Chapter 6

Jo felt exhausted but she was determined to get this done. She wasn't going to let her friend suffer any more than she had to. She was also a little bit tired of people looking at her for talking to herself but there must be plenty of people doing that.

Jo, pull over for a while. You're tired.

"I'm not resting until we get you back in your body Angie. I'm fine." Jo looked ahead. She had been driving most of the night. She was surprised that she had gotten into Nebraska at the speed she had been driving. "You think we might make it to Sioux Falls before Sam and Dean?"

At the rate you're going… yes. Besides they have my body. They would be making sure not to attract attention. Being asleep can get you only so far.

"You seem to know a lot about that."

I had to transport DBs once or twice a long time ago.

"Body snatching then?"

Actually body retrieval. Returning soldiers to the States. That kind of thing.

Jo made a slight face at that. Of course Angela would have gotten around and had done things besides hunting. "Oh." She was quiet for a few minutes before asking, "What's it like?"

What's what like?

"To die." Jo was afraid that her request would be met with silence. She was curious though.

Like dream walking for me. The difference is that I can hear the thoughts of the living. Even though I am inside of you, I can still hear them and… I need to talk to Sam. He feels guilty and…

Jo listened to the tone and figured out a few things. She said, "All the more reason to get you back where you belong. Um… can you hear my thoughts?"

A little. I know you still think it crazy that I am in your head and… I would think myself crazy too.

Jo laughed at that. She and Angela had always been on the same wavelength even though they were years apart in age and experience. Even though Ellen hadn't wanted Jo to get into hunting, Jo begged and in the end Angela taught her more or less some of the bells and whistles since Jo had the basics of the job. To Jo it looked like the things that Angela glossed over was actually coming true and the proof was in the fact that she had her best friend in her head talking to her. "Maybe I should sign myself into the loony bin."

Don't do that. Then who would I torment once I'm out?

Jo laughed. She felt more awake now. True it wasn't the same as having Angela in the passenger seat with her but it was sufficient for the time being. "You certainly know how to lighten the mood."

I do when it comes to friends Jo, and certain blondes who are my sister. Maybe this is a start to making it up to them.

Jo didn't need to ask who she was referring to. She could guess that she was referring to Sam and Dean. She had enough evidence to piece it together. She was certain that it was further with one of them and if she had to venture a guess…

The phone rang. Jo picked it up and replied, "Jo here."

Jo? Are you all right?

Jo gave a slight roll of her eyes. "Hi Mom. I said I would call when I got to Bobby's."

I know. I am just making sure you are okay. There's been some rumors going on from a few hunters passing through.

Jo paused a moment. She wasn't hearing anything from Angela. "Anything serious?"

There are rumors of demonic activity. Nothing major but it seems that they are waiting for something. Also there is something about the warrior princess dead.

Jo kept her eyes on the road. "Any idea who the warrior princess is?"

No one knows but I'm thinking that she is someone important. Important enough for the demons to be circling.

Damn demons are waiting for confirmation. They want to be sure that I'm dead. But how in the name of God did they find out?

Jo ignored Angela's comment. She always figured that the demons left Angela alone and for good reason. Either that or they left well alone because she would kick their collective ass for doing something major. "I'll be careful Mom. I'm sure Bobby has been tracking this."

Just be careful Jo. I don't like this.

"Alright Mom. I'll call you when I get to Bobby's." Jo waited until her mom gave her good byes before hanging up. She waited a few minutes before asking, "Okay Angie, spill it. What is it about you that has the demons circling?"

You know about my sword right?

"Yeah I remember. You keep saying you wield Absolution."

That is true. He chose me to wield him against evil. 'And the warrior princess will bring the relief of heavy burdens and Absolution will lead the way to peace.'

Jo frowned slightly at that. It sounded something like off of a translation or something. "What is that? Some sort of poetry?"

It is part of a prophecy. It tells of a warrior that will be chosen to bring Absolution to the world. That warrior will be known as the warrior princess.

"And how do you figure in this?"

I was trained by Satet and Hapi, the Nile river gods and hence royalty so to speak. I was 'forged' in battle and 'weaned' on the fires of siege. The demons supposedly fear me and I am guessing they want to know if it is for real.

"And what happens if they figure out that you really are dead?"

No idea except the usual havoc but that doesn't matter; my boys are alone and I can't leave them alone.

