Chapter 16
"Yes, I do. Hello Joseph. Been a long time."
Joseph grinned. She was exactly as he remembered except she looked a little different. He couldn't put his finger on it but that didn't matter at the moment. Right now he was just marveling at the fact that she was there. "You're right," he removed his foot from Sam's chest and stood to face her directly, "It has been a long time. Still carrying around the sword of vengeance? Or did you lose it?"
Angela was never one for small talk but when she saw the condition that Sam was in after a spot check, it took every ounce of her will to not give in to the first reaction which was to leap forward and rip Joseph's head off. Talking was an effective way to channel her focus. She gave a short grin and replied, "You know he doesn't like being called that. His name is Absolution."
"Still treating that thing as a person?"
"He has a soul. That's why he is unique and what he is." Angela didn't move too much since Sam was still too close to Joseph for her peace of mind. That he was moving if small movements was a good sign but she saw the leg and the bloody shirt and how pale he was.
Joseph for his part chuckled. He moved a little away from Sam. He couldn't do anything now and even if he did, all he had to do was threaten him and she would back down. "So like you trying to find things to put us as equals."
"We are the same in terms of persecution."
"So you say. You weren't the one being hunted. You are the hunter and the manipulator and your kind are very good at that."
"So you still blame me for Sojourner; saying that I murdered innocents," Angela replied stating it more as a fact than a question. She knew Sam was listening to everything and probably Joseph had been telling him a bit of what he saw was the truth.
"Are you saying that you didn't?"
"If you call being given a missive to hunt down a monster that has been on a killing spree across the Gullah settlements, then you would probably think that," Angela countered. She gave a slight shrug of her shoulders as she glanced at Sam.
Sam for his part took the opportunity to move away from Joseph. He wasn't moving very fast because of his leg and other injuries but he knew that he would need to be out of the way to give her a clear shot. As for whatever beef Joseph had with her, he was certain it had been twisted in his mind to make her the aggressor and from what he had been hearing, Angela's involvement was more of a pest control thing and he knew better anyway as far as it concerned her.
Joseph fixed an eye on Angela who was standing there. She looked like she was just standing there but he could tell that she was ready to spring if necessary. He had noticed that she had that other thing instead of the sword and wondered if she was up to something or she planned on using a Frisbee to defeat him. It was laughable. "I do call it that. You know the tradition. Your kind and mine are enemies…"
"And a clichéd plot exploited by Hollywood. Really this isn't about me is it? This is about the fact that you can't stand that I don't give a rat's ass what you are."
"You lie and manipulate. You turned her against me."
"I saved her!" Angela nearly shouted. Her hands were clenched in fists. Normally it didn't bother her when someone demeaned her work because as someone once pointed out to her, the lie was only real if the person hearing it believed it. Joseph was the kind to believe in his own lies.
"You took her away from her people and turned her against them and against me."
"I saved her from the executioners. They were ordered to kill everyone. She followed me. Suzy followed me," Angela replied in a sad sort of tone as she remembered that night. She knew that it had been an eye opener for Susan when she realized that she was still alive. "I told her she had a choice to make."
Joseph had heard it before. The whole thing about having a choice and that was a load of crock. Sometimes you had to take what was yours and use any means necessary. That was how he survived that long. "Right. It doesn't matter because in the end she came back to me. You remember right? The night that I killed you."
"You thought you killed me Joseph and I expected her to sway back to you. It was a shock at her timing but expected." Angela stood tall as if she were at peace with what happened and in truth she was.
"I thought with you out of the picture she would stay but she couldn't stand the fact that I killed you instead of letting you go. She said that you would have done the same for me. I accused her of believing your lies and she left me."
"I would have shown mercy Joseph. It would have been a hard life in whatever sentence you would have been given but you would have lived and that would have made her happy and that would have made me happy." Angela knew she probably wasn't making much sense and it sounded like she would have liked seeing Joseph in hard labor or something like that. The truth was she would have made sure that he was alive not for his sake but for Susan.
"Keep telling yourself that. I should have made sure that you died in that swamp that night," Joseph growled.
Angela knew that it was going to come down to a fight. She looked at Sam who was looking back at her with a worried expression. She looked like hell; she was sure of it. Yet there was one thing that she was very good at and that was doing her duty. She replied, "Then why not finish what was started in Sojourner and that night?"
"Fitting punishment for killing my pack."
"In defense, Joseph. Even you know that was fair in of itself."
