Chapter 2

It was too early for someone to be knocking on the door. Hell nobody should be knocking on the door at all since they were in a frigging motel. Nobody except maybe Bobby knew where they were. Dean groaned as he woke up to some more banging and decided to find out who the hell was bothering them. Glancing at his brother he saw that the Sasquatch was still fast asleep and Dean gave a slight eye roll as he pulled open the door to look around.

The first thing he saw was a bunch of kids ranging from eight to ten, give or take and they were making noise towards the roof of the row of rooms on the end they were staying in. Dean wondered what the hell they were yelling at when a ball came flying down and one of the kids caught it. Something else came flying down and then a pair of boots appeared over the edge of the roof. Dean watched as Angela let herself down after doing a couple of pull ups on the edge of the building before letting go and turning to face the kids. At least she was smiling as she said, "Alright now so I guess this tides us over for a time?"

The kids shouted in agreement. Dean wondered how she could make out the distinct words in all the chatter. Then again she was good with kids. He was reminded of Clare and Clyde and he smiled. He wondered how they were doing now that they were in training for what their mom did for the tribe. At least they were surrounded by people who loved them.

Dean knocked himself out of his daydream long enough to notice that Angela was looking at her palms. He wondered if she agitated the cuts on them or something and made them bleed doing her little exercise. He walked over and asked, "Still going at the Lance Armstrong exercises?"

Angela looked up from her hands and grinned, "No Just retrieving a few wayward toys. Sorry about the noise. I know ten o'clock is way too early for you."

"I see you're in a better mood," Dean replied as he took one of Angela's hands and began to look at it. It didn't surprise him that they were healing quickly. That was nothing new but they had been pretty deep since it was razor wire. Some of the deeper ones had opened up and were bleeding a little onto the bandage.

Angela let Dean look. "A little bit better. Sorry I was late." She bit her lower lip to temper the sting as Dean gently inspected her hands. It probably was a mistake to attempt that gymnast act but the kids wanted their ball back and she offered.

"Nothing to worry about," Dean replied as he continued his inspection. He figured something must be up and to accuse her of ditching them on purpose was not cool and wrong since she wouldn't do that. "Wanna let me clean those off and cover them again?" He looked at Angela who was watching with that cute and annoying inquisitive puppy look. That was something else she had discovered since the tournament and she used it without mercy.

"Sam awake?"

"Sasquatch is still sleeping like the living dead," Dean replied. "Your thumping didn't even wake him."

Angela couldn't help but chuckle at that. It seemed like every time she made noise Sam stayed asleep but if Dean made it, Sam was up and ready to shoot. It was pretty funny but a bit alarming since it could be taken advantage of and she knew Dean did so once with shaving cream. "I guess I am quieter than I thought. We'll use my room then."

"You always this nice to Sam?"

"And to you too. Besides it's called manners," Angela replied as she used her powers to open her door since she didn't want to get blood on the door or her clothes.

Dean followed her in thinking of ways to tease Sam about this while he made a beeline to her own medical pack and pulled out the medical supplies. He grabbed a glass of water in a clean glass and started cleaning away the blood from the open sores. "Will they scar?"

Angela peered as Dean worked. He was getting pretty good at this. She watched as he applied the salve to reduce the likelihood of infection and replied, "No."

Dean finished her right and was on her left hand. He saw the thin white mark and remembered when she cut herself. "This one didn't."

"It happens. That was actually from the first case we worked together," Angela explained.

"But you cut it when…" Dean was confused. He finished putting the salve on and checked to make sure the bandages were on before releasing her hands.

"Ever hear the expression about the dangers of opening old wounds?" Angela asked Dean while looking at him. She answered, "Well I actually traced it when I did that and it still healed like that. For whatever reason it is still there is beyond me but it seems to be a quirk that for some Chasers, scars remain as if it were to remind us that we are human too. I still have a faint tooth mark from the mutt."

"Well that sounds a little freaky but it's one more thing that makes you human and better than what Gordy said," Dean replied. He didn't know why but he felt the need to say that. He had heard some of the things that Gordon Walker had said on their last case and like Sam, it pissed him off. In his mind Angela was more than the sum of her parts and that included her vamp half.

Angela smiled at Dean's thoughtfulness. She replied, "Thanks." At Dean's worried look she gave a slight chuckle, "Don't worry Dean. No chick flick moments."

"Right, so Angie why were you late? Was it that council hearing thing?"

Angela debated what to say. Dean was far off the mark about the hearing. That wasn't the problem. The problem was what got her here in the first place with this latest case and what happened in Texas. She was sure this case was thrown her way on purpose since the thing reminded her of a few things and it depressed and worried her. She replied, "No. Just one of those living forever things and that thing reminded me of a few things."

