CHAPTER TWO
"Gabriel."
Gabriel appeared so close Dean had to take a step back to avoid colliding with him.
"Have you heard from him?" Gabriel demanded, all joking behavior thrown out the window.
Dean finished stuffing a shirt into his backpack before zipping it up and throwing it over his shoulder.
"He finally turned his phone back on. Bobby tracked him and he's not far. Cas is already in the car." Whoosh. "And I guess that's where you are too."
/…/
Kalen and Sam were driving down the road with Marbles laid out across the backseat when the Impala went roaring past them. They glanced at each other.
"Was that…" "Uh huh."
Sam reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out.
"Shit. Bobby must have tracked me." Pause. "But why didn't Dean notice us?"
Kalen giggled. Sam raised an eyebrow.
"My truck is illusioned. You see what I want you to see. Everyone else sees what they assume. What your brother just passed looked like a station wagon going twenty miles an hour under the speed limit with an old couple in the front seat," Kalen boasted.
Sam couldn't help but laugh. He sobered up quick when he caught a glance at the date on his phone.
"Shit. I better call him. He's going to be pissed," Sam said.
"You're hooked to the Bluetooth. Go ahead and call him," Kalen replied.
Sam brought up his brother's number and pressed the call button. He braced himself not a moment too soon for his brother's profanity filled voice to fill the truck.
"WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN, SAM? YOU CAN'T ANSWER A GOD DAMN PHONE CALL?! DON'T GIVE ME THAT LOOK! I CAN BLASPHEMY FOR ONE FUCKING SECOND IF HE CAN DISAPPEAR!"
Sam cringed while shooting Kalen a sympathetic look. Marbles lifted his head with his perked up. Kalen reached over and muted their end while turning down the volume on Dean's yelling.
"Damn. That's awful ballsy of him to say shit like that with a pair of angels in the car," Kalen whistled.
Sam frowned. He hadn't even noticed if anyone was with Dean when he had roared past them. He reached over and unmuted their end.
"Dean, I can explain," Sam started.
"Explain?! You better fucking do better than that! No. No, I don't know where he is. Touch my phone and I'll shoot you in the face."
Sam shot the radio a questioning look. Kalen mouthed 'Gabriel' and he made an hmm sound in the back of his throat. She tapped her wrist at him.
"Dean, you eat lunch yet?" Sam asked.
"No! I haven't eaten all morning, thanks to worrying about your sorry ass!" Dean shouted.
Sam rolled his eyes.
Ever the protective older brother, Sam thought.
"Dean, there's someone you need to meet. But just you. Tell Cas and Gabriel we'll see them later."
Some background swearing and yelling ensued. Dean's threat of shooting and stabbing. Then there was sudden silence. Sam glanced at the dash to check that the call was still connected.
"Where?"
"I'll text you the address," Sam answered.
/…/
Dean whistled high as he pulled into the parking lot of the address Sam had sent him.
"This ain't exactly the local diner, Sam," Dean mumbled.
He put the Impala in park and made sure he was armed before stepping out. He waved off a valet guy. He felt a bit underdressed when he walked in to find a woman in a long black dress standing at a hostess' stand.
"Hello. Party of one?" she greeted.
"Uh, no, Mam. I'm looking for my brother. He gave me this address to meet him. Can't miss him. Real tall kid in obvious need of a haircut," Dean told her.
The hostess started to speak, but a familiar voice cut in as someone cut around the corner behind her. Crowley smiled at the shocked look on Dean's face.
"I'll take him to his table, love. After all," Crowley smiled. "We're old friends."
Clenching his jaw, Dean kept his mouth shut until he was out of hearing range of the hostess.
"What the Hell are you doing here?" Dean demanded.
Crowley shot him an exasperated look before rolling his eyes.
"Nice to see you too, Squirrel. Left your manners outside, did you?" Crowley asked.
Dean sneered.
"If you've hurt Sam in any way…"
"Oh relax! Moose is just fine."
Dean found that hard to believe, but after they turned the next corner, his eyes immediately fell on Sam. The younger hunter was sitting facing him at a table back away from everyone else. Sitting beside him was a female Dean couldn't recall ever seeing before.
"Your dinner guest has finally arrived. Although I wouldn't exactly call him a guest," Crowley drawled as they stopped at their table.
Sam rolled his eyes while the female chuckled.
"Thank you, Crowley. And please let your boys know if they burn or poison my steak, I'm going to let Marbles have free reign of the kitchen," the female said, gesturing to the large canine Dean now realized was laying under the table.
