Chapter 6

Slowly her eyes started to open but they still felt heavy. It felt like she had been on an all night drinking binge except that didn't happen except for the hangover because of the soda. So really what was there to compare? It was feeling like shit and she knew that feeling well.

Angela blinked herself awake and became aware that her body was not in a position that it was accustomed to being in. Her head was pounding; probably from whatever it was that was used to knock her out. Her head was hanging down and she stared downward to find that the toes of her shoes were barely touching the floor. It helped to explain the feeling of the position she was in. Looking up slowly, she saw her arms raised above her head and tied at the wrists, hanging on the end of a hook.

What the hell?

Angela frowned and gave a slight moan and wriggled her fingers. She looked up and down and tried to find a means of getting her hands free. It was difficult since her body was like deadweight and she didn't have anything to give sufficient lift. She was stuck and in a place that she had no idea where that place was. Nor did she have any idea who it was that did this to her. She wriggled continuing to try and get free when she heard something creak.

"Ah finally awake."

Angela twisted to try and get a good look of who it was that was talking. She didn't like the fact that she had to twist and turn while trying to follow the voice. She gritted her teeth and growled a little in frustration.

"What's the matter? A little tied up?"

Angela appreciated a good pun every now and then but this was the worst. It was more like one she would have used during her time of torturing demons and even then she got no pleasure out of it. She retorted, "No. I'm a little pissed and figuring out the best way to kick your ass."

The voice laughed at that and a few steps told her that he had come closer. "Never one to admit when you're in trouble now huh?"

"Oh I know when I'm in trouble," Angela retorted as she twisted to try and get a good look. She grunted a little as she twisted. "I just happen to know that I'm not in trouble at the moment."

"And would you know if you knew more?"

"Depends."

Silence followed and Angela twisted her head to try and get a look at her captor. The only sound that was completely audible was the sound of her grunting and the ties making noise. She tried to get a stable grounding but her toes were barely touching the floor. It seemed to incite laughter from her captor.

"Never thought I'd see you on the end of a leash."

"You sound as if you know me."

More laughter ensued, "Oh but I do… and a few others. And to tell the truth, you are not very popular."

Angela snorted at that, "What else is new?"

"Well it's just not me but a couple of others that just don't like you… and they have a vested interest as well as I in keeping you here."

"Is this pleasantry before the beating routine working for you?" Angela looked in the direction of the voice. It didn't matter if she couldn't see them since she got a general idea why she was suspended like the way she was. It brought back memories of recovering prisoners from the crazies when she was after a bunch of terrorists.

"Thought you liked a good conversation with your victims."

Angela couldn't help but chuckle at that. It did strike a chord though since it triggered memories of those years and what happened. She knew that a few had been 'privileged' enough to witness her work and they would have known. The hard part was narrowing it down since there had been more than one. Two had been killed and they had been on a different mission. This felt different but the same and it was uncomfortable. "I don't waste words with scum."

"Ah but it was a different back then. At least that's how the stories went but then you went on a little relapse." The owner of the voice took a couple of steps forward but he was still in shadow. "I'm sure you remember back in 1982 and into 1983. How could anyone forget the unusual bloody trail that occurred?"

Angela pursed her lips and felt her teeth grit. It was more in line with the fear of a memory returning than being angry. She remembered and… "Well certain things have a way of popping up."

"But not like your work."

"And what do you know?"

"Plenty."

Angela scoffed at that but she wasn't going to discount it. She had plenty of enemies over the years. Some disappeared only to reappear and then extract revenge. Some pursued her until she killed them when they showed themselves and usually at the point when someone she cared about suffered for it. Still she had to play on it and figure out what they wanted. "And plenty of those rumors are what they are… rumors. Especially if you listened to the grapevine."

There were a couple of chuckles before, "Oh I've heard those but my information is more… first hand."

"Not too many can claim that. And I can count them on one hand."

"I'm sure you can. But there are always the ones that slip through the cracks."

Angela wriggled her fingers as she tried to figure out how to get free. Whoever tied her up did a good job of it. "Really? Then it would probably be a good idea for you to show yourself. I really don't do well talking to a shadow."

"Do you really want to know who it is?"

"Ever hear the phrase of facing your fears? Same principle applies."