Jo suspected that there was more to it than what Angela was telling her. She normally would have pestered her about it but Jo got the feeling that it was something that was not supposed to happen and Angela was worrying about how to get the situation right again. Jo knew though that since the demons knew Angela and they found out she was dead, they would take advantage of the opportunity to get away with things that they normally wouldn't. Jo recalled one time when a demon came to the Roadhouse and would have gone after her and Ellen but Angela had been there. All Angela had to do was flash her eyes and the demon backed off… after a proper ass kicking.

There would be time to ask about that but Jo figured that Angela didn't mention it at all for a reason. She would be curious but if it was something that was serious, Jo knew that her friend wouldn't mention it in order to protect her and those close to her. She gave a wry grin since she knew that the Winchesters never left anything alone and wouldn't tolerate it if Angela kept secrets to protect them. "All the more reason to get you back in your body."

Just don't get us killed with your excessive speeding.

Jo couldn't help but laugh out loud at that. "Don't worry. Your friend Nick said that he would meet us there."

Dean went to the cooler to pull out a couple of bottles of water. He studied the camp a little. It was late and almost morning but they wouldn't pull out until he and Sam said so. After bandaging Sam's hand and the Augusta girl telling them that bit, Sam asked to be alone. It was against all Dean logic to do that so he stayed within earshot just in case.

What the Augusta girl said sounded like nonsense and he wondered if she said that to make Sam feel better. He had to admit that it was pretty effective; more than anything he might have said. Still Dean didn't believe it. After all dead was dead.

"You don't believe what I told you, do you?"

Dean tried not to jump. Angela did that frequently with half the time in jest and the other half just because she had something to ask. He turned to see Augusta staring through her sightless eyes. He replied, "Hey you believe what you want to sister."

"It seemed to help your brother."

Dean shrugged slightly as he adjusted his hold on the water bottles. "I appreciate that."

"He cares for her doesn't he?" Augusta accepted the gesture of thanks. She didn't blame him for his responses. She didn't mean to be too personal though, "I am sorry if I speak out of place."

Dean frowned at her. He knew she couldn't see him but it seemed like she could. "Um… how do you do that?"

Augusta smiled a bit. She could sense that he was uncomfortable. She replied, "I listen, Dean. Because I cannot see, I use my other senses. There are other ways to see. Your friend taught me that."

"Angie taught you?" Dean looked at Augusta with a surprised look.

"I became blind when I was very young. I was angry but…" Augusta gave a slight smile. "She has a way of tempering even the most fearsome of creatures."

Dean had an image of Angela playing with the hell mutt. They discovered that Cerebus as the prize bitch of hell was the one in Greek mythology and supposedly the deadliest of hell hounds. He gave a slight grin and replied, "I can relate to that. So… uh how did Angie help you?"

"You should know. She is a healer."

"I know I told her that countless times but I'm being serious. She must've helped you which is why you stood up for me and Sam."

"It is true she helped me. It was because of me that she was sort of made a member of the order." Augusta looked to the side as if she were afraid of people finding out. "I am repaying a debt by helping you. I can see that she means much to you and your brother."

Dean wasn't sure what to think. He needed to get back to Sam to prevent him from doing anything else. "Um… thanks for that. I got to get back."

Augusta followed Dean back to the tent. At least Sam was asleep and Dean was grateful for that. He muttered, "Lightweight for a Sasquatch," without malice. His brother needed the rest.

Augusta kneeled next to Sam and brushed his locks away to peer at his face. She ran her fingers gently over his head. Dean watched her movements and came to a conclusion, "You're a healer."

"Yes but not in the true sense of the word," Augusta replied as she sat up straight. "I can patch up injuries but what you refer to is the warrior princess. Unlike me, she was born one. This though I have not seen before but I suspect that you have." She didn't look at Dean but stared straight ahead at nothing and waited for his answer.

"I might have," Dean allowed. He had to admit that Sam had similar behaviors as Angela did in Cold Oak. They differed in that for one Sam was not a screamer by nature unless he was seriously hurt and two he didn't have out of whack abilities.

Augusta nodded, "I see. I don't know because I am not a healer. However I will tell you that I was right about what I told Sam earlier. The dead can hear the thoughts of the living. You know her and I think she would have forgiven whatever happened." She stood up and made to go.

"Don't go." Dean was surprised that he wanted her to stay. Yeah he had Sam but he just needed someone to share his grief with. "I may not like the other bitches out there but… you're okay."