Dean didn't know if he should ask. This was Sam's territory since he was the brooding emo and she responded accordingly. Well she responded with him too but Sam was better with the touchy feely thing. "You want to talk about it?"

Angela knew that it was hard for Dean to get into the share your feelings mood. It wasn't his way but he needed those moments and she tried to give him those or at least Sam did too. She replied, "It'll work out. I just need thinking time. I sound old don't I?"

"Um, if I say yes are you gonna kick my ass?"

"No because you're honest."

"Maybe a little but you are burning the candle at both ends." Dean then frowned at what he said. "Dammit! Now I'm starting to sound like Sam."

Angela couldn't help but laugh. She looked up at the ceiling as if to think. She then looked back down and said, "Well I think we may have enough time to catch the tail end of the breakfast hour at the diner. That is if you two don't fight over the shower. We have a bit over an hour."

"You're gonna have to tell me how you are able to do that or buy a fricking watch. That time telling thing is creepy," Dean replied as he smirked. He walked towards the door and opened it. "I'll wake Sammy up but don't you pull that fashionably late stuff."

"You implying that I would?"

Dean gave a slight smile as he shook his finger at Angela. He left her room and headed back to his and Sam's. He opened the door to find the shower running and Sam's bed empty with his clothes laid out. Dean was tempted to put itching powder in Sam's boxers again but that was old and he didn't want to have Angela start the day playing referee. She may have said that things would be fine but he got the feeling that there was more to it. While waiting for Sasquatch, he pulled out Sam's laptop and began searching for something and he knew Sam would be proud of him because it wasn't porn.

It was that time of year again meaning that it was another year of mulling over regrets and a list of things done and not yet done. Before they parted, he had always made sure that she had a little fun in her life and not the kind of fun that pertained to the job she did. He considered it a special clause under his duties as a guardian.

Gabriel watched from his perch by a shady tree as she came out and did that appealing stretch she could do. He figured she was smart to not do it in front of Sam and Dean. Dean he could just imagine would comment on her acrobatic ability and the plain staring that Sam did, it was enough to make him laugh and that little plot amused him. Then again she learned a lot of things over the centuries in how she acted around people, especially men.

Watching her finish her stretch, Gabriel took in her tired demeanor. He knew that she knew what day it was and coupled by the fact that Jason left without saying good-bye except in a note… Yep he knew her pretty well; well enough to know that there was something even he wasn't sure about weighing her down.

He figured out something was wrong when he paid a visit to her dreams. That was the first time in years that he walked in on one of her dreams. Well it wasn't a dream but more like a nightmare. Since he wasn't active in it, he could travel through invisible but that didn't stop the feelings of horror and concern as he saw what weighed heavily on his girl's mind.

At least it wasn't that one place she hated with a passion but rather it was a house. It was a nice two story house with the yard and the whole apple pie existence. Suddenly the house was ablaze and he found himself inside the place and the charred remains. His girl was standing in the middle of a room looking around until a woman with blonde hair showed up.

Gabriel recognized Mary Winchester right away. She looked different though with the bloody hole in the middle. She was talking to his girl and it looked like she was accusing her of not being there. She was joined by another blonde woman, much younger and she had a bloody hole in her middle as well. He strained to listen and heard his girl say, "Jess… I am sorry."

"Sorry? I let you in. You were supposed to protect me. What would they think of you now? What would Sam think?"

Gabriel didn't hear the response but the scene shifted and he saw a dark haired girl. She had a bullet wound to the heart. His girl looked sad and said, "Madison."

The girl just looked sad and disappeared and then they were in the great halls of the tournament. His girl was fighting but not Lykos. It was a dark shadow and it oscillated between enemies she had faced and either defeated or they got away. When she was pinned against the wall, Gabriel could make out the face of Gordon Walker vamped out telling her she was a monster. It then switched but whatever she saw woke her up and Gabriel was thrust out.

That sent the angel to go looking for her and found her in this small warehouse town following leads upon one of those crazies that popped up every once in a while. Gabriel knew that would do a number on her because of what the thing was.

A noise distracted him and he noticed a bunch of kids who were moaning about their ball. Apparently one of them kicked it and it landed on the roof of the motel. It didn't roll back off since it was stuck. Gabriel watched as his girl asked what was wrong and then offered to get it back for them. "Always the generous one you are Cat," he muttered.

He watched her walk up to where the gutter edge of the row of rooms was and look up at it with interest. She then did a standing jump and grabbed the edge and dangled there. She then did a pull up slowly and controlled until she could shift her weight and grab on to swing her legs over the edge. She found a few things on the roof and tossed them off including the ball which was right when Dean came out of his room.

