Chapter 7

Dean gave a slight sniff and tried not to be sick from the smells that came from the medical center. He couldn't help but recall how outspoken Angela had been about Sioux Falls General when she had been shot. She hadn't been afraid to say it then that the place smelt like a medicine cabinet. He could share that opinion of the place but at least it wasn't as bad as a hospital. It was smaller and there weren't too many patients running around.

He and Sam had checked in with the sheriff who informed them that Stark was stable and could receive visitors. They went over immediately to question the guy about what they saw. Sam was confident that it would prove that they weren't hunting a ghost but he was willing to concede in going to the mine and taking a few readings.

Dean looked at his watch and noted the time. She should be back in her room crashing by now. He hoped that by keeping her on research duty it wasn't going to bite him in the ass. He knew that sometimes if she found something worth digging into, she would go for it. He trusted her though to know her limits. She wouldn't put herself backwards a few steps on purpose. Maybe he would try to convince her to do the one thing that she was so reluctant to do. He even contemplated using the Sammy card. It was a low blow but it might work.

They were waiting while the doctor was making sure that Stark was up for visitors. The sheriff said that he was stable but that didn't mean that he was cleared to talk. To Dean it seemed like the butch nurse that first met them looked like she was going to eat him alive. Sam on the other hand laid on the charm and asked if she could check with the doctor to see if it was okay.

Poor Sam… well maybe for Sam but Dean was certainly amused when Cujo Nurse eyed Sam speculatively. She even gave the smile saying that she was interested and Sammy blushed in embarrassment. This was even better than the date the two timing bitch Bela set his brother up with. He milked it for all of two minutes until Sam gave his bitch face and left.

Dean knew that Sam would be back from wherever he was going. If not then he was going to do this interview alone and while Dean was certain that he could handle it, he would rather have Sam there to lay down the sympathy. If there was one thing Sam was good at besides hunting it was the snow jobs. Dean sighed as he sat on the chair he had been given. It had been ten minutes and Sam still wasn't back.

"Hey mister."

Dean looked to see a kid staring at him. The kid was probably seven years old or something but that didn't concern Dean at the moment. What he was more concerned about was the glob of green goo hanging outside the kid's nose. He may have been that size once and more recently a ten year old again but he was wary. He used to do the same thing with his snot but only if the other kids were picking on Sammy. He tried not to be grossed out and replied, "Yeah kid?"

"Do you have a tissue?"

Dean raised a brow. A kid was asking for a tissue? Most kids would blow their snot on other kids or sometimes adults. That was what he did. He put his hands in his jacket pockets and it was his luck that he actually had a crumpled up tissue. "Here kid."

"Thanks mister." The kid was going to leave but he stopped. "Is that real?" He pointed.

Dean realized that he had moved his jacket and showed his hunting knife. He had to think fast and pulled out the ID he was using and said, "Yeah. Forest ranger." He showed the kid.

"Cool."

"Bobby, don't bother the nice man."

It was a relief to Dean that the kid's mom came and got him. At least he was able to hide the knife. That was a close call. He looked around and there was still no sign of Sam. Dean was about to let out a few choice words about pain in the ass little brothers when the Cujo Nurse from Hell came out and said that the doctor wanted to speak with him. She looked disappointed that Sam wasn't around and Dean knew that if he made one false move, he was dog meat.

The doctor wasn't too bad for a guy. He seemed to be on friendly terms with Cujo Nurse and was able to shoo her away without much trouble. The problem was that he kept looking at Dean and the kind of look was one that he was very uncomfortable with. At least he managed to get some time with Stark and he was shown into his room. The doc said thirty minutes max but if there was the slightest hint of trouble, he was out.

Dean was fine with that but he cursed the fact that Sam had wandered off. He went into Stark's room and tried not to make too much of a face at the sight of the guy. The face was badly bruised and there were lacerations and contusions on the head. The chest was something else and Dean was glad that he wasn't taking a closer look.

At face value Dean knew that Sam was right in that they most likely weren't dealing with a vengeful spirit. However there was a possibility of an exception to the rule. Hell hanging around Angela was proof of that considering the things they have seen in her company.

Dean made a slight coughing sound and said, "Officer Stark?"

Stark heard a voice and slowly opened his eyes. He saw a guy roughly his own age looking at him as if he weren't sure whether or not to poke him with a stick. At least the pain meds were working. He managed to reply, "S' me."