Augusta knew that he was trying to be nice. She didn't even mind the implied rudeness in the name calling that he gave. The order could have done a better job than what they did. She sat down next to the man as he sat nearby and watched his brother sleep. She replied, "Don't try too hard Dean. I know you have little love for anyone associated with the Centurion even if it is a sub order. They didn't and don't understand her."

"Tell me about it. She said that they made sure she was there on sufferance or some shit like that. A couple of times we met a few of them and they were dicks. The only exceptions are the two and a half vamps that know and understand her." Dean leaned against the cloth wall of the tent. The slight hammock feel was soothing and he relaxed a little. "I used to think she was an Ice Bitch when we first met but Sam saw right through it. Even when she was just as bad with him… he saw that it was a wall."

"It is hard to hide a gentle nature like hers."

"Gentle? She's the Vengeful Virago." Dean looked at the girl incredulously.

"I can believe that. She protected me from the others when they thought about abandoning me. I was blind but they thought I would never make a good warrior. She said otherwise and volunteered to teach me." Augusta folded her hands in her lap and looked down. She smiled at that memory especially the first lesson. "The first day she slapped me. It was then she told me that because I couldn't see like her, I had to learn to see a different way. That slap made me stop being a bitch and turned me into a willing pupil."

Dean chuckled. That sounded like Angela. He looked at the box that held her body. It was still hard to believe that she was gone. He felt like he had been given a big disappointment and he felt foolish for assuming that she would be around before his ticket was up. He guessed that she was some sort of invincible person even though she had gotten seriously hurt a couple of times. She always had bounced back. "She kicked Sam's ass the first day she started training him for the tournament thing. She kicked mine too and I'm pretty good in a fight."

"Let me guess, she was trying to make a point?"

"Well she did tell Sam and me that the type of things he would be going against were faster and more cunning; they had an advantage over us." Dean played with one of the water bottles before downing some water. He would have preferred a drink but he didn't want to inhibit his senses. He didn't want any funny business as far as Angela's body was concerned. "She still kicks Sam's ass but he has gotten better and has beaten her once he gets it out of his head that it's her and she's a friend."

"So you are closer to her than anyone else has ever been. Even with me, it was always a friend and master/student. She must really like you to open herself like that."

Dean noticed that Augusta was referring to Angela as if she were still alive. He had done that a couple of times too. It felt okay and sort of tempered the fact that she was gone. He found that he didn't mind either. "She does. She calls me a bull dog and if she weren't so reserved, brother. She really likes Sam though."

"And I assume the same applies to your brother?"

"Nah. He doesn't see it. To him she is the sister he feels he has to protect. It's damned funny to see but she needs to learn how to face her feelings better." Dean sighed feeling a little sleepy but hell he was willing to stay awake for Sam's sake. "You know she is willing to push him away because she was… is scared of how she feels? Stupid I think and I think she was getting the hint and was trying."

"True emotions show through in the heat of battle or when the ones who it is meant for see it when the one feeling those feelings thinks no one is looking."

Dean glanced at the girl. She looked so young just sitting there and yet she seemed so wise. "How'd you get to be so wise?"

Augusta smiled, "Well I see differently and I am a lot older than most people think." She adjusted her position to be more comfortable. She could hear the patrol doing their rounds. They would be left alone.

"Really? You don't look older than eighteen," Dean replied. He then narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "You're a vamp aren't you? One of those that was born right?" He felt his breath hold as he waited for the answer.

"I am a vamp but not a vamp. I was made," Augusta admitted. She understood how their friend felt when she revealed what she was to people. There was always that moment of whether or not you were still a friend or became the enemy.

"But you don't look all soulless or like the ones we've hunted," Dean replied feeling confused.

"I told you, the warrior princess saved me," Augusta replied. "What I meant was not only she taught me how to overcome my blindness and anger; she saved my life. She turned me."

Dean recalled Sam's broken rant at Ellis. It was something about asking Angela to turn him into something like her; a means to get him out of his deal. He figured Sam's logic was that what could the demons want with someone that was virtually dead? "She turned you?"

"When a Chaser or any Halfling turns a human into one of them, it works a bit different. A Halfling is half of one and then the other. When they turn someone, it works like halfings except I have half of the Halfling's blood in me. I think the term is quadroon or something like that. So I am vampire and I am not. I have the senses of one, good hearing and sense of smell, but not the teeth."

Dean was surprised at that. "What about the drinking blood thing?"

"That doesn't go away. Call it a weird genetic quirk. So I do have to drink the stuff but more along the lines if I get sick or badly injured."

