At first Dean thought that the power had come back on and that the TV had flared to life. But he remembered, as his sleepy brain came back to awareness, unplugging the TV to avoid that exact issue. Still, he had been dragged from sleep by some noise that he couldn't identify. Sam was sleeping peacefully, a miniature furnace tucked in against his side. Then he heard a muffled noise from the next bed. Sliding gently away from Sammy, he made his way to the foot of Angela's bed.

His friend was having a nightmare, kicking and struggling against the covers. Now that he was awake, he could understand the sleep slurred words that she was saying. "No! Stop hurting her! Maman!," she moaned and fought against the tangled bedsheets.

Considering what she had told them about her father, Dean had no doubt that nightmares came often for Angela. If it had been Sam in the grip of an obviously horrible dream, Dean would have immediately shaken him and woken him up. But he felt shy about approaching her when she was asleep. Still, he didn't want her to wake up Sammy.

Moving closer, Dean reached out a tentative palm, patting to try and find her arm or hand in the dark. "Angela, hey wake up," he called softly. His fingers found her arm, the coarse blanket between his hand and her skin. Shaking her gingerly, he tried to bring her out of her dream. With a frightened gasp, she bolted up in bed, yanking her arm away from him. She scrambling away from him so hard that, with another gasp and a thud, she fell off the other side of the bed.

"Angela!," Dean whispered as loudly as he dared. He rushed around to the other side where the girl was huddled against the side of the bed. The teen dropped to his knees next to her, but kept his hands up so that she wouldn't be scared. "Are you Ok?," he asked anxiously. A sliver of moonlight crept between the curtains, but it was still too dark to see her face clearly.

Slowly uncurling, she pushed her long hair to the side and peered up at him, her face sweaty and pale in the dim light. "I'm Ok," she said. Dean sat back on his haunches now that she seemed to be coming back to awareness. She reached a hand out and wrapped her fingers around his forearm. "Where's Penny," she asked, her voice still shaky and husky with sleep.

"Penny's fine, she's asleep in her crib." If it were him waking up blurry and confused, the first thing he would do is check on his kid too. "You were having a nightmare, and then you fell out of bed." Angela used his arm to pull herself upright, resting her back against the side of the bed. Not knowing how to help her, Dean sat there quietly, letting her gather some strength. He could feel the occasional tremor run through her body as she tried to push the nightmare away.

"Sorry," she whispered. "I was dreaming that I was back home." Dean let her talk, knowing that sometimes words were the only thing that helped. "Father was hitting Maman, but it was way worse than it usually was." A shudder ran through her. She seemed to be trying to remember her dream, but Dean wished that she wouldn't. He didn't want to hear any more about her horrible, pervert of a father. How terrible was her life if there was a "normal" way for her dad to beat her mother?

"Ok, let's get you back to bed," Dean tugged her upwards. Although still in her loose jeans, she had shed the heavy sweatshirt she had been wearing and he could see that she had on a simple t-shirt. Folding back the covers, he was about to assist her in climbing back into bed when he heard the compressor on the old fridge grumble back to life. The kitchen light blinked on, casting a yellow glow over the room and both teens shielded their eyes from the sudden glare.

Now that the lights were on, Angela seemed far more uncomfortable. She wrapped her skinny arms around herself and stepped back away from Dean. Quickly getting into bed, she pulled the covers up to her chin, hiding herself from Dean. She moved fast, but not before Dean saw the white lines of scars crisscrossing her arms. He pretended he didn't see the results of the abuse she had suffered and padded over to turn off the kitchen light. Outside the streetlight shone feebly through the thin curtains, casting the usual dim glow. Out of habit Dean checked the salt lines and the locks and went to join Sam who had slumbered through everything.

"Dean?," Angela's voice floated from the other bed. He turned over onto his side facing her and propped himself up on his elbow.

"Yeah?" He was tired and wanted to get back to sleep.

"Can you call Pastor Jim for me?" Her question had a ring of determination in it that Dean hadn't heard before.

"Of course, just maybe not now." Dean was pleased when she laughed softly at his silliness and snuggled down deeper into the blanket. "Get some rest Angela," she said, turning over onto his back. He had so much to think about. How was he going to explain what was going on to Pastor Jim? What could he do to help Angela and Penny? How pissed off was Dad going to be when he found out that Dean had lied to him? Despite these and other worries, Dean's eyes were heavy and with the faint sound of Sam snoring beside him, he drifted off to sleep.

xxxxxx

Once again, Angela seemed a little shy in the morning and moved her and Penny back into their own room after breakfast. Dean took advantage of the time with his brother to catch up on some solid training. After all, he didn't need another thing his Dad was going to freak out over. At least he could look Dad in the eye and promise that they had been doing the work he expected. He and Sam went for a run, and then did some sparring practice. Sammy seemed a little distracted and when he didn't even try to stop Dean from pinning him a second time, Dean had to ask.

"Dude, what the hell? You could break out of that hold no sweat weeks ago. What's up?" He was pretty sure what Sam's answer would be, but he couldn't help his brother process if he didn't let the kid talk.

"Why would Angela's father do….that to her Dean?," Sam asked. Dean released his brother and turned the kid around. Sam was looking up at him as if Dean had all the answers. Dean heaved out a gust of air and ran a hand through his hair to grip the back of his neck.

"I don't know, kiddo," he said trying to be gentle. In the past Dean had lied to Sam about a lot of things. Why they had moved so often, what Dad did, why they couldn't be "normal." As he looked at the skinny kid in front of him, all he wanted to do was wrap him in his arms and protect him from the ugly truths of this world. But Sam was smart, too smart to lie to about stuff like this. As much as he wanted to protect his brother, Dean could see his brother struggling with how to deal with this knowledge. Oh how Dean wished his kid didn't have to know anything about this.

"Is Angela going to be alright?" Sam's voice was full of doubt, as if he already knew the answer. Dean had no promises to make, and truthfully he had no idea if the emotional scars their friend carried would be something she could overcome.

"I don't know Sam, but I hope so." Keeping a careful eye on his brother, he could see Sam was still thinking too hard. "Look Sam, I'm gonna call Pastor Jim this afternoon and I'm sure he'll be able to help." If Dean had faith in anything, it was that Jim was a good man who would do whatever he could to assist Angela. Hopefully that would reassure Sam. "C'mon, let's try this hold again and this time I want you to break free and throw your best punch, OK?"

"So what will happen to Angela and Penny? Will they go to Blue Earth and live there?," Sam said, ignoring his request. Dean sighed again. Like a dog with a bone, it was difficult to re-direct Sam when he had something on his mind.

"Sam, I haven't called him yet, I don't know what's gonna happen. But I do know we need to finish training. So c'mon, focus." Dean nudged him and Sam nodded and stepped back into position, but before Dean could set himself into the hold their were practicing, Sam had one more thing to say.

"I wish Angela and Penny could stay with us and be a part of our family." The kid's back was turned pressing up against Dean's chest, so he couldn't see Sammy's face. Dean closed his eyes. Sam had just echoed the very thing that Angela had confessed last night. He kicked himself mentally for ever checking on the crying baby next door three weeks ago. Sam was attached now, and he was going to end up hurt. Hell, if he was honest with himself he was attached too. He cared about Angela, and holding Penny….well that made him feel things he was nervous to look at too deeply. Leaning over Sam, he whispered close to his brother's ear.

"Me too, Sammy, me too."