Gabriel didn't miss how she seemed to lighten up a little when she spotted Dean but it was not the same he had seen when she spotted Sam. Still it worked for him. Working with humans again was good for her and these two numbskulls seemed to care about her considering how Dean was inspecting her hands.

That didn't change though the fact that it was that time of year and she knew what day it was just as he did. He knew that she was going to mope and become depressed or bitchy and the two numbskulls wouldn't get it. Gabriel knew he had to do something. Maybe he might get a few laughs and if he did it just right, she would know it was him.

Gabriel had to think of something. It couldn't be one of his usual tricks since death was the last thing that he wanted to put on her mind. He went over in his mind about the things she had a weakness for and not the typical female things like wallowing in chocolate and soap operas. The latter made her sick at the drama that was not even reality except in Victorian novels and she knew a thing or two about those.

His first thought was playing on her love of cars but that hardly seemed special. She could talk car shop all day with Dean. He then thought about putting her in the middle of a giant chess game but that sounded too much like Harry Potter and it would remind her about one of her talents that people sought after under the guise of asking for help. Maybe a belly dancing set since she could dance and the boys had yet to see that but that sounded like he would be encouraging them to see her as a piece of meat to degrade and blah, blah. No she was not that kind of girl.

Gabriel was at a crossroads so to speak thinking about what to do in order to cheer her up. He then looked up and saw the three of them outside joking and laughing about something and they headed towards the mom and pop diner. That had him thinking.

Gabriel knew his girl well. There was one thing that had proved to be her greatest strength and possibly her greatest weakness. That was if the bad guys figured it out. He had an idea and he would use Sam and Dean to get her there and maybe reveal something about her so they could understand her moodiness. Maybe it would lighten her up enough so that she could face whatever was bothering her with a fresh perspective and outlook.

He had no idea why he was being nice to the Winchesters and frankly didn't care but he figured that since they got her to respond to her feelings, he figured that it wouldn't hurt. This time he would be careful not to do his usual tricks. There really was no lesson to be learned here but just more of a friendly gesture to a friend that needed a helping hand. Yep he knew what he had to do and he had the perfect place in mind.

It wasn't too far from where they were and he could make it so that nothing was suspicious about the plan. Hell they would think that it was somebody else's idea. It was actually going to be fun. Gabriel gave one last glance before he took off to make the arrangements. He had so much to do and he had to make sure that the major players he wanted in play were close by in order to make it to the place in reasonable time. This was the best plan he had ever.

"Hey Sammy, I'm thinking that maybe we should take a couple of days off. Sort of like a mini vacation," Dean dropped out of the blue while he and Sam were sitting at an outdoor burger place waiting for their food. Well Dean was waiting for the food since he said that he was hungry.

Sam honestly thought at times that Dean was a human garbage disposal and could come up with some of the craziest ideas to boot. When they were kids, that worked out well since they were pretty much left to their own devices when Dad had been out on a job. This was like the others and came out of left field especially since he was working on trying to get Dean out of his deal. He looked at his brother and asked, "What brought this on Dean?"

Dean had actually been thinking about it all day. They really had nothing else to do at the moment and even though it was an iron clad rule that you finished the job and moved on, he figured that they could make an exception to that and figure out what to do and go take a day off. He figured that it would help with Angela's mood since he wasn't fooled by the false cheer she was showing and he was sure as hell that it didn't fool Sam. Plus he had his reasons which he was going to share.

Dean shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Just saying that maybe we need a couple of days off. We've been working on various things, some more than others and I think we need some time off."

Sam gave a puzzled frown. It was unlike Dean and yet like him. There was something more to this and he had his suspicions since it was likely they were both on the same page but just at a different place in the story and they needed to be on the same line. He asked, "Does this have to do with what happened last night? Dean she said that she was interrupted by something and it was probably something for the Centurion."

At least Sammy's on the same page, Dean thought as he tried to think of the best way to say it. He replied, "Maybe a little. Come on Sam. Surely you've noticed how off she's been and hell you notice everything." The last part was a dig at the fact that Sam did watch almost everything she did and remembered almost everything she said.

Sam scowled and replied, "I notice because I do less talking and more listening."

Again you missed the mark Sammy. Dean ignored the scowl and replied, "Whatever Sam. Tell me that business with Bela and Gordy along with the thing from last night didn't have your Sammy senses tingling."

"What?" Sam frowned at Dean for his word usage before shaking his head in the never mind gesture. He said, "Okay maybe when she said that she could see why we should help Bela was surprising and out of character but she helped anyway. She was the one who suggested in bringing justice. More likely she was trying to show Bela how just as easily she could have said no."

"Sam, even you know she wouldn't be that cruel."

Sam had to admit it that was so. He then thought about the case before that and said, "Well she did have some kind of response when we found out what was behind the Grimm's fairytales."

