Chapter 9

"Are you sure this is going to work?"

Angela peered through the foliage as she watched Hawkins move down. Her expression was bland as she focused on the plan that they had come up with. She narrowed her eyes as she scanned the perimeter and adjusted her position. "You want a percentage?"

Tsura peered over Angela's shoulder to observe and shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe what the odds are."

Angela smirked slightly at that and replied, "Fifty-fifty." At the sounds Tsura made, she explained, "This gamble we've only done twice when I used to run with Hawkins on the high seas chasing out pirates and other things."

"Then why use it?"

"All goes down to how well he can sell it." Angela adjusted her position as she put her forearms on her knees. She watched as Hawkins made his move to go down into the camp. "When it comes to this kind of thing, it comes down to the ability of the con to sell the story. To do that, you have to read the person you are conning. It's why there are some pretty good grifters out there."

"What?"

"Grifters." Angela caught Tsura's expression and explained, "A fancy word for thief."

"And you know how to do this?"

"Being a hunter is not exactly a respectable position." Angela hummed a bit at that as she smirked.

Being a hunter wasn't exactly a job with a regular schedule and benefits. It was one of those things that existed for people that lived off the grid or they used to have a respectable job but could no longer do it because of what they have seen and done. It was perfect for ex-spies if they still believed in the mantra of helping people. They just weren't loyal to a country.

Angela knew what it was like wandering around and doing that. It was the kind of thing the romantic tales were made of. It was romanticized because people didn't want to hear how bloody it could get and what exactly was involved. Plus it wasn't like they could tell what really was going on. Most people nowadays didn't believe that the boogeyman was real and could kill you. So it became something of fantasy. But it was very real and it was a skill she had worked on a lot when she taught her strays. In fact, she could remember when she first started teaching John Winchester to be better at it.

True she had been the one to be in the shadows but she did start interacting more wit John. She did have a few choice words with him on various subjects. One was being the boys when they were children. That was the one thing they fought over constantly and she was never afraid to dish it out and give a piece of her mind. It certainly had John come back to her later and admit that she was right. A hard thing for a man who was a trained Marine and used to seeing the world a certain way.

If you want to be able to get in and out with little question, you have to sell it.

I do.

And piss poor about it. If it hadn't been for me rescuing you with that sheriff, then we'd be in a shit hole and lose the lead you wanted so badly.

Angela smiled slightly as she shook her head. There were a lot of things that she and John Winchester had done on the hunt that she had never really told the boys. She never felt that she could and it was one of the few things that scared her since she had the receiving end of Dean's wrath when she revealed she knew both Mary and John. At least it was better when Dean learned about Mary being a hunter and how her reaction confirmed more without the words.

In the end, John always came to her when it was regarding the demon and she gave him her leads but always with the price and it was usually the same. That the man would not go into a kamikaze act with it. She made him swear it on his honor as a Marine, knowing that he would take it seriously. In the end, he used the same method when he got her to swear about watching out for the boys when he made his deal. The man did learn a lot from her and while she was proud that he learned something, she felt guilty because he tied her hands. It wasn't that much different from what Sam did before he jumped in and maybe that was the reason why she indulged. Feelings were complicated but it was what made her human.

Looking back down, she saw Hawkins being grabbed by a couple of the lackeys that were Lucifer's henchmen. She sobered and became the tactician that people romanticized about her. It was then that she felt a sharp pain down her spine and hissed. It didn't make sense since nothing was hurting her but it was like her nerves were on fire and they had been tingling ever since she decided to go all rampage on her companions to get Adam back and declared pretty much war against Lucifer. She rotated her shoulders and said, "It's time."

Tsura had noticed the hissing and asked, "Are you alright?"

Angela led the way down the slope towards the camp. She knew that Hawkins would be able to keep them busy with his silver tongue and annoying personality when he set his mind to it. She knew he would do his part. She could do hers but… "I'm fine," she said though she wasn't feeling fine. She didn't like the feeling that was going down her spine but there was nothing physically wrong with her and it bothered her.

Tsura watched her companion and wasn't overly convinced that she was okay. She had noticed there were times that she seemed to be in pain but there were no physical injuries and they healed pretty fast if she got them. This was something different and it was something that probably Angela didn't understand fully yet and she wasn't sure that she did either. She pressed, "Are you sure?"

"I'm fine," Angela replied in a firm tone as she paused to give the look to Tsura. She wasn't fine really because she didn't understand why it felt like when she had been stabbed in the back by the demon Brady twice in her long lifetime. The burning white hot sensation following the cold numbness. Something wasn't right and it was determined to stop her from helping Adam.

Tsura shrank back a little and held up her hands in appeasement. "Okay. Just… you hiss like someone is stabbing you."