"Do you always answer a question with a question?"

"Does one have to answer in a traditional manner?" Angela shot a look in the direction the voice was coming from. She raised her brow for the sheer hell of it.

There was silence as if her captor was mulling things over. Then the sounds of footsteps were heard and they were coming towards Angela. She kept her gaze in the direction they were coming from, determined to see who it was that decided this was one of the better ideas to get revenge on her. She had to know but she wasn't expecting what came out of the shadows.

It had been raining that night and the only stand were the traps she had laid and her and Dean and Dean had a bad leg. Sam was out of commission from being poisoned. She saw them coming from the perch she had taken. She knew the leader and his second and could pick out a few others. It didn't matter… they had to be taken down.

Time flashed back to another time. It was snowing though. She was on a mission and she had a partner with her. She was busy tracking the demon that had hounded her and now touched something that mattered to her. She had gone when she sensed something was wrong, the house was ablaze. Afterwards… They started on the chase until…

Angela blinked slowly as she took in the sight. "Carter. Long time… definitely no see. I thought you died when you fell into the well with that demon. I saw the smoke out."

Carter narrowed his eyes and gave a dry chuckle, "Of course you would… because you were the one that taught me and the others that exorcism spell."

"Which one? I mean there are literally a few that I could name that would do the trick depending on the language and region…" Angela gave a slight shrug of her shoulders even though it was awkward.

Carter made a clicking sound with his tongue as he smiled at Angela. He took a couple of steps forward and peered at her. "True… but you were the one with the vendetta and against that demon in particular."

How could Angela forget? She had spent the weeks after the fire chasing down Azazel and anything leading to him. She had picked up a young hunter along the way along with his young son… Carter. She remembered him because his father chose to come with her on the hunt rather than stay with his son. She always felt guilty for that but her rage against Azazel for what he did to Mary ignored that. It was one of the few times she tended to ignore the needs of the many.

Carter looked at Angela as she dangled there, watching her expression. "All coming back to you now?"

Angela looked at Carter. She remembered him as a boy with dirt blonde locks that got in his face half the time. Now she was seeing a man with a short crop, still floppy in the locks but it worked for him. The little boy face was gone and in place was that of a man who looked like he was out to kill her. And it looked like he was going to take his sweet time about it. She looked at him and replied, "I remember your father when he started with me and then you. I did what I thought was right by you."

"Right by me," Carter replied with a slight smirk. "Please. Nothing was more important to you than tracking down that one demon. You have a one-track mind. You don't care about anyone or anything except what you're hunting."

"Not so."

"Oh really?" Carter looked at Angela with a mock look of surprise. "You mean to tell me that there is a heart underneath that?" He pointed at her with disdain. He ended up chuckling at that. "I can hardly believe that. You pretty much left everyone you worked with in the dust."

Angela looked at Carter and then downwards a bit. She took a couple of breaths and listened to the anger behind the words. There was a lot she wasn't proud of and what she regretted. "Carter… I never left you or your father. If anything it was your father that pulled me back."

"Liar."

"Believe that all you want… but it is the truth. I was willing to go on my own to avoid bringing him into what would have been a suicide mission. That is having a heart."

"And leaving me in a home was also having a heart."

"It was a chance to get you out of the life and I took it. You could live a normal life. In the end you found me and I agreed to take you under my wing and teach you what I know." Angela looked at Carter and added softly, "You sought me."

"And you left me to die."

"I thought you were dead." It sounded feeble to Angela's ears and more like what a child would say. She found though that sometimes it worked and often made people stop and pause. "I searched for you after you fell. I couldn't find you."

Carter paused at that. He looked away as if to think. "Did you really look?"

"If there is one thing you should have learned spending time with me… it's that I don't leave anyone behind," Angela countered, "You'd have to do a lot to convince me. I searched for your Carter."

Carter was not looking at her when she said that and she hoped that he would see reason. Sometimes things were misplaced. She was mistaken though when he said, "I'm glad you told me. But it doesn't matter in the end." He turned to look at her with anger in his eyes as well as hatred. "Because there is something bigger at stake." He made a motion and barked out a command.

