Angel

Dean Winchester knew that he had to keep it together. Sam was obviously fragile enough at this point and he didn't need to add to it. Focus on the job at hand, he thought. It's a job. If Lauren does survive this somehow, she's going to need protection in case the demon comes back for her. And the only way to truly protect her, to protect anyone, was to focus on the job. Treat it like any other job.

Protection. What a joke. He looked at the pendant again. Of course, he ought to know by now that nothing that works on everything else ever worked on the demon.

He pulled out his cell phone, dreading making the call. He took a deep breath and punched in Sam's number, then send. Sam picked up on the first ring. "Dean, how is she?"

"It doesn't look good Sam, but she's alive right now. What did you find out there?"

"Nothing, I mean, not really. No readings on the EMF, not a trace anywhere. Dean, you need to come get me; I need to see her."

"Sam, I don't think I should leave her alone here, in case he tries to finish the job. Call a cab. Tell them to bring you to Tampa General." He hesitated. "I know it's hard Sam, but you have to try to treat this like any other case. We have to work all the angles, check out every lead. You know the drill. Did you find Lauren's office?"

"Yeah, I found it. Pretty typical office, you know, a few pictures, she's apparently a football fan, and a Star Wars collection. I didn't know she liked Star Wars." Sam's voice trailed off. "Wow, she's still beautiful. It looks like she's really…happy" he said as he looked at the pictures on Lauren's desk. "This isn't right, what could she have done, why is the demon using her to get to me? She's got… this is all my fault!"

"Stop it Sam; blaming yourself isn't going to help her. Just get over here when you're done there, alright?" Dean hung up the phone. This didn't feel right, he thought. He wasn't lying when he said he didn't think she should be left alone. With what the nurse said about someone asking about her, then there being nobody there, he wasn't entirely sure the demon wasn't lurking around, waiting for a chance to finish the job. He felt the cold steel of the Colt tucked against his back. Once Sam had told him about the vision, he decided he would have it on him at all times, just in case.

He sighed deeply, looking around the room. Lauren's purse had probably been put into the little closet in the corner. He found it, opened it up, and chuckled lightly, shaking his head at the makeup, perfume, and lipstick. He pushed aside a cell phone and some other electronic gizmos, then fished out her wallet. He found the typical stuff: driver's license, credit cards, cash, a couple of movie tickets, pictures. He thumbed through them, a little curious. He didn't recognize anyone in the pictures. There were a few pictures of what were probably friends of hers with their families, a couple of kids' pictures, and a couple of pictures of a little girl. He noticed something slightly frayed under one of the pictures and pulled it out.

He remembered the picture well. It was taken at one of those stupid 4 for $1.00 picture booths you see at the mall or the local carnival. She'd insisted on keeping all four of the pictures, but this one had always been his favorite because of the look on her face. He loved that look, the smile, the complete trust and love. And she was looking at him with that face. He was shocked that she still had the picture at all, let alone keeping it in her wallet. He frowned then. "Sammy," he said, half to himself. "This isn't your fault. It might be mine."

Nothing he found gave him any kind of indication as to what was going on. He sat back down in the chair to wait for Sam. It was daylight now and he was tired. He pushed his palms into his eyes, willing them to stay open, trying to think.

"Who are you?" Dean looked up and saw eyes nearly as green as his own. Lauren's eyes, only it wasn't Lauren. It was a little girl. "Who are you?" she asked again, a little more persistently this time. There was a woman about Lauren's age behind her who put her hands on the little girl's shoulders and said, "Angel, don't be rude. This is probably just a friend of your mom's."

"I'm Dean," he said, shaking the lady's hand, looking down at Angel.

"Kandace" the lady said. "What happened?"

"I'm not really sure," Dean said. "Apparently it happened at her office." Angel pushed past him, approaching her mother's bed. She was visibly distraught. "I'll give you some time with her," he said, leaving the room. He tried not to pace up and down outside the room. Obviously she's moved on, he thought, and was a little surprised at the jealousy he felt.

Kandace came out of the room. "Can I call anyone?" Dean asked. "Her husband should probably know. I'm sure he'd want to be here."

"Husband?" Kandace laughed. "Lauren never got married." She smiled as she glanced in on Angel, sitting next to her mom on the hospital bed. "You assume because she has a little girl that she's married. "No, she always says Angel was her surprise blessing. Angel is her focus, and now…" Kandace stopped mid sentence.

"Is she ok in there? I mean, Lauren's pretty beat up. That can't be easy."