"You have any problems with that?"

"I see it as a need to survive and if I suffer blood loss, it is a transfusion. I have been lucky in that I have connections to get me what I need from blood banks. I wouldn't take from a living human unless it was necessary and only if they were willing."

"At least you're better about it than Angie. Sam was the one that got her to drink when we were in Oregon on a case. It was after we rescued her and she was recovering from injuries and hypothermia," Dean replied. "So you are for the most part human?" It was delivered in typical Dean fashion but he didn't see any way to sugar coat it.

"As human as I am going to get." Augusta looked at Dean. "She thought I was worth saving and bore with the pain of cutting herself to do it and that was after she had to bite me so that she could put her wound over mine like the blood brother bond. I also had to drink from her and I think that hurt her worse."

"I think so too. She hates the idea of drinking it even if it meant her life on the line."

"But Sam got through to her on that."

"Yeah," Dean replied looking at his brother. He was moving his lips a mile a minute in his sleep but no sound was coming out. He wondered what his brother was dreaming about. It obviously wasn't a nightmare since Sam would be up and screaming right about now. He took a moment to check his brother's hand and make sure that he hadn't removed the bandage or played with it. He did notice that Sam had gripped her chakram and was holding it like a kid would do a teddy bear. "Sammy you are a girl."

Dean didn't bother to remove the chakram. Sam was asleep and he wouldn't do anything unless he woke up in a trance and tried to kill someone. He also figured that besides being a source of comfort, it was a weapon to grab just in case something happened. Dean decided it was better and Sam had his gun too but Sam was the only one besides Angela who could throw the thing without cutting himself or looking like an idiot. He picked up Absolution and put it across his lap as he sat back down.

"Absolution. I hope he isn't upset that I batted him aside earlier," Augusta said.

"I don't think he minded. He probably was reacting to Sam's emotions." Dean looked at the blade and began running his palm down it. "Angie told me that he reacts to emotions but he only let's those with good hearts pick him up so if a demon were to touch him, I'm guessing it's like Blade only more gruesome."

"I don't know about that but I would believe her about his temperament." Augusta paused a moment. She then reached out to touch the sword.

Dean reacted, "Hey kid, that's sharp."

"I am not a kid in case you have forgotten," Augusta replied. "If you want to call me something, you can refer to my name but I prefer Gus. Only she was able to get away with Augie." She smiled slightly at that.

Dean was just reacting but he apologized, "Sorry about that k—Gus. It's just Sam and me protect her and that means her stuff too. It's a reaction."

"No harm," Augusta replied. She then smiled, "I like hearing you call me Gus. You have a nice voice. I can hear kindness and caring but I also see someone who is like the warrior princess. You feel the need to hide your emotions to prevent a showing of weakness but it is also lined with a burden. It is not your brother but something else."

Dean felt like he was being interrogated by Angela again but Augusta was different. She had been touching his face as she made her assessment and he found it to be soft and gentle. Her fingers twitched slightly when he breathed on them when she felt his lips. He had read somewhere that by feeling the face, it was how blind people built a picture of who they were touching. It seemed personal though. He replied, "Just something… Uh…"

"You heard about Lilith. She wants Sam but that is not the only thing," Augusta replied as she felt Dean's face. She focused as she had been taught and found it; the taint that signaled one thing. "A demon holds a contract on you."

"How…?" It was rhetorical and Dean knew it. Augusta saw on a different level than normal people.

"Auras I can read. It's not the same as what the warrior princess can do but it helps with reluctant patients." Augusta continued to feel Dean's face. "You sold your soul and if I am guessing right, it was for your brother."

Dean couldn't really deny it. "Yes and I was stupid to believe that she would be around when my ticket was up. She would have been able to watch out for Sam. Now…" He felt like a crybaby when the tears finally started to come. "She left us. She said she wouldn't ditch us."

Augusta could hear the hurt and anger in his voice. The man kept his emotions pent up so much. She got the feeling that he was remembering another time that he felt this way. They miss you so much and they love you old friend. If only there was a way. Not thinking about the consequences, she took a hold of Dean and pulled him into a hug. He didn't resist just like she knew he wouldn't and she let him release his grief.

A/N: More moments between Jo and Angie and Dean pours out his heart after taking care of Sam. Boy if Angie dying now is bad, what would happen when Sam finally realizes his feelings for her? Stay tuned for next time on Phoenix Rising...