Angela felt her heart drop more in sorrow for Carter. She wasn't going to dwell on it though. Something else was going on and she was willing to bet that it had to do with the current state of affairs. "Let me guess… the Apocalypse."

"Always knew you were a smart one," Carter replied as the door opened and something creaked in. "Yeah, it has to do with that. But not what you think."

"So who's side you on?"

"No one's. Just mop up."

Angela looked in and saw that two others had come in. She recognized them from the group she had trained. She looked at them and then at Carter. "So I wasn't imagining things. You threw your lot in with the renegades." She looked at the other two. "You're still after them?"

"More or less." Carter came closer. "You see, part of the problem is that there are people like you protecting things like them. The half-breeds are pretty much keeping things the way they are. So we have been taking care of it. That is until I hear something from these two. That there was one responsible for all hell breaking loose."

"And you think I know who it is?"

"Oh I know you know who it is; everyone knows. I just happen to know that you would do anything to protect him."

"And who do you think I'm supposed to protect if I'm such a heartless bitch?" Angela knew whom Carter was referring to. She would be damned if she would give up either Winchester. Even if it was a complete stranger she wouldn't give them up.

"Sam Winchester of course. He's one of Azazel's special children and I heard from a little birdy, namely a demon, that he broke the last seal. He's on everyone's shit list. Him and his brother." Carter took a step forward after putting his hand behind his back. He grinned sardonically as he watched her wriggle from her bindings. He knew she was an escape artist of sorts but even there were some things that even she couldn't escape from.

"Yeah and if you look closer, they were duped into it."

"They had a choice. Like you did. And you left me behind." Carter then swooped in and plunged a hypothermic needle into Angela's neck. His thumb pressed on the plunger and injected the drugs he had prepared.

Angela reacted and did what she could do. She swung out with her leg and kicked at Carter. She managed to clip him but she felt a hard clip to her leg and then to her side right above the hip. She grunted and looked to see the two renegades holding what looked like bats or maybe just plain sticks. It didn't matter since it hurt like hell. She got a couple of more hits to her body and she could hear the dull thuds.

"Tone it down guys. I know we all want a piece of making the bitch suffer but can't kill her yet," Carter said as he held up his hand to hold the two renegades in check.

"So I am your punching bag," Angela retorted. As much as she wanted to bend and ease the sore spots, she couldn't and she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction that she was in pain. "That it?"

"A little bit." Carter reached out and played with the loose tendrils of her hair that were over her shoulders. "But mostly your capture is enticement."

"Bait then." Angela blinked as she spoke. Something wasn't right and it had to do with whatever it was that Carter injected her with. She did her best to hide it since to show weakness would encourage Carter and his friends to try other things.

Carter noticed the blinking but decided to let it go. He focused on their conversation and nodded, "Yep."

"You're barking up the wrong tree."

"Au contraire," Carter replied raising his finger in the air. He paced a bit in front of her, well aware that they were all itching to have a go at her. Still it was fun to really draw this out. He chuckled at the guesses that Angela spat out. Most of it was in sarcasm and the most ridiculous that could be thought of but had some viability. He was well aware that she was trying to stall for time or for whatever she was thinking about. "You ever hear that expression about how far one goes for someone?"

Angela blinked trying to fight the drugs that were in her system. She knew that phrase well. It brought back the memory of the last hours before Dean was sent to hell. The whole lecture about playing it smart and how the other side knew how far the brothers would go for each other. She was even reminded of what the Trickster, or rather Gabriel, said to Sam about Dean being his weakness and that the bad guys knew it too. She knew that phrase well. It was more like a personal motto for her since she had gone to hell and back literally for people that weren't relevant to her and for people she grew to care about.

Carter watched her expression. It wasn't too telling but he knew that he had her thinking. She used to tell something similar to him when they started working together. He truly believed then that she would watch his back and the like. "Oh yes. You sort of taught me that one. What you taught all of us." He gestured at the renegades who were smirking at her and looking ready for whatever they wanted to do. He looked back at her, "So?"

"I am aware of that phrase."

"Then you should know that this will be a true test." Carter pulled out a cell phone.

"Planning on calling in to Lucifer? Then you really are a sellout especially since you would rather kill everything of the supernatural." Angela made a sort of rude sound. The drugs were starting to take effect and she wasn't liking it and she was ready to start demanding things even though she wasn't in a position to do so.