Dean was a little relieved that the guy understood that someone was talking to him. He took a moment to look at the guy. It looked like he got a beating. Something solid had to have done it unless the spirit was hurling rocks or tossing him around. It was something to think about as he continued, "Name's Dean and I'm with the forest rangers. I would like to know what happened to ya… if you are up to it."

Stark looked at Dean. It was another one asking questions. He answered the sheriff the first time but the sheriff thought he was in shock. This guy looked like that he might believe him. He replied, "S' big and hairy."

"It was big and hairy?" Dean prompted. It wasn't much of a description and hell if Sam were here, he would be about to use those filler questions and get details. This was a punishment for all the blackmail photos he took of Sam and Angela together. Dean was certain of it and his number wasn't even up yet. "Anything else?"

"Moved fast. Strong hands. Claws."

Dean listened as Stark went on his broken description of the thing. It was obvious that it wasn't a ghost. Great. It wasn't exactly the kind of hunt he was looking for but a hunt is a hunt and this time they were going to have to do it without her. That was no problem since he and Sam had been hunting before she came along. "Okay."

"There were two."

That had Dean pause a moment and he looked at Stark with a glance. There were two of them? Were there more of them? Dean had to confirm it and asked, "You saw two of them?"

"First one in bushes. Smelled pee. Looked at me."

Okay so one was doing its business. What about the other one? Dean asked the question, "And the other?"

"First one jump. Got second." Stark winced in pain as he said that last sentence. The drugs were starting to wear off. He said, "Can you get doc?"

Dean realized that the guy was getting uncomfortable and figured that the pain meds were wearing off. He needed to ask a few more questions. "Okay I'll get him but can you tell me anything else?"

Stark was doing his best not to whimper. He knew that the nurse would kick this guy out if she say him like this but he knew that he had to get this out. He figured this guy knew what he was talking about. "Shot one."

Dean nodded. He could clearly see that the guy was in pain and went out into the hall to signal the nurse. She gave him a scowl but at least she didn't try to best the crap out of him. Maybe it was because he signaled for her to help the poor bastard. He stayed out of the way and was going to leave when he heard, "Took Towers. Know they did. And Charlie. Saw Mad Eye."

Dean turned to look at the nurse glowering at him. He raised his hands to say that he was leaving and left the room. He managed to avoid the doc who had been looking at him like he looked at his busty beauties as he contemplated his interview. The guy spoke brokenly but Dean had some practice piecing broken parts together and even parts that didn't make sense. When his brother was drunk was a good example.

So the poor guy Stark saw two of them and they were big and hairy. Dean would have said yeti but the hairs Sam found earlier said otherwise. Well that's what Sam said and Angela wasn't here to be the mediator in that dispute. Well it was a no brainer that she wasn't going in and he wasn't going to put her in the position to mediate. That was going to be too stressful even though she would say otherwise. So they were looking for something big and hairy. The poor guy also said that he saw the ghost so it could be that there were two separate issues in one case and one town. That was certainly a doozey.

Dean turned down a hall and spotted his freakishly huge brother coming from the opposite direction. He was adjusting his jacket and looking like nothing was out of place. That only annoyed Dean since he had been waiting and Sam was off doing whatever, leaving him to do this interview alone and he wasn't thrilled that a guy doctor hit on him.

As soon as Sam was within hearing distance Dean let out in a heated whisper, "Where the hell have you been?"

"Around?" Sam gave the reply in the form of a question.

"Have you gotten petty the last thirty minutes?"

"Dean, chill. I was just checking something out. Some blood tested since I managed to get a sample from the scene"

"Whatever, bitch."

"Jerk."

Charlie woke up when he heard the loud grunt and a thump. He honestly had no idea how long he had been in there since he couldn't really see the sky and he doubted Stanley and Rick knew anything about time. He certainly wasn't going to talk to the nameless guy who was now doing some crazy rambling about something.

Turning to the source of the thump Charlie peered through the dimly lit prison to see who the newest prisoner was. He saw the jailer lock the cage. He knew it was the same one because he growled but he looked different. He looked more human. Charlie had no idea if he was going crazy or not. He decided not to think about that now. Instead he turned his attention to the lump.

Stanley and Rick had scampered off to their corner. They were teamed up but they weren't going to help at all. The crazy coot was just nuts. So that left just him. Slowly he got up. He was still sore from his beating but it was nothing serious. Stanley informed him that his turn wouldn't come up until he was sufficiently well to go again and they had their own method of determining that. So it looked like they may have found someone new.