Angela said nothing but made her way down the slope. She held up her hand to signal for quiet. She moved her head to listen for what was going on. She heard Hawkins talking and sounding like an annoyed prick, which he did well with this gambit. She also listened for the sound of the guards. Why they were being so blasé about guarding the area was something that irked her and not in the manner to piss her off. It made her wary of the whole thing and put her senses on alert.

Tsura crouched next to Angela as she huddled next to a set of boulders and trees. She scanned the area looking for threats. She still wasn't sure about Angela's response but she was going to have to trust it if they were going to make it out. She scanned the area and spotted something. She tapped Angela on the arm and gestured out to the pair of guards that were patrolling.

Angela saw them and nodded. She gave a signal and whispered from her throat, "Take them out. I'll head for the leader."

"And Cerebus?"

Angela looked at the hell mutt. She rubbed his hand. He'll be the back up and when push comes to shove, he'll get Adam out." She looked at Tsura with a look. "Either way, I won't let Lucifer or Michael take Adam. If I can keep him from being tortured as long as I can…"

"You'll get us out."

"Tsura, I came here knowing that there may be no way out." Angela looked at Tsura with a firm look. "The best I can do is fight and make up for everything." She turned and looked at the camp. Taking a breath she took off after signaling Cerebus to move.

Tsura looked at Angela and was going to say something but she was gone. Sighing she looked at what she was supposed to do and moved. She didn't like that Angela thought that she had to take on things alone and this happened. Yeah this was hell but surely she would find a way to get out. Tsura figured out there was something more to it and it had to do with what was making Angela hiss in pain when no one was doing anything to her.

Tsura made her way towards the two guards. She knew that she was going to have to use her Romani magic. She wasn't sure if it would work but Angela seemed to have confidence that she could do it. She needed to have it too. She could do this. Taking a breath, she made her way towards the pair of them. She had to take care of both of them. So maybe…

Taking them out one at a time seemed to be the best way to go. She snuck up on one and tapped him on the shoulder. Before he could even react, she had the Romani spell out of her mouth and he was down. That left her the second one to take out. And he proved not to be so easily beaten as the first.

Tsura had never done full on hand to hand combat. She had never really been trained in it. Rather she had been trained in Romani magic and then trained in the arts of entertainment, the kind that people would watch but condemn her people for because they preferred their ways. So when the guard fought back, she was unprepared as how to counter it and took a punch across the face. It had her stagger back and clutch her cheek as she looked at the lackey that was coming towards her.

Tsura knew that she was not equipped to fight with her fists but she could fight with her magic. She managed to get to a good position. As the guy charged at her, she rattled off the first spell that came to mind. It was a disarming spell but it had the desired effect and sent him flying backwards. It allowed her to grab a branch that was thick enough to swing. When the lackey was back on his feet, she had it ready and swung with all her strength. It was enough to knock him unconscious. Panting she held the stick and looked at the two guys she had just taken out on the ground. "Well that worked out," she said as she panted. She turned to look in the direction of the fire where Adam was and added, "And I hope you know what you're doing Angie."

In the meantime, Angela moved through the camp. She knew that she was taking on a lot by having Tsura take out only the two guard and the rest in but she didn't want to put the girl in a more difficult position. She knew that Tsura didn't have fighting experience in terms of hand to hand, only her magic. It was just her and Hawkins with the heavy lifting and Adam throwing in a few punches and of course there was Cerebus. She was not going to put anyone in a difficult position.

She walked through and paused the moment she saw the first sentry. She grinned slightly and looked at Cerebus. "Alright boy. You go do your thing and set Adam free."

She waited until Cerebus made his move and became his invisible hellhound self. Once he was gone, she moved forward. Ever since she had first learned about hunting, she executed with stealth and sneakiness. It was the kind of thing that intelligence agencies sought; the ability to move through the shadows and execute the mission. And she was damned good with it.

The first one never saw it coming as she pulled him behind a set of boulders and twisted his neck. She heard the crack and the body went limp. She let the body drop and she moved to peek out from behind. She wasn't going to play nice with this. Lucifer wanted to play rough, she was going to give it back and she wasn't going to pull punches. He wanted that monster… she would show him what exactly ran around during those dark times. Dean got a taste of it several times the last few years.

Looking around, Angela took a couple of sniffs. She grinned as she caught whiff of what she was looking for and started moving. The logical thing was to level the playing field and then spring the big boom. That was the easy part. Her nose led her to the next one and she dispatched him as easily as the first. She moved until she managed to level it down to four plus the leader and the ones guarding Adam. Normally people would say those weren't good odds but to her, that was perfect.

