Chapter 2

The funny thing how choices are determined is that everyone seems to think there is no way out especially if you are backed into a corner. People tend to do the most stupid of things when they are backed into a corner. She was guilty of that many times over and she would be the first to admit that she had a hero complex that would rival the guy that would sacrifice himself for anything.

She didn't have to hear to know what happened down in the panic room. She could tell by the feeling of the tension and the look on Sam's face. They were at the wire and one or both were going to be worn to the prom and she was the one in the middle and she disliked that the dicks with wings were going to use the youngest Winchester.

"Sorry Dean."

She had figured out where Dean would have gone and followed him. She caught up to him just as Castiel knocked out the guy praying but it wasn't in time to stop the angel from beating the crap out of the elder Winchester. And to be honest, she was glad the angel did it rather that her.

"I gave everything for you and this is what you give me."

"Cas."

It was enough and to be honest fighting wasn't going to get them anywhere. It was a coldhearted thing to think of but in all honesty… she was tired of the fighting and everything else. The angel looked at her and released his fist even though Dean was goading him and knocked him out. Of course their problem were added when it was discovered that Adam was missing. On top of that… Adam gave her location away and they nabbed her. Fun overall.

"That's the sound I want to hear."

She was pissed. Scared was there but pissed outweighed everything else. When Zachariah started hurting Adam, she reacted and used her powers against the angel. It actually stunned the dick face angel when she made a dent in the wall and took up a protective stance in front of Adam and warned, "You back off now."

"Very impressive. Seems time with a rakshasa convinced you to give what we need from you," Zachariah replied while dusting himself off. "Now we just need you to drop the act that you care for anything about the Winchesters. All of them."

She heard Adam whimper behind her. Whatever Zachariah had done to him was painful and it made her angry… well beyond angry. She glared at the angel while extending her hand to try and heal. It was more like a game to Zachariah, an amusement to him as she tried to heal Adam while keeping him back. It allowed him to taunt her. And then she felt Castiel in pain.

It was like he was being torn apart and it resonated within her head and down her spine. It was enough to break her concentration and Zachariah had her on the ground next to Adam. That was where Dean found her and the look of guilt on his face. He knew.

"You know what I've learned from this experience Dean? Patience. It's all playing out like he said: you, me, your hemorrhaging brothers…"

The pain was intense. She felt Castiel feeling like he had an asteroid being dropped on him. She tried to help Adam but when Sam started suffering, she felt it and it had her gasping for air and gritting her teeth. Her eyes were watering from the pain as she tried to protect Adam and trying to figure out how to help Sam.

"Stop it please."

Dena was begging for it to stop. She knew that he was being backed into a corner. He was going to say it. Not if she said it first though, "I'll do it."

It was enough to have everyone pause. Zachariah looked down at her and watched as she staggered to her feet. Her body was shaking but she managed to stand firm and she repeated, "I'll do it. I'll be Michael's vessel."

"Angie, don't."

"You? What about your arrangement with Lucifer?" Zachariah looked at the Winchesters and noted the look on their faces. "You didn't know about that didn't you? Little Malachi here has been trying to get either side to agree to her being a vessel. And it's not a bad way to go since her blood is capable of housing either."

The truth would have come out sooner or later. That was the way things were with her. She didn't look at either Winchester or try to explain. They knew what she was about and what she would try to do. While there was a flaw… at least one of them would be fighting her and not the other. And she knew that they would hang onto the fact that she was still the one that was ultimately going to be hurt by this since either brother was going to be fighting her. It was difficult but she was certain she could do it and if Dean didn't believe in himself, she could believe in him and give him a way out at the same time. Like family should… "The answer is yes."

"Angie."

"No. I am saying yes," Dean protested.

Zachariah looked smug at the whole thing and actually laughed when Dean literally punched her out of his way. Actually it was a half shove and half punch but it did what he wanted. And what he wanted was to stick it to Zachariah, his 'few conditions.'

It turned out that it gave Dean the opportunity to kill Zachariah. Unfortunately Michael was coming and by the time Zachariah was down for the count, Michael… Michael was coming. The light was getting brighter and she could hear his voice in the high pitched ringing. She told the Winchesters and Adam to get out as she grabbed the angel blade.