"That kid is wise beyond her years Dean. Lauren's done such a fantastic job with her. That little girl is her whole life. Angel will be alright. She'd never forgive me if I dragged her out of there. Would you mind keeping an eye on her while I go call the office and let them know I won't be in today?"

"Sure," Dean said. He walked back into the room, and heard Angel talking to Lauren like there was nothing wrong. "Mind if I sit here in the room with you for a little while?" Angel shook her head. Dean pulled the chair a little closer to the bed. Angel was holding Lauren's hand. Dean said, "You know, I think she knows you're here, and I'm sure that makes her feel better." He didn't know what else to say to comfort the girl.

She lifted her head and looked at Dean. He was shocked at how much she looked like Lauren. He expected to see tears in her eyes, but there were none. "She's not going to die," Angel said, smiling then. Dean studied her face, then leaned against the bed, trying to decide if he should be the one to tell her the truth. Angel reached over and took his hand, gasping as soon as she'd done so. She started breathing hard, like a panic attack, scrunching her eyes closed, and gripping Dean's hand harder and harder. He tried to pull his hand away, but she wouldn't let it go.

A few minutes later, Angel's breathing started to slow. She lifted her head slowly to look at Dean, her eyes wild. "You!" she said accusingly. "You're going to kill her!" Dean shook his head no, but Angel kept on. "She's not going to die now, from this, but she will die... to save you." Dean yanked his hand away, breathing heavy, trying to make sense of everything, but nothing made sense right now. He desperately tried to recover his composure, remembering that this was just a little girl, Lauren's little girl, and he didn't want to frighten her any more than she already was.

Babysitting?

Sam Winchester practically ran from the nurses' station to the ICU, slowing as he got to the room Lauren was in. The door was nearly closed, only slightly ajar. He pushed it open a little, sticking his head inside. He saw Dean sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed, looking confused and scared for a split second, then nothing. Sam blinked; his eyes must be playing tricks on him because he's so tired. He opened the door further, looking at Dean again, but he looked normal. As normal as he ever did on no sleep anyhow.

"Dean?" he said cautiously, noticing the little girl sitting on the bed. This must be the little girl from the pictures in Lauren's office. "How is she?" he asked, tilting his head toward Lauren before looking at Dean. Dean just shook his head no. The little girl turned to face him, then smiled and said, "She's going to be fine. Just fine!" Sam took a step back as he looked at the miniature Lauren smiling up at him.

Dean stood up, looking at Angel pointedly and said, "I'm going to stretch my legs. Can I get you some water Angel? Want to go for a walk or something?" Angel shook her head no and said, "Mommy needs me here to help her get better." Dean motioned Sam outside the room for a more private talk.

"Sam, the doctors say she's not going to make it."

Sam's face fell. "But Angel. God, Dean she can't be more than five years old. What about her dad, where is he?"

"I don't know," Dean said, "Lauren's friend Kandace said she wasn't married; I get the impression the guy's not around. There's something else."

"What?" Sam asked.

"Before they put her in ICU, the nurse said somebody had asked about Lauren. But there was nobody there Sam. I think it might be the demon, lurking around here to finish the job. I don't think we should leave Lauren alone, just in case."

"You don't think she's going to die, do you?" asked Sam.

"I don't know Sammy. I don't have a crystal ball. But something's up with that kid of hers, I think she might… I can't explain it. She just seems to KNOW Lauren won't die, despite what the doctors are saying."

"And she could just be a clueless little girl that doesn't really understand any of this," Sam said empathetically.

"Spend five minutes with her Sam. She's far from clueless. I think you two will get along just great." Dean said sarcastically. "Listen, I say we take shifts. One of us in Lauren's room at all times."

"That sounds good. I'll take the first one, you look like hell." Sam said. Dean flipped him off, then saw Kandace walking toward them, shaking her head.

Dean said, "Kandace, this is my brother Sam. Sam, Kandace. She's taking care of Angel."

"Look guys, how well do you know Lauren?" Kandace asked.

"Honestly, I haven't seen her in a few years," Sam said. Dean just shrugged. "Same here."

"I hate to do this to you," Kandace began.

Five minutes later, Dean was still trying to talk Sam out of it. "Come on man, a kid, a five year old? We can't take care of her Sam. What if that demon comes back here after Lauren, how are we going to protect Angel? She doesn't need to know about stuff like this. She's too young!"

"Dean, I don't see what other choice we have. Kandace can't take care of her, her dad needs her in Mississippi. He just had a heart attack!"