Joseph knew that Angela was right and it pissed him off. She was a sneaky bastard. With a growl he charged in his Lupei form and felt pleasure as he made contact in grabbing her upper arms and ramming her into the wall. He felt her strength counter his as she pushed against him to lessen the blow. This was going to be fun.
Angela reacted and grabbed Joseph's upper arms like he did hers. The hit of her back against the wall hurt but it was tempered by the fact that she was countering with a push of her own. She narrowed her eyes as they became glowing orbs and using the wall for leverage, she pushed and rammed Joseph into the opposite wall. He snarled in her face and she could smell the noxious fumes of his breath as she was tossed towards the ground.
Angela countered by tucking her body into a roll and was able to get to her feet. She sprang forward as Joseph did. Being low on the ground, she was able to force him back by putting her hands on the ground for support and used her feet to kick him square in the chest. It put her in good position to get to a standing position while Joseph fell back but because his reflexes were just as good, he had no trouble getting to his feet.
Angela took a risk and plucked her chakram from her belt. She made a swinging motion with her arm while holding on. She made contact and heard the roar of pain. She couldn't use the chakram again since Joseph gave a swipe towards her. She blocked it with her gauntlet but the force made it hit her hand and it flung the chakram out of it.
The chakram landed in the dirt leaving Angela with just her hands and feet and her powers. She countered by giving the hardest punch she could to Joseph's face and clipped his snout a good one. She felt the bones break and knew that she had broken bone. It allowed her to put some distance between her and Joseph so as to gauge her next attack.
Joseph for his part raged at the pain but it was nothing. He growled at her, "Still using the same tactics you used then? Still afraid of your powers?"
Angela said nothing but made her move. It ended up being a clash of limbs as her arms contacted with Joseph's. Her hands were in a clawed position, the tiger form and she attacked. Before she had been on the defense; this time it was an offense.
It worked to a degree but she wasn't getting much in since Joseph was equally fast. At one point each caught each other in a tangle of arms. Joseph pushed her back into the wall. He eyed her and said, "You've remembered."
In retort, Angela gave a head butt on the same spot she clipped his snout. This time she really heard the bones crack and his grip let her go. She then added a kick to the gut and then one to the head. When he had flown away, she said, "That's a little something new."
She was starting to feel tired and the nice few clouts she had received were not good for still healing ribs. Her hackles were up so to speak as she assumed a position and made ready for the next bout. It came and she could tell that Joseph was pissed. She did break his nose after all and one thing she learned was that he was proud of it.
Angela was to get a payback. She saw the swipe coming towards her left. She turned to avoid it but a fraction of a second off. She felt the claws come from the center of her back and upwards toward the back of her left arm. It was fast so it wasn't deep but it hurt just the same and she couldn't help but cry out from that. It was more from the surprise than the hurt and in the end, once the initial hurt was over, she was glaring full force at Joseph.
Joseph for his part felt satisfaction at having cut her again. The last time he did it, she ended up looking like Sam who is looking like he was a deer caught in a car's headlights. He probably had never seen her get cut so bad before. Glancing at Sam cost him though and he was given a shoulder tackle that sent him crashing into one of the wooden beams.
"You know, I never understood why Suzy was so adamant that you were a good person. She had seen what you've done and what I've done but she insisted that you weren't as bad as the others made you out to be." Angela was panting a little as she rotated the injured arm. She sounded like she was on painkillers or had drunk the usual four full bottles of whiskey. She looked at Joseph who was shaking his head. He almost looked like a twisted sense of humor puppy.
"A bloodsucker like you could never hope to understand my kind."
Angela raised her brow that said 'you gotta be kidding' even in her state. She went on as if she didn't hear the name calling, "Now that I think about it, I figure that you must be a nice guy. After all you took in strays, the ones that had nowhere else to go and took care of them. You left Ellis alone because he was family."
Angela looked around and found a piece of an old pickaxe. It was tempting to pick it up and kill Joseph even though he would have deserved it because of what he did… what he tried to do to her boys. She didn't though but stood in front of Joseph and slowly kneeled so that he was facing her and they could see eye to eye. She then said, "She still loves you. I always told her to be herself. She still hopes you will come back."
Joseph didn't risk looking at Angela. Even though he hated her, deep down he knew she was speaking the truth about Susan. Yet he couldn't understand this vampire. She would fight and to the death but she never stopped trying to get him to back down. No it was a trick. It always was a trick with her. "We were a pair until you came along."
In a quick movement, Joseph had grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it at Angela where it landed in her eyes. She shook her head trying to clear her vision. He attacked by tackling her in a bear hug and they landed on the ground. Even with a broken nose, he tried to bite her knowing that the bite could prove lethal.