Sam and Dean made it out but the door shut on Adam leaving her and him trapped inside. She was looking up and watching for Michael while Adam pounded on the door for Dean. She could hear Dean shouting that they were going to get her and Adam out but she knew there was no way out. At least she would go down fighting and really tell Michael where to stick it. She held her angel blade up as she put a protective hand over Adam as she looked. It got brighter and the voice got louder…

"Angie?"

Angela opened her eyes and wildly batted at the source of her being startled awake. It was rather girly of her to fling her palms like that but she still could give a sting. She also moved her body to be put into a position to do some serious ass kicking even in a confined area. In this case, she had jumped to her feet and knocked over her chair and crashed against the wall, bumping the back of her head against it.

"Angie!"

Angela felt hands cup her face. She would have continued batting at their owner but the scent assaulted her nose and she forced her eyes to focus. She found Sam looking at her in the eye with that expression on his face that she was certain was worry and disappointment. The latter she got since she didn't mention that she was still toying with the idea and was leaning towards saying yes to either one. It was a matter of picking the lesser of two evils and that wasn't even clear to her at the time since both archangels were assholes about the whole thing. She took a breath and almost gasped since she couldn't do anything else since Sam was holding her head in his hands.

Sam hadn't meant to startle her so bad and he hadn't wanted to wake her from where she had fallen asleep while researching. But he didn't like that she didn't seem to be having a pleasant time of it either. He was grateful that the worst she had done was essentially slap him with her hands until she collided with the wall and bumped her head hard, knocking stuff on the walls down. It was instantly that he was there and checking her out. He focused on her eyes to make sure she was focused, "You okay?"

"Yeah."

Sam wasn't sure since she was staring wide eyed at him. He decided to check to make sure. He gently began turning her head to make sure she didn't have a bump on her head.

"Um… Sam? Can you let me up? Please."

Sam relented suppressing a sigh. He straightened up and offered her hand up and prayed silently that she wouldn't push him away. He wasn't upset about what Zachariah said and after thinking about it… he couldn't be mad at her nature though she insisted he had a right to. He was surprised and relieved that she accepted the hand up and fought hard not to react when she winced and rubbed the back of her head. "You sure you're okay?" He couldn't resist asking the question.

Angela rubbed the back of her head. It was sore but it was not going to be a problem. "Just a bit sore but I'm okay."

Sam gave a small smile at that. "I'm really sorry about that."

"It's not your fault. I was just… It wasn't a good dream." Angela rubbed the back of her neck before looking up at Sam. She wasn't sure about saying anything about her dreams that weren't exactly nightmares; she had a few of those. She was aware that it was cutting into her getting lack of sleep and it was showing. She cleared her throat slightly and decided to bite the bullet, "Nothing ever is when you dream about a failure."

Sam felt his throat convulse slightly at that. He knew that she took it to heart that Adam was gone and in the clutches of Michael and that was after she was willing to fight for him. Or rather she did fight and she was left behind. She never did take failure well and he liked to think she had improved over the years but he could be mistaken. He decided to try, "Do… do you want to talk about it?" He glanced at her unaware that his expression was close to the puppy eyes but more hopeful that she would talk to him.

Angela saw the look on Sam's face and knew she couldn't really deny him that. He had been trying in giving her space until her bad dreams took over. She gave a slight smile as she finished rubbing the back of her head. "Do you really want to hear that I keep torturing myself about what I did and could've done?"

"Whatever gets you talking," Sam replied with a shrug. "It's not your fault about Adam you know."

"That's what my head is telling me with the logic but…" Angela offered a shrug and a sad smile. "Can't help it." She paused a moment and gave a slight clearing of her throat. "Adam wasn't too bad in the end. It seemed to baffle him that I would even care and protect him."

"He doesn't know you like I do."

"Maybe but… he was scared." Angela looked off to the side for a moment. She never really elaborated on what happened that made it so that she was standing in the middle of an empty room and Adam and the green room was gone. She couldn't explain it herself but she had an idea of what happened. "And he held onto me and tried to hold onto him."

Sam had been watching her and her expression. She was starting to get shadows under her eyes from the lack of sleep or the restless sleep. He was tempted but resisted and finally couldn't and reached out and gently brushed her cheek with the back of his finger. "You tried and that's what's important."

"I know." Angela took a deep breath and looked up and smiled at Sam. "You're sweet. It's one of the things I like about you."

Sam chuckled at that and replied, "And the fact that you care so much about people… It's what I like and admire about you." He moved a stray lock and put it behind her ear. He studied her as she reacted favorably to his attentions. He could resist rubbing his thumb on her cheek and listened to her hum in pleasure.

