Chapter 7

Adam shifted, trying to loosen his bonds but he was no escape artist. The knots were tied tight and they seemed to be ready for him to try anything. They watched him like a hawk and weren't afraid to give him a couple of knocks if he smart mouthed them. He thought they were pretty stupid for ignoring the warning that they had been given. He could feel it deep down that something was going to happen and it might change how this dealing with hell was going to turn out.

The sky was still dark and grey even though it was daylight and the aurora borealis didn't disappear at all. There was still rumbling like thunder but no lightning. And yet Adam could feel a charge in the air. It made him nervous since he knew that with a charge like that meant the risk of electric shock and more likely the kind that you couldn't walk away from. He kept looking at the sky until he was given a hard cuff on the back of the head.

"Stop looking at the sky. Nothing is going to happen."

Adam glared at the douchebag that was the leader. He replied, "That is where you're wrong."

The leader laughed at him, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

The laughter was expected. Adam stared at them with narrowed eyes. This was like a Wonderland of sorts with all the strange characters. Of course it could be just plain cockiness since it was clear that these guys didn't know who they were dealing with. Adam didn't know who they were dealing with either. He didn't know her as well as Sam and Dean did but he had seen enough to know that when the going got tough, the heavy hitting was nothing.

The leader was still laughing at Adam and looked down at him and asked, "You really think that we're in trouble?"

"I know it," Adam retorted. He shifted his wrists even though it was futile. It did stretch them slightly to give him some wriggle room but they were still tight. "I've seen what she could do and you guys are going to be sorry."

"You seem to have an awful lot of faith in someone who didn't give the first thought of you when she got here."

Adam shifted since that voice wasn't the leaders. "I do."

The leader shifted and let the one who spoke step up. Adam felt his eyes widen at who it was. He recalled seeing him from when Michael was riding around him. He caught a couple of glimpses and it was enough to put a shiver in his spine. "Lucifer."

Lucifer stepped out of the shadows and looked down at Adam. He saw the look of surprise but not really fear in there. It still was something to relish as he taunted the boy, "Then I pity you." He kneeled so he was eye level with Adam, "You really don't know who you aligned yourself with do you?"

Adam stared at Lucifer. He hadn't really thought about what he was going to do when he met the devil and he was conscious about it. It wasn't a matter of if but when. He was not going to delude himself since he was in hell. "I know that she's going to kick your ass."

"And I look forward to it." Lucifer grinned as he straightened up. "You see I've been waiting a long time for her to jump start. I really want her to do what she is capable of."

"She won't play your game."

"That's what you know."

Adam struggled against his bindings. It was useless but it made him feel better. "I know that she won't leave me."

"Really? She didn't give you a second thought after you said yes to Michael." Lucifer looked at Adam as if to dare him to say otherwise.

Adam swallowed slightly at that. "She did. She thought about it every day."

"Then why didn't she do anything until your brother said yes?"

It was a question to think about and one that Adam sort of thought about but didn't acknowledge. He was curious as to what she did though it wasn't hard with part of it. He knew she was in a relationship with Sam. No doubt that was a little roadblock and a source of resentment. "Well she's not a crystal ball."

"And I doubt she did a lot."

"Maybe more than you know. Then again I can imagine what it's like looking for a lead but not able to find one." Adam shrugged his shoulder. It was a bit of a fib but he wasn't going to hang her out to dry. She did come for him when he was in trouble and she defended him.

"She is more than capable." Lucifer paced a little as he kept an eye on Adam. He grinned in that knowing way. "More than anyone in the world knows. She is a beauty that the world doesn't deserve. Much less Sam."

"Is that what this is? Some jealousy spat?" Adam raised his brow as he looked up at the devil. He wasn't grasping at the bigger implications that Lucifer was hinting at but he got that the devil didn't seem to like the fact that Angela liked Sam a lot. This made it seem like a love triangle that wasn't in existence.

"She is mine. Always was meant to be," Lucifer offered in a nonchalant manner. He kneeled to look at Adam in the eye. "Sam is just an inconsequential side dish though it was always meant to be him. He is my true vessel."

"Well it looks like you don't have him anymore."

"Only because circumstances make it so."

"He won't say yes again."

"Oh I know. I just intend to drag out his… transgression through his ass." Lucifer chuckled as he looked at Adam. "After all he committed a sin sleeping with my pretty."