Charlie approached the body that was on the ground. The fact that he was alive was a good thing. He finally understood what the crazy coot meant. However Charlie felt that being alive as a prisoner and getting the crap beat out of him wasn't really being lucky. It was a slow death if they happened to get hit and something like internal bleeding occurred. In that case, being killed instantly was better.

The body moaned and Charlie kneeled to turn it over. He knew it was someone from the force since the t-shirt was white… well it was white and the pants were standard uniform pants. Once he flipped the body over, he recognized who it was. "Towers?"

Towers moaned as he tried to open his eyes. When he was finally able to get them open, he was looking up into the face of Deputy Russ. He jerked away and said, "Deputy Russ." He winced from the sudden movement and collapsed on the ground.

Charlie sighed and replied, "Take it easy. Looks like they gave you quite a beating."

"Whose they?"

Charlie frowned as he tried to figure out how to respond to that. The crazy coot spoke up, "They are the masters of the underground. The forest is their playground. They live between worlds."

Towers looked at Charlie and asked, "What is he talking about sir?"

Charlie glared at the coot even though it probably wasn't seen since the cavern was too dim to see clearly. He looked back down at Towers who actually wasn't looking too good. He replied, "Towers, don't ask too many questions. Even I'm not sure of what they are."

"Great. So you got a plan to bust out of here?" Towers then began to cough He rolled over to expel whatever it was and he grabbed his ribs in pain. He put his fist up to his mouth to hide what was coming out of his mouth.

It may have been too dim but Charlie was close enough to see. He put his fingers against Towers' mouth and wiped a bit of the spittle. He brought it close enough for him to see and his eyes widened slightly. He said out loud, "That cold must've made them go easy on you."

Towers at first was confused but when he looked up at Charlie's face, he realized that it was a set up. Charlie was protecting him from whatever was going on. He replied, "Yeah I've been having this nasty cold for a few days. It's a real bitch Boss."

Charlie nodded. Towers had internal bleeding somewhere. They really worked him up or he put up a fight and he paid the price. He wasn't sure but if those things found out that Towers was badly injured to the point of prolonged suffering before death, they might take him out and kill him or do whatever the coot babbled they would do. Either way, Charlie knew that wasn't good and he wasn't going to lose someone on the account of these crazies. He joked, "You should've drank that hot lemonade like I done told you."

"Sue me Boss. You know me," Towers joked back. He laid back down and stared back up at the ceiling. It felt better to just lie there. He still ached all over but the part that had him coughing in pain was dulled. It might slow things down a bit until someone figured out where they were or Charlie figured out how to get them out.

Charlie sat by Towers. He would protect him as long as he could. He glanced over towards the corner where Stanley and Rick were hiding out. They were huddled with their hoarded slop crap those things called food. They had taken his share and hidden it and now were splitting it. The next they got fed, he was going to have to fight for two. In a whisper, he said, "These guys go in a cycle with their fights."

Towers replied in a similar whisper, "So I'm done for now?"

"Yeah. Stanley and Rick have been here a while. I think they were jumped the first night they were up here three months ago," Charlie replied as he brought Towers up to speed. "You know Ellis gave them permission to be up here."

"Then what about the remains we found yesterday when you disappeared?"

"I think that was one of the ones that didn't make it. They must have picked them up from passerbys except maybe the strays." Charlie disliked using the term stray to refer to the runaway kids that passed through the town. They got about ten of them a day on the buses that passed through. They would have been easy targets since they had no names or anywhere they were from.

"Are we chance victims?"

"Probably but the mistake was that by taking us, it is going to alert the attention of someone. That means the Sheriff and possibly anyone who knows what these things are." Charlie wasn't sure but he had to say something.

"Wait are you saying there are people who know what these things are?" Towers looked up at Charlie with a puzzled frown.

"I don't know Derek. I do know though that attention will now be drawn to the mine. That means more of our people will be coming and I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing."

"Well I hope you are right Boss."

"Me too."

Evening came quickly in Ellis and that meant more work was able to be done under the cover of darkness especially if there was going to be a search for EMF and other signs. However that was delayed since Sam was standing outside the door of Angela's room and he hoped to be able to get his part said before Dean got it into his head to impose a curfew on her or something akin to bossing her around. He felt silly and embarrassed since he had done this before. It gave the appearance that he had been kicked out and he was trying to get back in.

After the first knock, he didn't have too long to wait. She opened the door and actually looked surprised to see him. Her appearance though was something to be desired. To him it looked like she had been in another fight and he could see the sheer exhaustion in her face. The shadows were more pronounced and her normally tanned skin looked a little pale. It had him worried and he hoped that his plan would work.