"That feels good," she murmured as she closed her eyes.

"Really?" Sam decided to take the plunge and bent so his lips just barely touched hers. He took a moment to breathe in her scent and felt the familiar pull from when he first caught wind of it. He pressed his lips to hers gently and asked, "How about that?"

Angela accepted the kiss and hummed at that. She liked his touch as his hand moved from her cheek to cup her jawline and neck. She opened her mouth, inviting him to deepen it. "Mmm… better."

Sam took her invitation and deepened the kiss. He was tempted to go further but resisted. He was content with just kissing her. He broke it just a moment and heard her moan of disappointment before he gave her another kiss. He heard her murmur of approval and kissed her again.

"Thought you said you were gonna wake her."

Sam closed his eyes in annoyance as he broke the kiss and resisted the urge to strangle his brother. He opened them slowly and turned to see Dean looking amused like the cat that caught the canary. He was going to say something when Angela said, "He did. And I liked it."

Dean grinned at her. He had only come to see if Sam managed to wake her up since they left her snoozing at the table where she had been doing research while they were looking into other leads in their effort to deal with the Apocalypse their way. That meant trips to hoodoo and shamans and other people paying attention to the signs. He didn't expect to come across a make out session that clearly showed how the two boneheads were attracted to each other. Still… "Really? So if I did the same would I get the same result?" He raised his eyebrow in a suggestive manner.

"More likely I will try to hit you," Angela replied with a straight face. "And that would be after I tackled you with a line drive."

Sam couldn't help but start to chuckle especially at the wounded look his brother got. It made him feel a bit better about being caught in a make out session that really was supposed to be a wakeup call. He put a hand to his mouth to his face and prevent laughter but his eyes were giving it away. He turned to focus on Angela who was staring at Dean but her eyes held a twinkle of merriment.

"Now why you gotta be like that Angie?" Dean tried to pout since he didn't quite expect that answer from her.

"I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you like getting jumped by a person after rudely awakening them?" She looked at Dean with a shrug, her brows asking him to affirm or deny that question. "Or was it that you liked getting your ass kick by a girl?" She grinned to let him know that she had heard him dreaming a couple of nights ago.

"Alright fine," Dean grumbled knowing that he was going to be beat one way or another. "You're no fun, Angie."

Angela smiled sweetly at that. She knew that Dean was taking that in good humor and it avoided an awkward conversation. It was a little bold that she said she liked Sam was doing but it was the truth. Not going into it further she countered with, "I'm the life of a party. You actually saw me drunk once."

"You don't get drunk Angie."

"Um… soda, Dean."

Dean sighed, "Alright, you got me. So you have anything?"

"No," Angela replied with a slight shake of her head. "But I am going to Sioux City in Iowa."

"For what?" Dean looked at her wondering what could possibly hold her interest there since he suspected that it had nothing to do with their search for answers on how to kick the Apocalypse in the ass.

Knowing that she was going to get a particular reaction from Dean, she went with it and pointed at the newspaper she had been reading before she fell asleep and pointed to the circled item. She tapped it with her forefinger and stood back to allow Dean to read it. She straightened up and didn't look at Sam since he would know soon enough.

"You wanna go see this?" Dean pointed at it.

"Yep."

"Why?"

Sam moved to get the paper and find out what had Dean get up in a snit. Angela in the meantime replied, "Because I want a night off. I take them on occasion. And it's not that far from where we are now."

Dean looked back down at the article. He didn't get it since he figured that she would be looking for answers since that whole thing with Adam was another hard knock that had come their way. He still didn't get how she managed to not get taken by Michael, leaving her behind while Adam was gone. She wasn't talking and like Sam he wasn't going to press. He looked at what she wanted to do and asked, "But… Phantom of the Opera? Seriously?"

"I liked the story and… maybe I was around at the setting of the story," Angela replied with a shrug. "That and it's one of my favorites. I think I saw a production in New York and in LA a while back. I'm a sucker for the tragic hero and unrequited love."

Sam studied her as she shrugged her shoulders and told them that she was still going no matter what. He was a bit surprised she announced it out of the blue but then maybe she was going to say something once they regrouped. He didn't mind and found it kind of interesting that she liked stage productions. He asked, "You've been to Broadway?"