"No. I'm referring to the Winchesters."

"They don't know me from Adam."

"Liar," Carter snapped as he got in her face. "You forget I was there that night we came for the abomination."

Angela looked back. The memories of that night were coming back and it was becoming vivid. It was almost like the high-def memory that Azazel put Sam through… at least what Sam told her. It was definitely the drugs. She blinked as the memories came through and shook her head before looking at Carter and saying in a gruff tone, "What the fuck did you do to me?"

Carter could tell that the effects were starting to make themselves known. He was surprised that she had been able to hold on as long as she did. Then again he shouldn't have since he knew what she was like. He took pleasure though in what she was going through and teased, "Just a little something to help."

"I won't tell you anything if you are after anything."

"All I need is to hold you. I know the Winchesters will come after you."

Angela shook her head more to try and clear it rather than be defiant but as it was, it was coming off that way. "Nah. There will something far worse than that coming after you."

Carter started to laugh. He watched her and the renegades started laughing with him. "Are you referring to the angels?" He took in her expression that could mean anything. "Sorry. You see, I remembered how well you make friends and considering the two sides that are currently in the middle of things… I'd say you would be on the side of the angels."

"Those dicks with wings? Hell no. But they have more balls than you, you fucking ass hat."

The punch came from the right and Angela's head shifted to the left with the force of the blow. She felt the sanguine taste of blood from the inside of her mouth. Slowly she turned to look at who punched her while feeling around the inside of her mouth. Narrowing her eyes she stared at the renegade that punched her. She said more to Carter while she was staring at the renegade, "It's not the angels you should be worried about."

"What could there be worse than them?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Angela replied with a slight chuckle. She got another punch to the face but it felt like the celebrity wimp version of what constituted a punch. She had been hit harder. Hell she had been clipped by a frigging rust bucket of a truck belonging to that old fool Rufus. A building she had been holed up in had been hit by an RPG… there were a lot of things that she had been through that made that punch seem like nothing. It hurt yes but it was nothing.

Carter held up his hand to stop the second punch that was coming. "What could possibly be worse than angels? It's not like you'd make a deal with a demon. Or would you?"

"Should have been a better student, Carter. You know my rules."

"Answer his question." The renegade who punched her grabbed her lower jaw. He held it tight by the chin. "Answer the question."

Angela retaliated by spitting the blood from the cut in her mouth. She sprayed it on the face of the renegade and chuckled, "How's that? Just something to remember the fact that your skill comes from what's in your blood."

The crack across the ribs earned a grunt from her and she turned herself to look at the other renegade and Carter. She narrowed her eyes and said, "You really should have studied your history a little more, Carter."

"You know what I think?" Carter smiled as she gave a similar one back. There really was no point in being nice since they both had escalated things now to a point of no return… at least in his opinion. "I think that if there is someone worse than an angel, you wouldn't encourage them to come. You wouldn't ask them to put their life on the line for you. And the Winchesters? Same thing but…" He held up a cell phone. "Nothing that a phone call won't cure."

"If you do call and they respond, then I feel sorry for you." Angela gave a slight sniff and a breath. Her breaths were slightly heaving since she had taken a couple of body shots and it would eventually take some effort to talk. "You have no idea what you are setting yourself up for Carter. I suggest that you back away now. It will be less painful for you in the long run… and I can't say that they would go easy on you."

Carter hummed at that. "You would say something like that. Still I would like to see how far would they go… that is if they really care about you." He looked at the renegades and then back at Angela, "Well I know these two would like to get to know you. So I will be making a phone call." He turned to leave.

"Heed my warning Carter. You're better than this," Angela replied with sincerity. "You always were."

Carter looked at her before turning his back to her. Angela sighed and looked at the two renegades. With the place probably warded against angels, there was no way Castiel or Gabriel would be able to find her and there was no way she'd involve Kesset in his state; to be safe she cut her connection to them. She looked at the renegades as they held up what looked like 2x4s. She braced herself as the first one took a swing.

A/N: Angie wakes up as a prisoner and learns that an old friend is after the Winchesters. Looks like she might be the one that suffers. Stay tuned for more To Hell and Back...