Pulling Absolution, she twirled the blade and held it at the ready. Taking a breath, she started moving. As she ran forward, she gave her war cry. It was enough to startle them and give her the advantage as she pushed forward. Absolution was good to her providing a means to block since she had about close to six guys to get through. Still it was a pretty good fight and she was enjoying it. She enjoying giving a good ass kicking when it was warranted and she was fed up with everything. And she was tired of playing nice.

She cut down the numbers using Absolution. Now was not the time to get squeamish. It was like when she ran with the spec op teams and in particular Mac's team and it was weapons free. She managed to get through the initial blockade and came upon the leader looking at her and to see Hawkins and Adam being held by his guys. She twirled her blade and held it ready, "Let them go."

Tsura managed to make sure that no trouble would come from the guards. She had her Romani magic to thank for that. Now she had nothing else to do. It was then she heard the war cry. She knew it was Angela and figured that she decided to do things her way and that was to go in and hit it with everything she had. She had that figured out when she took off running and declaring she was going to track, hunt and kill.

It was probably not the best of ideas but she figured that maybe she might be able to help. She had no idea how but Angela did respect Romani magic. It might come in handy but she would stay out of the way as necessary. She made her way towards where they were keeping Adam trying to stick to the shadows. She wasn't exactly the stealth queen but she thought she was pretty good. At least until she was caught.

It was one that had been missed in the initial attack and Tsura didn't see that coming. He came up from behind and grabbed her. She did manage to deliver some damage by giving an elbow in the more sensitive area. It allowed her to throw a few punches but because she wasn't skilled in combat she was easily overpowered and her arms were pulled behind her back.

"Little girl trying to pick a fight? So pathetic."

"Yeah well I'm better with a few other talents," Tsura spat as she struggled trying to get free.

"I'm sure you do," her captive crooned. His intentions were pretty clear in his voice.

Tsura heard it and started struggling even more. She knew what it meant and she wasn't going to go down without a fight. She grunted, "Let me go!"

"I don't think so. You'll be pretty good leverage."

"No way!"

Tsura found herself being dragged towards the main campfire. She struggled every step of the way. She heard the sounds of fighting and knew that Angela was doing what she had to do. That still left this guy, the leader and whoever was watching Hawkins and Adam. She started cursing her captive out in Romani and struggling harder until she was brought in front of the leader.

"Well, well, well, now we have the whole gang," the leader said, "Now time for some fun."

Tsura found herself being grabbed and held in front of the leader while he barked for the others to grab Adam and Hawkins. Hawkins was firing up a storm with his words and insults. Adam was grunting and muttering that they were going to be in a world of hurt. Tsura thought it was crazy to be talking like that but it seemed to be the normal thing with regards to Angela. She didn't know the woman but Hawkins did and Adam knew her more than she did and they seemed confident that Angela was going to rain down hell.

Tsura knew that was somewhat true. She did see what happened when she expelled the angel from Adam. That was a pretty scary and yet not scary sight. So maybe there was something to be said for the woman that was determined to stick it to the devil in the literal sense. What she didn't expect was that she was flung in front of the leader and held like a human shield.

"Let them go."

Tsura felt her pulse start to surge as she saw Angela standing there with her sword. She could see the blood dripping from it and resisted the urge to wretch. Now wasn't the time to be squeamish about blood. She knew that was what they were getting into when they came up with this plan. The thing was it was a lot different seeing it than hearing it and she had never really killed anyone before. She mostly stunned and disabled. She looked at Angela.

The woman looked ready to pick a fight. The blade was intimidating enough but the woman was the brunt of intimidation. Tsura saw the look of determination and what appeared to be coldness about her. It was vastly different from the woman who was like a fierce momma bear. This was… the best way to describe it was a warrior and she was willing to go in for the kill. What worried Tsura was whether or not the woman was going to remember that she had allies that were in the line of fire. Would she turn that aside to get to the devil?

"I don't think so," the leader was saying, "You see, they are the only thing that is stopping you from… doing what the boss said you can do or are afraid to do."

"Not really," Angela replied with a slight shake of her head. She had a grin that sent some chills down Tsura's spine. "I could do what I can do even with them there."

"You're willing to risk their lives just to get to me?"

"I'm willing to risk everything I am to get to you and Lucifer."

Tsura blinked as she watched Angela bring up her blade. It was clear that she was going to attack. Did that mean she was willing to sacrifice their lives? She looked at the woman and then saw the most peculiar thing. Angela glanced at her and gave a slight wink at her. She frowned at that, not sure what was going on.

Her answer came when a growled sounded and there were yelps of pain. Tsura twisted even though she was being held by the leader and saw that the ones holding Hawkins and Adam were taken down and they looked like they had been ravaged. She heard the growl and recognized it as being from Cerebus. The two lackeys were screaming since they were being ripped to shreds.