"Been to and been on Broadway." Angela gave a full smile at Sam. "I believe I did a George Cohan production at some point. That was real acting." To demonstrate she actually did a small dance tap sequence in front of them. She grinned when she was done.

Dean blinked at what he just witnessed and he wasn't sure if it was the same girl he first met. "Did you jump on the crazy train when I wasn't looking?"

"Dean," Sam warned.

"Just taking a break," Angela replied after gesturing to Sam to take it easy. "That and… I may know the troupe putting on the performance."

"So a family visit thing?" Sam looked at her with a raised brow asking silently if that was the right question to ask.

"I guess. I mean the last time I saw the troupe was in 1980 so…" She shrugged her shoulders at that and watched their reactions. Sam's was more accepting of it while Dean was still trying to process what she just did and it also contained hints of 'I don't believe you' and she couldn't blame him since he did hear what Zachariah had said about her and her willingness to fall on the sword. "Look it's just a play. I'd ask you guys to come but I doubt you'd want to get dressed up in a penguin suit to accompany me."

Dean knew he had given the look that he didn't believe her completely. He had his doubts since he was well aware that while Zachariah was a dick he wouldn't lie about something like that. After all the talk about him throwing himself on the sword, she was doing the same. But if he was honest with himself she was still trying to look for a way out for both even though she said she was willing. He didn't want to think that she was leaving them alone and this giving space crap she could pull. He finally said, "You saying that I wouldn't like it?"

"Not that at all. I just remember the last time we were all dressed up and it didn't go well especially with the fact that one attendee was way too old for Sam. And you really didn't like the wedding suits." Angela named off points where the job required them to dress for the occasion. "Though Sam did look good in a period waistcoat."

Sam knew it was his turn to be picked on and that was a sign in its subtle way that she was feeling better about the whole thing. He cleared his throat though at her points while watching his brother sort grin and sort of scowl and murmured, "It wasn't my idea."

"Okay. You made your point," Dean gestured in a placating fashion. "So you're going to see a play."

"Well technically it's a musical. Andrew Loyd Weber's Phantom of the Opera," she corrected. She walked over to where the laptop had been pushed away so she didn't fall asleep on it. She woke it up and clicked to refresh a window. "Good. My tickets are waiting at Will Call."

"Tickets?"

"For the pre-show party and the after show party." Angela turned to look at the Winchesters and took in Dean's flabbergasted expression and Sam's amused and yet seemingly sad expression. She had to ask him about that. She looked back at Dean and added, "I decided to spoil myself."

"Okay," Sam said.

"Okay?" Dean looked at Sam like he was nuts.

"Dean," Sam warned. He had been on the receiving end and given the spiel about Angela hunting solo before she hooked up with them. He knew she could take care of herself and he thought she deserved a little time to herself since she was always giving it away to whatever was pressing at the moment. Knowing that Dean would put up an argument, he said, "It's only a town over from where we are. She'll be fine."

"Not the point," Dean muttered, "But okay." He looked at Angela who had the courtesy of pretending she wasn't listening and asked, "You need a ride?"

"Please." Angel looked at Dean with a thoughtful expression before adding, "It's not a total waste. There happens to be a juju man that knows things there. Among other things… and people."

Dean looked at her and caught her meaning. He nodded at that and turned to start packing. He drawled, "Leaving in twenty."

Angela looked at him and gave a slight shake of her head while giving a slight smile that was lopsided. She knew that he was actually anxious and happy that they were going. He had a reason aside from the major thing. She sighed as she started to rub the side of her neck in a thoughtful fashion.

"That was nice of you," Sam's voice entered quietly.

"I'm still researching even though I wanted a night off."

"No I mean about… Hale."

Angela didn't say anything but gave a slight smile. She turned to put away the laptop. She always had a vague idea of where Haley was when she went back on the road. Part of it was the locator spell she put on the juju witch before she left. The other was that Haley always sent an update of where she was at and what she was doing and it was something that she felt Dean should know. She said, "It's because he cares about her."

"Yeah. Not that hard to see." Sam paused a moment before he ventured, "Uh Angie… about…"

"I got you tickets. I just wasn't sure if you'd want to go." Angela cleared her throat as her fingers brushed the laptop. She looked down at the ground.

"I want to go."


A/N: Time in dealing with the aftermath with Adam being taken by Michael and some tender moments between Sam and Angie. Stay tuned for next time on The Message of the Crow...