It was blind instinct for Angela as she moved to prevent Joseph from biting her. She could bite him but she wasn't cruel. Instead she rolled to deliver a butt with the back of her head and was able to roll free. Her vision had cleared somewhat but the gritty feeling was going to have to be washed out eventually. She was ready for the next charge and blocked even though he managed to nudge the scratches he had given her and made her grit her teeth and groan in pain. It was enough to push her away.
"Seems we are at the same place before, vampire," Joseph replied. It was time to end this. He grabbed Sam from where he had tried to get out of the way and held him up in a stranglehold. It was a perfect position to snap his neck if he had to. "How about I take from you what you took from me?"
Angela had managed to get to a crouched position to clear her head from the blow. She looked up and saw the implied threat to Sam. It was enough. She felt her rage surge through her and her eyes intensified in their glow. Deep down she found the power and with narrowed eyes she let out her war cry that vibrated throughout the tunnels.
Sam had been watching the whole thing and was unprepared for when Joseph yanked him to his feet and put him in a stranglehold. He hadn't failed to notice that it was in the perfect position to snap his neck. Glancing at Angela, he could tell that she knew that too and she wasn't going to let that slip by. The cry she gave, he had heard it before, but this time it sounded… angry.
It certainly startled Joseph when Angela charged and moved so fast that Sam was out of the stranglehold before Sam himself could blink. He collapsed on his bad leg and that produced a grunt that was ignored for the most part. He saw Angela had put herself between him and Joseph and she was bent ready to sprint.
She took off like a bullet that Sam tried not to blink otherwise he would have lost sight of her. He watched her grab Joseph and flung him into the wall and started wailing on him. She kept throwing punches and he could tell that they hurt. He watched her push him until she had him in a spot and he was down for the count. It was then that she stopped and Sam wondered if she was going to kill him.
Angela was tempted to kill Joseph. She knew that by threatening Sam, she reacted that way and was aware that she could have let everything loose and that meant her powers. Thankfully, maybe, she didn't cross that line. Now she was faced with the decision of killing him. He was pretty beat up and she twitched slightly at the blood that spat out of his mouth.
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
Angela stared at him. To Sam she appeared to be listening for something. He held his breath as she stared at Joseph and released it the moment she spun on her heel and walked towards him. She didn't say much but gently touched his limbs and helped him to stand and put his arm around her shoulders. It was then she said, "Come on."
"Wait, aren't you going to kill me?"
Angela turned while holding Sam to look at Joseph. Her expression was battle wear and she didn't say anything. Instead she turned around and glancing at her chakram, she reached out with her free hand and it sailed towards it. She managed to put it on her belt as she continued to walk with Sam trying his best to pull his weight.
"You have to finish it."
Angela didn't look back but called back to Joseph, "You have a choice. I suggest you get out and change." She felt a slight movement from Sam's arm. She wasn't sure what he meant by it but her first thought was that he had a shot of pain. She wrapped her free arm around his waist trying not to disturb his makeshift bandage and steadied him.
Joseph wasn't having any of it. He got up from where he had been beaten down and stood up spouting, "You are a coward and a murderer. You don't have what it takes…"
There was an explosion and Joseph's voice fell silent. The sound of falling rock was enough to urge the pair to move. However Angela knew that the speed would be torturous to Sam so she tried the best she could. The tunnels closest were going to be collapsed so as long as they were where she had left Dean, when the last of the explosions finished, they would be fine.
Sam didn't waste time on talk once the explosions started. He tried to hurry and gritted his teeth as the pain seeped through. His leg was shaking badly and he thought that maybe he looked like a drunk. He was grateful for Angela steadying him with her arm wrapped around him. It gave him encouragement to keep going and he tried to show it by trying to go faster but she kept him at the pace they were going.
They made it to where Angela had left Dean and he was standing and leaning heavily on the wall he had been propped on. He was looking around trying to figure out what happened when he spotted Angela helping Sam come out of a cloud filled tunnel. As much as he wanted to rush over and help, Dean knew that he was going to make his injuries worse and he was still feeling sick to his stomach and his head hurt. He did manage to get out, "What the hell was that?"
Angela held Sam who was starting to pass out. Dean didn't look much better but then again he didn't have two bleeding wounds but his chest looked pretty bad. She replied, "Distraction turned solution."
"The douche?"
Angela shook her head sadly but said, "Come on. I need to get you both back to the motel." She used her free hand to grasp his elbow.
