the hall. He managed to avoid any more traps by stopping to check mostly junctions or suspicious corners. He would disarm them by scraping away part or the sigil, just like one would disarm a devil's trap.

It was slow going but he after that first one he wasn't taking any chances. He made it to another door and cautiously looked around. He checked as he had done previously for any signs of traps. Finding nothing, he decided to take the plunge. It was then that he heard the sounds of guns being fired in the distance. Something must have happened. He grabbed the handle and opened the door to find himself in a room that was dark except for a circle of light in the middle of the room. In the middle he saw Dean and started to run towards him only to find that he wasn't real. He looked around the room.

"Glad that you could make it Sammy. I was afraid that you wouldn't be here for all the fun."

Sam turned to find himself face to face with the guy in his dream/vision. He pointed his shotgun at him and demanded, "Where's Dean?"

The guy laughed and replied, "Such devotion to a sibling is rare. Don't worry though. Dean will be fine but I can't say the same for you. You won't need that." The guy gave a slight wave of his hand.

Sam felt his shotgun being yanked out of his hands and he was left with nothing but what was in his pockets and one thing that he wasn't even sure was going to work. He stood there looking at the demon as it advanced towards with his hands held up. He backed up and stared at the demon, "What do you want?"

The demon laughed, "It's so simple stupid human. You and your soul tortured Halfling brought you to us." The demon looked at Sam with a malicious smile. "Yes Sam. Just a little push and now you're here, she's here and things will proceed as planned with our lost one." He then came towards Sam.

Angela crashed through a door grimacing as the wood splintered around her. She slid across the floor as her knife slid from her hand. She looked up as the demon walked through the door towards her. She was on her feet in an instant and ignored the black shadow that was flying around. It was apparent that she had triggered a trap. Instead she focused on the demon.

She stood up and backed into a fighting stance. The demon charged with fists flying and she blocked with her arms and legs in the manner in which she had been trained. She countered with her own set of punches and kicks that made it in or were blocked. Some of the demon's punches made it in and struck her on the face. At one point, she felt blood in her mouth and she put her hand up to wipe the blood away.

The demon had blood on his mouth where he had been struck. He grinned as he watched her move her hand to wipe her blood away. He said, "Just desserts, isn't it?"

Angela glanced at the blood on her knuckle that she had wiped from her mouth. She looked at it with interest but then wiped it on her sleeve. She got over that part of her problem. She didn't expect to see the demon give her a linebacker tackle and send her to the ground while trying to punch her. She blocked them but at one point the demon's face was close to hers. Then it started.

The demon's face was close to hers. She could see the blood dripping from his mouth and the smell started to creep into her nose. It was that sweet smell that was hard to forget. She could even smell the charge that was in it. It had been years since she had been this close to it and the smell was still tantalizing.

The drip was this close to her nose and all she had to do was gain an advantage and take it. Her focus was all the demon needed though to grab her and throw her through another door interrupting whatever was going on in there.

"Ah little sister. So glad for you to join us."

Angela grimaced as she fought against the smell. Even though she was nowhere near the bleeding demon, she could still smell it. Then the voice of the hell bitch in her ears added to the agony that was in her mind. Forcing herself to get up, Angela found out she was in a room. She found that besides the demon that was using her for throwing practice, there was Lenya and one other demon and the girl Natalia. Feeling disoriented, she stood up and moved to put herself between the girl and the demons. She was outnumbered but she was going to go down swinging.

Lenya was glad that little sister finally dropped in. That meant that Sam was here too. The fun was going to begin. She peered at Angela and noticed that something was familiar to her. She grinned in pleasure and gave a mock pout, "Aw, you don't look too well. Did you smell something that you shouldn't have?"

Angela could still smell it and the demon got closer till it was standing with Lenya and the other demon. She heard the girl ask, "Are you okay?"

Angela muttered, "Just stay back." She then faced Lenya and while the smell was still bothering her, she managed to put her game face back on. She could handle this even if she was outnumbered. She did have one trick up her sleeve and she put her hand into her coat pocket and closed her hand around the object inside. She replied, "What can I say? The memory is emblazoned so you can go to hell."

"Been there and done that as well as you have."

Angela kept a straight face as she looked at Lenya. That was a low blow. She replied, "I'm still going to kick your ass eventually and get to your rage demon. Your hold on this town is over hell bitch."

Lenya couldn't help but laugh. Even after all the pain and suffering little sister still came back for more and out of her moronic sense of fair play. She replied, "That is if you can get past the three of us little sister. If you look around you, what do you have? A girl who barely knows what she is capable of at your back, a boy who is devoted to his brother and your devout puppy playing for his brother and then there is you. You're in over your head Angie."

Angela gave a slight toss of her head. She could still make out the activated trap in the background. That could be an advantage if she wanted it to be. She glanced at the girl behind her. The girl looked like she had been in a rumble but capable. Natalia was holding a tomahawk and she knew how to use it. Maybe that might help but then again the girl didn't know a thing about killing demons. Angela was just going to have to do her best and keep moving. She looked at Lenya and the two demons and grinned. "Since when am I not in over my head? You know I love a challenge."

Lenya grinned. "I reckon I am going to enjoy this. Attack."

The two demons flew at Angela and Natalia. Angela pulled her hand out in a fist. She grabbed the one that originally fought her and opened her palm and pressed it against the demons chest. She held tight as the demon struggled against her grip. The words flowed freely out of her mouth as she spoke the exorcism. The demon collapsed as he was smoked out and sent to hell but the female demon was too quick and had Angela flung off.

Angela landed hard on her back and felt the pain of ribs cracking. The girl was at her side trying to help her up. The demon was going to get the jump on her when something flew through the air. It was quick and powerful as it landed on the demon with a fell swoop. Angela looked up and saw a familiar posture that she hadn't seen in ages.

A/N: FIGHT! Well looks like the big showdown has started. Are Sam and Angie in WAY over their heads? Who is the mysterious combatant who crushed a demon? Find out next time on Darkened Rage...