Angela was surprised to see Sam at her door. She had told them both in her phone call that she wasn't hungry and that she was going to call an early evening. She should have known that it would have been suspicious to Sam but he had accepted that she agreed to take things a little slow. He had seen how Dean was when he bossed her. What was he doing there? She managed to get out, "Sam, what are you doing here? Weren't you and Dean going to look for EMF?"

She had managed to give what she found and confirmed that Mad Eye Garrison was a real miner and he did die under suspicious circumstances. She even revealed the tidbits about the one called Martin seeing a clawed hand. Even with Sam's hairs, they weren't sure if there was something else but they knew for certain the ghost was real. As far as they could tell the ghost probably made its chosen victims disappear.

Dean said that they would look for the remains and salt and burn them. If something else happened, they would stick around. At that point Angela was too tired to care. She had really pushed herself to the limit and all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep. She could skip a meal since sleep would make her feel better. She had just gotten ready when Sam knocked.

Sam for his part tried not to react to the fact that she looked like hell. It was probably a poor choice of words in his mind but there was no other way to describe it. He answered her question, "Yeah but I wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"I'm fine just tired." Angela made to shut the door, not willing for Sam to get too close to guessing what was wrong.

Sam stopped her from closing the door. "Wait. Can I come in? Please?"

Angela looked at Sam. He was starting to form the puppy dog eyes as a last ditch effort. She was too tired to resist. She knew he was only trying to help. She felt a brush of fur and then there was a squeak. She looked down and saw Setna clawing at Sam's jeans, trying to climb up. She chuckled and opened the door.

Sam felt the tug and saw the kitten climbing his jeans. It was squeaking as it made its way up. He reached down and plucked the cat off and made a slight face as it cuddled in his hand and started nibbling his fingers. He tried handing it back, "Your cat."

When Angela stepped back, Sam took it to mean that he was invited in. He stepped in and put the cat on the bed and turned to face Angela. This was going to be difficult. He could only hope that she didn't take it the wrong way. "Okay… um Angie. I'm not blind and I know something is up; that you're not telling me about you being lethargic."

"I told you it was going to take some time. Injured bones are finicky like stab wounds sometimes," Angela replied.

"I don't think it's that but the hypothermia. You came out of it quick but I think there is more than that, isn't there?" Sam tried not to sound too harsh.

Angela sighed. Sam was going to be persistent in this. She replied, "The hypothermia. The cold sort of retarded my ability to heal. My core body temp is like a human's. I just feel a little sluggish; almost like a bad flu bug." She looked down and blinked sleepily at nothing in particular. Then she looked up aware that her appearance was a justification to Sam's persistence.

Sam nodded. He suspected it and he had the feeling that Dean knew which was why he was being overly bossy with her. It was part of the reason why she was letting his brother get away with bossing her. "I sort of figured that. Still trying to protect me Angie?"

Angela became pensive and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe since I never told you that having a core body temp like that of humans is somewhat bad for someone like me and that normal is like having a low to mid-grade fever."

"You need blood don't you?"

"I don't need it." Angela walked over to the bathroom to get a glass of water. She was thirsty but it wasn't the water kind of thirsty. "Damn do you have to do that?"

Sam gave a pensive frown. "Angie, why do you keep resisting? The drinking and the fighting and the sleeping excessive hours will only get you so far. Don't hurt yourself like this." He hoped she wouldn't get too upset as he pulled out the bag he had snatched from the med center. "Please."

Angela stared at the bag in his hand. Her survival instincts were telling her to just snatch it out of his hand and devour it. However the memories of things she wished she could forget surfaced and she resisted. He was only trying to help. "I can't," she whispered.

Sam held the bag. He glanced at the cat that was sitting on the bed looking up at him. It was like it was telling him to keep trying. He got the feeling that she felt disgusted by a necessity and he had a suggestion. "I know you don't want to even though you need it and I think part of it is because, it makes you appear not human. I know the places we go have those clear glasses so I got you this." He pulled out a ceramic mug and putting the bag of blood on the table, he took her hands and placed the mug in them.

Angela was stunned speechless. She gave Sam plenty of credit when it came to guessing things. This was something else and it was touching. "Why?"

"Family looks out for each other." Sam would have said more but he was taken by surprise when he found her arms wrapped around him in a hug.

A/N: Dean and Sam do some investigating and Sam gets a few ideas. Looks like he made Angie's day. Stay tuned for next time on Pack of Strays...