Crowley eyed the dog carefully as the dog didn't even bother to lift his head, only move it from resting on one paw to the next. His eyes didn't leave Crowley.
"Understood. Winchesters. Kalen."
The female, Kalen, nodded to him before he walked away. Dean waved his hand over his shoulder.
"Is this why you're being so secretive? You're sneaking off to see Crowley and this chick?" Dean asked.
Sam shot him a bitch face.
"No. We didn't even know he'd be here. Kalen spotted him talking to the Chef when we came in," Sam explained.
Dean glared. He turned his lethal look from his brother to Kalen.
"Oh yeah? Well, how about you, sister? You seem to know Crowley pretty well so I imagine you know me and my brother too," Dean hinted.
Kalen nodded.
"I do. I met your brother on one of your 'hunts' a few years ago. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't aim that gun at my dog."
Sam frowned before leaning back in his chair and looking down. Sure enough, Dean's gun was resting in his lap and aimed right at Marbles' head. The canine let out a small huff of air but otherwise didn't move from his spot. Sam's gaze snapped back up to his brother's face.
"Dean," Sam hissed.
"Crowley seemed a little uneasy around Fido and you here so I'm not taking any chances," Dean told her.
Kalen threw her hands up.
"Crowley is uneasy around us for good reason. Marbles is a Hell Hound and I'm a half angel," Kalen shot back at him.
"You're half angel?" "Marbles is a Hell Hound?"
The two brothers looked at Kalen then at each other. The conversation paused when a server came by with plates and a basket of bread for them.
"May I?" Kalen asked.
Sam answered by reaching for the basket and holding it out to her. Dean watched them warily.
"I have no reason to harm Sam," Kalen insisted.
"I don't believe you. Why else would you meet here with only me and Sam? Oh and Crowley. Can't forget that dickhead," Dean pointed out.
Kalen glared.
"Castiel doesn't like me, I don't know what Gabriel thinks, I like steak, and Crowley is an unhappy mistake. Now get off my ass, Winchester," she told him.
Dean slammed his free hand down on the table. His eyes shifted to his brother while flicking once to Kalen. Sam's eyes darted around to see if they had drawn anyone's attention. To his surprise, no one was even looking over a them.
"Damn it, Sam. I thought we were done with disappearing and keeping secrets from me! Why didn't you tell me about her? A half angel? We talking half demon like that Jessie kid?"
Sam shook his head slowly back and forth. He held his hands up in defense.
"You didn't need to know, Dean," Sam argued.
Dean's look could have melted his brother's face.
"What the fuck does that mean?" Dean demanded.
"I can see what Crowley meant now," Kalen murmured to Sam, before turning to Dean.
"It means I asked him not to tell you about me. I didn't want everyone and their brother knowing how Sam and I met," she explained.
"Oh, and why's that? You and Sam putting the wand in the chamber of secrets [1]?"
Sam stared at his brother in horror before hiding his face behind a hand. Kalen leaned forward. A serious look crossed her face.
"Because it wasn't anyone's business Sam saved me from being raped."
Dean's mouth clicked shut. The grip on his gun loosened. For the first time Sam ever had known his brother, Dean looked at a loss for words. Dean's gaze zipped to his brother. His face was shut off as he turned his head away from his brother.
Kalen nodded firmly before leaning back in her chair. She crossed her arms over her chest.
"I thought that'd shut you up. I have special abilities thanks to my angel blood, but it comes at a price of being a halfling. I don't have the strength of the other angels," she explained.
The story was horrible. Kalen had been in the same town as them by pure coincidence. She had been in town to hear a lecture at the local college. Sam had been coming back from researching at the college library when he heard her scream. He had run towards the sound (typical Sammy) and found a man forcing her against a wall.
At Sam's shout, the man had run off, but not before the hunter got a good look at him. Sam had accompanied her to the hospital for evidence and contacted the local authorities.
"What happened to him?" Dean murmured.
"Not a damn thing," Kalen spat.
She was pleased to see the rage fill Dean's face. She held her hand up to allow him to let her continue.
"It was covered up. Even with "Agent Barton" giving testimony. Things like that happen when you're a bigwig in a small town. So I found your creature of the week and led him straight to the bastard," Kalen said.
"He got what he deserved," Sam mumbled.
Dean normally would argue against that. Except this particular slimeball did deserve it. He remembered that creature and he remembered them seeing that body. They had eighty-sixed the creature after that. He kind of wished Crowley would bring the bastard back so he could take him out himself, especially after Kalen identified him as a wife beater.