"She was as broody as you get." Dean could go on all day and he knew that he was shooting down Sam's reasoning. His brother was slow on his Sammy logic today or he just didn't want to admit that something was wrong. "She's just prettier about it."

Sam scowled at that. It quickly dispelled as he brushed over other cases and finally said, "Well Gordon said some things and I think it set her back emotionally and mentally."

"What are you a shrink now?

"I'm just pointing out what happened. You weren't there when he told her that she was a monster no matter what she did. It was like a light went out of her eyes or something," Sam retorted. "Then last night's job. I know it was a vamp but…"

Now was the time to drop the bombshell on Sam. Dean interrupted, "It wasn't a vamp Sam. It was a Chaser."

Sam looked at Dean as if he couldn't believe it. "What?"

Dean explained, "It was a Chaser Sam. One that was long gone mentally." Dean reached over and pulled out Sam's laptop and opened it. He flipped to the web pages from that new database he surfed and bookmarked. He flipped it around so that Sam could read while he talked. "Apparently there are some Chasers that succumb to their vamp half. They start drinking blood and killing their victims much like the full blooded versions that we hunt. Some go crazy and theory is that it has to do with age."

Sam read the webpage that Dean pulled up. He was surprised that Dean found time to research all this. He didn't doubt Dean's ability; he knew that his brother just disliked doing it. "When did you figure this out?"

"I had a talk with Angie after she decided running along the roof was fun enough." When Sam looked up, Dean explained, "She was just getting a ball that some kids lost. You were out like a lamp and I'm still surprised that it didn't wake you. Anyway she mentioned something about getting old and just something in her face told me and I was curious as to why she didn't bother elaborating on the job that she was handed off by the Centurion."

"So seeing that crazy Chaser…"

"Sam I think she is afraid and too proud to show it. She's afraid that she could become like that and let's face it she's by far the oldest Chaser in existence," Dean replied as he leaned in close.

"Luck?"

"Sam, most Chasers on average don't live past two hundred and that is if they are lucky in terms of not getting their asses ganked by a couple of overzealous hunters or some disease like the plague or something like that," Dean replied looking at Sam. He could see the wheels turning in Sam's mind. No doubt he was going to try and corner Angela and ask her about it later. "Angie's over five hundred or shooting close to it. I'd say she has the right to be concerned about that."

Sam thought about it. It certainly answered a few questions about Angela's moodiness. This new revelation was like Dean's suggestion; it came out of left field. The idea that she was afraid sounded laughable and inconceivable. As far as he knew neither he nor Dean had ever seen her afraid. Hell he had seen her pissed as well as… happy (?) when she was fighting. She seemed to enjoy it especially if she got to use her chakram. This made it seem like they were being selfish since she was still working on breaking Dean's deal while ignoring her own pain and suffering. Maybe Dean's idea had merit. He looked up and said, "Then let's do it."

Dean was startled while he was studying the way his brother was processing everything. "What?"

"Let's do it. Take a few days off and find a place where we can get away from it all. Do it for Angie," Sam elaborated. Dean's idea didn't seem so absurd now that he laid down his reasons for it. It was the least they both could do after everything she had done and was still doing for them.

Dean grinned. Now they were on the same part of the story. "Okay you have any ideas?"

Sam would have answered but at that moment Angela came laden with a couple of cardboard boxes like they served at those old burger joints and set them on the table. She was also balancing three bottles of something in her fingers. She entertained the boys by flipping the bottles into the air and popping the tops off using the edge of the table and catching them without dropping them.

"Show off," Dean said with a good humored smile. He glanced at Sam warning him to keep quiet about their plans.

"Practice," Angela replied as she sat next to Sam and dished out the food. She ignored the slight scoffing that Dean made when she passed a container of fruit to Sam and took one out for herself. She ignored both of them when she reached for the packets of sugar and made a nice pile to dip each piece fruit in. That started an interesting conversation that lasted until they walked back to the motel.

Back at the motel Dean was looking at the ratty magazines that had been left behind by the previous guests looking for some ideas. Sam was on the laptop doing the same thing. It had to be something within the budget of virtually nothing or a credit card scam but it was hard. Sam was trying to pick things that he was certain would appeal to her just as Dean was but both went with the side they saw most of her when they conversed one on one and in the end, instead of arguing resorted to their usual of rock, paper, scissors.

They were in the middle of the second round when a knock sounded. Dean opened the door while Sam had a shotgun ready. It turned out to be a messenger boy who had something addressed to the both of them. Dean signed for it and opened it. He read it for a long time before answering Sam's nagging. He said, "I think we have our answer."

A/N: An interesting tidbit about Shadow Chasers and Sam and Dean decide to do something nice about it. What is Gabe up to? Find out next time on 'Trick'steen Candles...