That also left the leader open for attack. Tsura found herself being pushed aside and Angela charged forward with her blade drawn. She twisted to see sparks fly as the leader brought out his blade and countered. Her arms were free since she hadn't been tied down so she was able to push herself up and watch as the leader and Angela went at it like a pair of bulls. Neither one was backing down and it looked like it was going to be a fight to the death.

It came to a head when all of a sudden Angela grabbed the left side of her neck and nearly doubled over. She looked like she was in pain but there were no visible wounds going on. It did give the leader the advantage and he took the opportunity to swipe at her. He missed but he added a punch and it was no doubt that Angela felt it. Then like it never happened Angela was back on her feet and delivering on the heavy hitting. It had Tsura wonder what was going on as she looked around.

Hawkins and Adam had been freed and she could see that there were more of the leaders lackeys coming. She barked at Cerebus and pointed, "Cerebus. Get em!"

The hell hound was invisible but she could see that he was moving given the way that the brush was moving. He would slow them down. She also saw Adam pick up something to use as a weapon and went to help the hell hound. At least he could fight. Now she needed to help Angela and keep her clear. She turned to see the one remaining lackey had been joined by a couple of others and Hawkins had engaged. She moved to help.

Tsura didn't get in close but she used her Romani magic to give a few tosses that they were going to feel. She managed to send one flying and hard into a boulder since he had been trying to get the drop on Hawkins. He turned to look at her and said, "Nice work."

"Thanks," Tsura replied with a slight smiled but also surprised she had done that. She had never used her magic in this capacity before and never before had she bene able to sustain it in a controlled fashion for this long. It seemed that desperate times and you had to dig down deep.

"There are a few heading your way!"

Tsura heard the shout. She turned to see the few that had slipped past Adam. At least he and the hell hound had taken out most of them. She turned to ready herself. She had a spell for this and she could do it. She turned towards Hawkins and said, "I got this. Go help Angie."

Hawkins paused a moment and looked at her. Finally he said, "Alright. You take care. See you on the other side."

Tsura nodded and turned her attention towards the advancing group. She knew the spell. It was the last thing her grandmother was trying to teach her. She had been told that in a pinch this would work. That it was meant for something like this. At the time she didn't know why she was being taught it but now it seemed like the old woman had seen the future. Tsura wasn't going to think about it but concentrate. It was going to take a lot of her power to make sure it work.

It looked like she was standing there but she had to let them get close enough. She focused and tried to ignore the shouts and hisses of pain behind her. That would be something to look at later provided that they made it through this. Tsura could be optimistic but sometimes the odds can be overwhelming and she wasn't going to try what the others did if she didn't quite feel it all the way through. But she did know that she could do it.

The buildup was like building up for an explosion. It's what it felt like but it made people think twice about attacking. It didn't necessarily kill but it propelled with enough force to kill someone if they hit a heavy object. That she could do easily and it was there. The trick was the timing and she had to make sure she got it right in.

When they were within twenty feet, she let the spell loose and it felt like a wave as she watched the bastards get thrown backwards. They were like flattened pancakes on the ground where they landed. It wasn't exactly accurate but it was a pretty could description. Tsura panted as she looked at the downed lackeys and was almost ready to lay it out on Adam when he and Cerebus came up but pulled back when Adam indicated it was him.

"Seems like magic is pretty good for something," Adam commented as he looked at the damage done.

Tsura looked at it and then at Adam before they shared a chuckle. She replied, "Well Angie said something about not screwing with Romani magic."

"Got that right."

They managed to laugh for a little bit when a scream caught their attention. They turned to see Hawkins holding his left at the neck of the leader and a blade was piercing the enemy throat. He was run through and part of the blade was also embedded in Angela's arm. Both Tsura and Adam blinked as the blades retracted and all the parties fell and that started to get them into a run.

They made it their friends. Angela was holding Hawkins in her lap and she was giving a wry look at him and calling him a couple of names but mostly an idiot. Tsura had never really seen anyone die from an injury like that and it looked slow and painful. Her attention was on Angela as she held her friend with an expression of sorrow and pain lingering in her features as she kept muttering that she was sorry.

It was too late for Hawkins and he passed, leaving them. Tsura felt her lungs take a breath and realized she hadn't been breathing properly. She looked all around at the damage caused and at Angela. The woman had a fist to her forehead like she was propping her head and trying to figure out what to do next. It was quiet for a long time until a new voice said, "Well I see you pretty much ended the party before I got here, love."

A/N: Angie takes on the brunt of the work. Looks familiar. Souls Ameliorated anyone? And looks like we got a surprise guest. Stay tuned for the conclusion of The Winding Road...