"Poor woman was more relieved than I was when he was found."
They lapsed into silence after that. Kalen and Sam ate some bread, but Dean didn't move. Just as things started to get awkward, they heard the safety click on and Dean leaned back in his chair.
"I'm sorry that happened, but I'm happy Sam was there for you," Dean said.
Kalen nodded sadly.
"Sam helped me through it. I hated that man for the scars he left. Talking to Sam and therapy helped." A rumbling sound emitted from under the table. "And getting Marbles helped too."
Their conversation paused again as the served stepped up to take orders.
"Dinner's on me, boys. I suggest the rib-eye and loaded mashed potatoes," Kalen said.
Dean flashed a grin at Sam.
"I'm starting to like this chick," Dean told him.
"And if the meat is burnt, Marbles gets to chow down on Crowley's lackies."
"Scratch that. I love this chick. Yeah, sweetheart, I'm going to have the rib-eye and what do you have on draft?"
/…/
Sam should have known something was up when they didn't head straight back to the bunker. He cringed when he realized where they were heading.
"Time to pay the piper, Sammy," Dean said as they pulled up to Bobby's house.
Sam tried to sink down in his seat. Dean's punch to his shoulder had him sliding back up. He sighed as they climbed out of the car. The lethal look Bobby gave him when he came in almost had him turning tail and running back out to the car.
"I'm sure your brother already had a tear into you so I'm going to give you a break. This time. But don't you dare going do that to us again, you hear me, boy?" Bobby warned him.
Sam nodded.
"Good. Now you wanna explain to me why you disappeared on your brother."
They had agreed, with Kalen's permission, to share some of the details about her with Bobby. He listened patiently and waited until they were done to speak.
"So Crowley knows this girl?" he asked.
"Yeah. Her and Crowley have history. She ran into him sometime after meeting Sam. That dog of hers used to be one of his Hell Hounds. Doesn't look anything like one. Looks more like a Saint Bernard to me," Dean explained.
Bobby made an hmm sound at the back of his throat.
"And Cas and Gabriel, they don't know about her yet?" Bobby asked.
Dean and Sam shared guilty looks. Bobby threw his arms out in front of him with a what the hell look on his face.
"No. We came here first to let you know Sam was safe," Dean explained.
"Well, you boys are in another one of yer pickles. How you gonna keep this from them? Gabriel pops in and out at odd hours and Cas sticks around so much it's a wonder he ain't attached to Dean's ass."
Now it was Dean's turn to flash a bitch face of his own. Sam tried yet failed to cover a laugh with a series of coughs. Dean glared at his brother before turning to Bobby.
"We'll take care of it, Bobby. Kalen's a need to know basis."
Bobby looked fit to burst as he grabbed a beer out of the fridge, popped the top, and plopped down onto a chair.
"And you don't think it's prudent that an angel and archangel are made aware you two are hanging around some half-blood angel? Boy, I know you got more sense than that. They're going to wise up to something going on. They may not be the brightest bulbs in the bunch, but they're gonna ask questions when you get back to the bunker," Bobby scolded him.
Dean collapsed into a chair across from him while Sam remained standing.
"Well, what do you want me to do, Bobby? Kalen says she's only met Gabriel a couple times and she's not entirely sure he believes she's real. As for the other angels, she doesn't think they like her much. May even hate her. I don't know how Cas is gonna react to her. He could go full metal jacket on her ass with an angel blade."
Bobby shook his head before taking a swig. The trio talked a little longer before the boys decided they had stayed away long enough.
"You boys come around again some time for dinner. You don't always have to bring trouble to the door, you know?"
The boys chuckled.
"Thanks, Bobby!"
"Bye, Bobby!"
He watched the boys go before retreating to the kitchen for another beer. He walked back into his den to find a familiar face parked on his couch.
"So you know about the nephilim now, hmm?"
Bobby glared.
"I knew about 'em. Never knew one existed," Bobby growled.
Crowley chuckled as he swirled the drink in his hand.
"You don't have to worry about her being around your boys. Kalen can hold her own. She won't give them any problems," Crowley told him before taking a sip.
Bobby snorted. "Never said they would. What are you drinking this time?"
"Glenlivet. Aged twelve years. Would you care for some?"
Bobby rolled his eyes before taking a sip of his beer.
"Why do I put up with you?"
"Because I'm a delight to be around."
END OF CHAPTER TWO