"Damn it! Damn it!" Dean said. Sam shushed him with a look, his head cocking toward Angel. "Damn it!" Dean said again under his breath. "Ok Sammy, you get first shift!"

"Dean?" Kandace's voice came a few minutes later. "Get Lauren's purse. I'll drive you to get her car from the office so that you both have transportation. I'll put the car seat I keep for Angel in your car before I go."

Dean laughed. "A car seat? In the Impala? That ain't happening in this lifetime lady!" Kandace looked at him, puzzled. The extra car would help in case something came up.

On the drive over, Dean thought maybe it would be a good idea to get some more information from Kandace before she left town. He suggested they stop for lunch, if it wouldn't' be too much of a delay to Kandace. Since her flight didn't leave for a few hours, she agreed. During their conversation, Dean discovered that Lauren's parents had died when Angel was still just a baby.

"What about Angel's father? Does he have a good relationship with her? Do he and Lauren get along?" Dean asked.

"I don't really know anything about him," Kandace said. "Lauren doesn't really talk much about her life. She's a great listener. You know, now that I think about it, it seems like she always asked me about my life, my feelings, and never really talked about her own. Except that one time…" Kandace's face softened as she thought of the memory.

"What time?" Dean asked.

"It was her birthday and a friend of ours offered to baby sit Angel so I could take her out to celebrate. She works so hard and spends as much time as she can with that little girl; I just felt like she needed a break, you know? So we went out, and she had a few too many drinks, and opened up a little bit. She's never talked about her past. She got this far off look in her eyes and started talking about this one guy she used to be with. I don't know if it was Angel's father or somebody else. But the sun rose and set with this guy as far as I could tell. When I asked her what happened and why they weren't still together, she just said something about how life never gives you what you really need, and love sucks, and who needs a guy to be happy anyway and clammed up on me. That night was the most I ever heard about any guy she's ever been with. I think he really broke her heart."

After lunch, they headed over to the garage Lauren normally parked in and Kandace walked Dean up to Lauren's car. Dean gave her the best smile he could muster (completely fake, of course) as she left him there. Ten minutes later, he found himself still sitting in the driver's seat of an SUV. He looked around him, about the same way he would in any house that he was expecting to find an angry spirit. He sighed heavily and turned over the ignition, driving back to the hospital in a less than agreeable mood.

He walked back to Lauren's room and found Sam grinning from ear to ear as he chatted with Angel. "Look at her Dean, just look at her," he said, motioning toward Lauren still lying on the bed. Something was different, but he wasn't sure…. "Look at her color Dean, she's not nearly as pale as she was and the doctors, well, they've mumbled miracle on more than one occasion. I mean, she's not out of the woods, but they're pretty hopeful now!"

Dean looked at Lauren and realized that Sam was right. He tried hard to hide the relief that he felt wash over him at the hope that she would live. He looked at Sam, with that stupid grin he'd had since he was six years old. For half a second, he looked like the little brother with his two front teeth missing again and Dean chuckled. "I'm going to Lauren's to get some sleep."

"Angel, do you want to go to your house with Dean and catch a nap?" Dean shot Sam a look before the sentence was out of his mouth.

"I don't nap," Angel said matter-of-factly. "I want to stay here with Mom for now."

"Ok," Sam practically giggled. "I'm going to say goodbye to my brother. I'll be right outside this door, ok?"

Angel looked at Dean. "I told you she'd be ok, didn't I?"

Dean smiled slightly. "Yes, you did."

"What I said earlier," she started. "I'm sorry if I upset you. It's not your fault. Mommy's always been pretty stubborn."

Dean started out of the room, thinking to himself, kid, you have no idea!

Sam stepped out directly behind him, looking at him curiously, obviously wondering what Angel was talking about. Dean shot him a don't ask look in return. "Isn't she great?" Sam asked a moment later.

Dean eyed him suspiciously. "Who?" he asked.

"Angel," Sam said. "Lauren's daughter, Angel".

"Yeah, I guess," Dean said, shaking his head.

"Dean, I think… I don't know how to say this, but I think Angel may have… some… abilities. You know, kind of like me."

Dean took a deep breath. "Yeah, I thought so. What kind?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure, but I think she has some sort of healing ability. She kept holding Lauren's hand and just, I don't know, she just looked like she was really focusing hard. She didn't say anything for a really long time. Then, I don't know, Lauren just kind of got a little better, you know?" Sam hesitated, then said, "In my vision, the demon threatened Angel when he attacked Lauren, I wonder if he knows about her abilities."

"If that's the case," Dean sighed, "then she's in as much danger as Lauren is."