Adam blinked at that. "And maybe she doesn't like you."

Lucifer laughed at Adam, "She is part of events that you have no inkling of. I'm just trying to make her remember." He paused a little and continued, "Of course she does that already. Her focus is on Sam and you are a mere afterthought."

"She cares about everyone."

"So you say."

"I do say. She protected me from Michael after she ejected him."

"And look where you are now."

"Only because you did something to her." Adam didn't know much about the world that Angela and his brothers were from but he knew that nothing would stop Angela unless something was in her way and making it difficult. "I saw her. The noise we made would have woken her up." He glared at the devil for good measure.

Lucifer chuckled at that, "You don't say." He straightened up and paced a little and chuckled, "The truth is that it was me that had a little conversation with her. Now that…" he pointed at the sky, "That is all her."

Adam looked up at the sky. It was calmer but there was still rumbling and the colors of the aurora borealis were changing but it looked like the emotions of someone who spent a lifetime or two fighting and who learned how to keep the emotions in line but all it showed was that they were ready to unleash hell on people. He looked back down at Lucifer. "No duh and if that is anything to say… she's pissed at you and wants to kick your ass."

"And I say bring it on." Lucifer then patted his right hand's shoulder. "Because now it's time to really punish her as well. She did have sex with your brother."

"It's just sex."

Lucifer chortled at that. He was recalling what he did to Sam and he knew the reaction. "Oh it's much more than that." He touched the spot on his neck that he tormented Sam with. He thought about it a little as he stared at Adam.

Adam squirmed a little. As far as he could tell, Lucifer was pissed because of Sam's recent sex life and that was the most ridiculous thing to be upset about for the devil. At least in his mind. Yet it seemed to mean a lot more to the devil and he got the feeling that he was probably going to get more than what he bargained for. He couldn't help it though, "Cat got your tongue?"

Lucifer smirked. He was amused and it seemed that Adam Mulligan was just as annoying as his half-brothers. But he was also entertaining. His father's flawed beings were amusing in that they thought by showing bravado it would work. He had seen them fail time and again but there were a few that were different. Such as the case with the Winchesters. "Not really."

"Oh? I thought you were embarrassed about talking about my brother's sex life with a girl who chose him over you." Adam narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips as he stared up at the devil. "That sounds a little pathetic to me."

Lucifer chuckled, "You think this is about sex?"

"Looks like it to me. Never seen anyone get so pissed over that other than a cheating bastard that gets it from an angry girl."

"It's more than sex that I am pissed about as well as… amused," Lucifer explained as he tapped the area that he tapped on Sam's neck.

"Looks like you are more pissed."

"Oh I am since she was to be mine. It was to be in the beginning."

"I doubt that."

Lucifer paused and looked down at Adam. Should he tell him? He could tell her when she came and got him. He didn't doubt that she would rescue Adam. She would fight tooth and nail for him. Yet there was a certain pleasure in giving the impression you know something they should know and you hold it out of their reach. That was the fun part with tormenting Sam. He had him a few times on that and he knew that it pissed the younger Winchester off.

What Lucifer didn't like was that Adam was right about a few things. Well… sort of. It wouldn't do to have the human know that he was right. One thing he learned from the whispers was that his pretty could take the physical. He had seen it for himself. It was the mental and the emotional where it would hit the hardest and the pressure point needed to get what he wanted. He was surprised that she held out against Zachariah even after that weasel threatened someone close to her, well several people close to her. She chose to fight. It was a delicate process and he had to appreciate how she managed to have so much fun those years she tortured the demons. The stories were true at their core even when embellished. So far she had come and fallen.

Looking at Adam, Lucifer came to a decision and replied, "Oh it is true. She did reject me both times and yet she was willing to fight you."

Adam blinked at that. "What?"

"Oh yes," Lucifer grinned, "She was willing to be my vessel, a substitute like you were for Michael, and fight you. She was willing to let you kill her."

Adam blinked at Lucifer's words. He could flat out reject it but that seemed to be what the devil wanted. He replied, "She wouldn't."

"She would. She was willing to fight you instead of Sam and you and why? Because she doesn't care two cents for you." Lucifer leaned in and stared poignantly at Adam. "She doesn't care about anything unless it means the world to her and that isn't you."