Dean moved to Sam's right to help Angela with Sam. Even with his twisted ankle and his injuries, Sam came first. He stumbled a little and he bore the look Angela shot him with surprising meekness but he said, "Angie," and he made a motion towards Sam who had drifted off.
Angela looked at Dean and raised her brow. She was telling him that she knew his policy when it came to injuries. He had schooled her in it when he became the sorcerer's apprentice after Tennessee. The rule was that no matter how bad one was hurt, Sam came first. At the time she raised a brow at him as she was doing now and she schooled him in her version of treating injuries and how she worked as being the sorcerer.
Her rule was that she would assess and the more serious would be treated first. When she told Dean that, he said that it wasn't that much different from his rule that Sam came first. In this case, she knew that it was more likely that Sam would come first. However from her view, both needed her attention.
Looking at Dean, she kept the raised brow and led the way out. She marveled that he was adept at keeping his stomach steady from the trail of carnage she had left behind. She gave a slight wrinkle of her nose at the coppery smell of blood mingled with the dirt and coal. They came across a lone Lupei that was still in the tunnels. It stopped and looked at them.
Angela knew that with the way the boys were in and her current position, she would be able to defend them. They both needed medical attention. Sam was out of it and it didn't take a genius to see that Dean was not too far behind though he was trying. She would have to appeal to the moral sense and pray that it would work. She held onto Sam's arm and with her free hand, she grasped Dean to let him know that she would handle this. She looked at the Lupei and said, "Please. Enough blood has been spilled."
It was probably overdoing it but Angela used the one weapon that was guaranteed to make Dean cave on a bad day. She just modified it to look pleading enough. She looked at the Lupei full on in the eyes. She hoped that this would work.
The Lupei looked at them. "You are the vampire."
Angela knew that it wasn't the time to argue semantics and genetics. Besides, Joseph had taught them that just a portion of whatever blood made you a full blood, so she was a vampire for all intents and purposes. She replied, "Yes, but they are hurt. I need to get them help. Please do the right thing."
The Lupei looked confused. He wasn't the first and nor would he be the last. He had been taught that vampires were evil but this one was taking care of humans like it cared. He couldn't sense any malice from her and she didn't have the stench of a killer even though he could smell the blood of his kind on her. He was confused but the sight of the injured humans… Joseph did this? "I didn't kill the others."
"I know," Angela replied. She really didn't but she could tell that he wasn't saying it out of fear and to save his skin. "Please, just let us go. I won't do anything to you. You can go and do whatever."
"Where am I supposed to go?"
Angela blinked slowly. She could feel Dean starting to sag. She wanted to hurry but she didn't want to jeopardize anything. She replied, "Talk to Mr. Ellis. He wanted you to have your own place and freedom." It was a gamble since Joseph could have started another lie but Angela was confident that Joseph did have a good side.
The Lupei studied them. He could have easily just attacked and killed them. He could have taken out the weak links first and then go after her. However he had seen the bodies of the others. They met a grisly fate and he was certain that was only after extreme provocation. He could believe that the vampire did that be he was also seeing a different side of her. She was holding the two humans as if they were the most precious thing in the world. Another thing was that she mentioned the name Ellis. Joseph had said that Ellis was the only one that could be trusted.
Angela felt tense. She looked at Dean who was trying to stay awake. She could see that he was battling a concussion. He did have a death grip on Absolution though so he was somewhere in the middle. She hoped that the Lupei wouldn't mistake it for an attack.
"You are free to go."
Angela looked up from checking on the boys to face the Lupei. "Thank you."
"You… are not what others say. You have this… I don't know but even when covered with the scent of battle, it is there. What are you?"
Angela would have shrugged her shoulders but she couldn't. She ended up replying, "I honestly don't know. Good luck."
She was tired by the time she made it to where the Impala was. She had to thank Dean's habit of leaving the keys in the car and gave a slight grin in his direction even though he was out of it and leaning against the window of the front passenger seat. She diverted her attention to making sure that Sam was somewhat comfortable on the back seat. The rain that had begun earlier, lightened a little as she started the engine and eased the car down the road.
You… are not what others say. You have this… I don't know but even when covered with the scent of battle, it is there. What are you?
You lie and manipulate. You turned her against me!
Angela drove in silence as she listened to the echoes of that night. It made her thoughts run wild. Only by glancing at the boys was she truly able to come to some sort of answer.
A/N: Looks like Angie kicked butt again and now it is time to get to the business of healing injuries. Catch y'all next time on Pack of Strays...