Adam glared. He refused to believe that she was like that. At least by what he had seen and what he remembered before he said yes. She protected him. She was willing to fight Michael then as she did now. He watched as Lucifer walked away, giving instructions on what to do and that they were to be ready to deal out the hurt. It then made him realize that this was going to escalate and it wasn't going to be pretty.

There are three things that are greater than anything on this earth, bambina. You give all three especially the greatest of them all.

You have the greatest gift, Cat. It's from your heart.

Anything worth anything comes from your heart.

Angela barely blinked as she jogged ahead but the thoughts were circling through her mind. It was a like it was a mantra of hope running through her head. It was a culmination of things people said to her that they said she was. The funny thing was that she didn't think that highly of herself. She hadn't for a long time.

She was certain that her downward spiral began when she found out that her father gave his life to bring her back from the dead. She remembered what happened to her. She remembered when Brady caught her from behind and held her; he had gotten the jump on her when she went to chase after him. And it was when her father said not to go.

She had been an arrogant youth then. Back then, she didn't have that self-loathing. Sure she had been frightened when she had to drink from that woman who knew right away what was wrong with her but her father explained it as well as Gabriel. The archangel always was straight with her during those years when he taught her about angels and how to do certain things. She never questioned them then assuming that he was just another teacher and he was teaching her like the abbey monks and the other masters of their craft when they moved.

Then she died.

Coming back was being stuck in a dark place, especially after finding out what her father had done. She had tried appealing to the very people that had taken him from her and was met with denial, citing that the Old Religion was used and couldn't be revoked. It sent her into depression especially since she was pissed when Gabriel tried to keep her from finding out the truth. And she felt different after that. Nothing was the same and she didn't feel the same either. It was like she wasn't all there. Then came the fact that she could see the reapers.

She nearly killed herself because she thought she was going insane. Luckily Gabriel stopped her and explained what was going on once he figured it out. It didn't help much and she plowed through the centuries, twice venturing into hell on a mission for rescue and subterfuge. The third time… it was a trap and was what did her in with regards to how she viewed herself. And it was done but someone she thought was a friend.

That last time was when Alistair and Lenya went to town on her. She was tortured under the knife and then a victim was left in her cell to feed on since they drove her to the point where she could die. She held out as long as she could, refusing to touch the human souls who were sentenced to eternity in hell. She let loose on the demons and had been forced into fight after fight. The high she was on after drinking demon blood… She remembered how it felt and it was how she understood how Sam felt when he thought it was the answer in the beginning.

Then she killed a soul by draining him dry. It was one of Alistair's machinations and opened the door to make her see what she was. She couldn't stop drinking demon blood and yet she hated herself that she wanted to. She created her own hell literally to the point where she plotted to escape and be like a sick animal to wander off and die alone and secluded. It didn't turn out that way with Cian and the others that paved the way for her to get out of the lower levels and back to where Gabriel retrieved her and brought her to Karnak.

True she had recovered but it never left. The fact that she would never be free from them. It was evident when Ganesh turned her over and then when she wandered the northern forests and the tribes… Her steps were dogged by Azazel and anyone who knew of her. They were always close behind ready to ruin things until she decided she was the one that did that.

She never stopped caring though. People were in need and she helped. She did what she had to do to protect them or teach them how to do it. She tried to be aloof and gruff but it never worked out and she always made a friend or two and there were her strays. People like Mac and other hunters, she cared but it was more like an understanding. She hurt when they were hurt and mourned when they died and carried the guilt when she felt responsible. The exceptions came with Augusta, Ellen, Jo, Mary… those she dared to care more for… She went to great lengths to protect them. And then came the Winchesters and that ended up being more than what it should have been and even now she couldn't let go. Not after…

Lucifer was right in that her first thoughts always went to Sam and Dean. She had never had so much focus on an individual or rather two individuals like that before. Sure she cared about the others but never had it caused her so much pain and joy and the hope that she wasn't as cursed as she thought she was. Now it felt like a great big sin because she wanted what others had and never thought she could or should.

But she still cared about the world. She still protected them. She took care of everyone, putting her needs and wants last to no thought at all even though Sam requested not to hurt herself. Was coming here to be with Sam really selfish of her? Yeah it was but deep down it was the only thing she truly wanted. And it wasn't Adam's fault that he was stuck here too. She would stay with him too and protect him as best as she could.

Feeling the resolve coming back encouraged Angela to quicken her step more as she jogged through the forest. She had a job to do and even if it was the impossible, she would do like Dean would do. He would give a give them hell attitude and go down swinging. And she always believed there was a chance even when it seemed hopeless. That was one thing Lucifer couldn't understand and why she was going to win.

She twitched her nose as she took in the scents. She may not have a connection to Adam like she did Sam but she had his scent and if anything, her nose was never wrong. She paused to get a clear reading and sniffed around. She caught it and glanced back and ordered, "This way," and continued running, her feet making light patters on the ground.

Not far behind were Hawkins and Tsura. Hawkins came in second with Cerebus and paused to sniff the air himself and also to take a breather. He was fast but not that fast but that didn't matter. As long as someone caught up to them, it would be fine. He took a breath and shouted back, "Come on little girl. We got the scent."

Tsura was bringing up the rear. She wasn't used to running long treks but she was keeping up fairly well even carrying a pack of stuff they may need. There was some distance between her and Hawkins but not enough to be left behind. There was no way she was going to be left behind if she could help it. She bellowed, "What are you talking to me for? Get going." She huffed a little to catch her breath as she put an extra spurt into her legs.

Hawkins grinned at that as he turned in the direct Angela had taken. He glanced at Cerebus and said, "Looks like we'll be doing this all night."

Cerebus merely gave a huffing moan before he started trotting to break into a run. He caught the scent and he would follow the alpha. He knew the alpha protected the pack even when others said she didn't. It was what made her alpha and he would follow until it was his time.

Hawkins nodded and trotted after the hell hound. He looked up ahead to see that Angela was running along the fallen trees. Her arms were held out for balance but she never broke stride as she pushed forward. He had a moment of appraisal when she leapt down from a tree gracefully, still running and leaping on top of rock structures. She was not wasting time going around but straight through. Just like she did in Port au Prince.

He caught up with Angela at the edge of a short cliff. She was staring out at the landscape with that look that said she was hunting and she was going in for the kill. He tapped her shoulder, "Lost them?"

"Nope." Angela looked down on what was unmistakably campfire. She pointed at it. "There."

Hawkins peered down in the direction she was pointing in. He couldn't see anyone but the flames were evident that it was someone. He looked at the size of the fire and replied, "Looks like a small group. Maybe ten or so."

"That's tiny," Angela murmured with a slight grin as she leaned over to look. They wouldn't be a problem. The fun was going to be in the method of takedown. She actually looked forward to that; it was that part of her that she hid but sometimes it just came out, the love of a fight. "But still fun."

Hawkins glanced at her and nodded, "Aye." He looked back out and pointed at the camp, "They are confident enough that they are stopping. They aren't even considering that we'll be tracking them at night."

Angela stared down with an intense expression. "They know," she said in a calm and even tone. "They know we're coming. This is Lucifer's playground after all. He knows me." She looked at Hawkins and continued, "Which is why I can't ask you to come."

Hawkins looked at her with a steady gaze. "You really think that me and the girl are a product of the devil messing with your head, Scarlett?"

Angela looked at Hawkins and then Tsura who had joined them and was taking a breather on a boulder. She replied, "I know you're not real. Hawkins, you are as I remembered you when we used to sail the high seas. And I know that you died doing what you thought was right. Keeping to the creed." Her expression became pensive as she continued, "I know you both aren't real and I know that since the day I jumped in, things seem real but they are not."

Hawkins took a moment to absorb the information. He glanced at Tsura who nodded at him with a serious expression. He turned back and replied, "Well, Scarlett… I don't know what to think because you are real to me and this is real to me." He gestured all around to make a point. "The point is… I'm not, we're not, staying behind."

"You really don't know what I am saying, do you?"

"Oh we do. And maybe the devil does know a thing or two and maybe is making this all up because he wants you to suffer. Either way, we're not staying behind." Hawkins crossed his arms over his chest and gave a sight shake of his head. "We're going because we believe in your fight, the one to do good and I don't like it that someone is being tortured by the devil."

Angela looked at Hawkins and then Tsura. She put a hand on Cerebus' head as she turned to look out at the campsite below. Maybe she was going crazy with this line of thought but they had stayed with her. Maybe…

A/N: Looks like Luci spills some beans about Angie that even she doesn't know yet and Angie is chasing after them to get Adam back. Looks like the tide may turn. We'll see next time on The Winding Road...