You Can't Handle the Truth Part 2

"We've got to go," Dean said. "Thank you. Come on Angie." He said, lightly grabbing her arm.

Dean and Angela started walking towards the door.

"Sam's scaring me, Dean." Angela continued. "And I have a hunch that he's sleeping with other women, but I'm too afraid to ask him." She added.

~/~\~

Dean and Angela were walking back to the Impala. Dean called Bobby.

"Hey, anything you're itchin' to tell me?" Dean asked.

"Not really," Bobby replied over the phone. "Sorry to disappoint."

"Ah, that's alright," Dean replied. "I'm just testing a theory."

"Well, I'm here hittin' the books while drinking a nice glass of milk, while watching Tori & Dean," Bobby explained.

"Wh—wait, w-who and Dean?" Dean frowned.

"Tori Spelling," Bobby replied. "I'm a huge fan. Girl's a real talent."

"Oh, I guess it does work over the phone," Dean muttered.

"You know what else?" Bobby asked. "I get a pedicure once in a while—this nice Vietnamese joint."

"Okay. Okay, please stop." Dean pleaded.

"This one gal, Nhung Phuong—her name means 'velvet phoenix'. Tiny thing, but the grip on her." Bobby explained. "She starts on my toes, and I feel like I am gonna—

"Whoa, whoa!" Dean yelled. "Hey, come on, man—now I'm scarred for life. Thank you."

"I never told anyone that. Why am I telling you?" Bobby realized. "Maybe 'cause you're my favorite. Though, I have always liked Angie. Also, Sam's a better hunter…Lately, anyway." He added. "Whoa. Why the hell am I tellin' you this?!"

"Because I'm cursed," Dean replied. "Angie and anyone around me has been spouting out their secrets."

"Cursed?" Bobby asked.

"Yes." Dean nodded.

"How is it…that half the time you clean a mess, you end up dirty?" Bobby asked.

"Actually, this might be the best thing that's happened to me in a while," Dean replied.

"What do you mean?" Bobby asked. "Dean…Dean, what damn fool move are you…" he trailed off. "Put Angie on the phone, now."

"Gotta go, Bobby," Dean replied.

Bobby sighed. "Okay. But did you know my first girlfriend turned out to be a—

Dean hung up quickly. "No, no! Mm-mm. Mm-mm."

Dean and Angela got into the Impala.

Dean looked at Angela and frowned. He dialed Sam's number but got his voicemail.

"It's Sam. Leave me a message." Sam's voicemail said.

"Sam, it's me," Dean said. "Listen, Angie and I are on our way to you, but if you get this before then, give me a call back. There are a few things I need to ask you."

~/~\~

"So, why is there an investigation into a car accident?" the roommate asked, confused.

"It wasn't an accident," Sam replied. "Corey committed suicide."

The roommate started to break down. "You know…I wondered." She sobbed. "I-I'm sorry. I just…"

Sam handed her a box of tissues. "So, you had some idea Corey might have taken her own life?"

"Well, she had been going through a bit of a hard time lately…at school." The girl explained. "And then, um, her cat, Mittens, had just run away. But, really, it was her boyfriend. She was sure that he was cheating on her. But he was just very good at covering his tracks. Which, of course, made her obsessed with—

"Finding out the truth." Sam finished.

"Yeah." The girl nodded.

"You mind if I check out her room?" Sam asked.

~/~\~

Dean and Angela pulled up in the Impala. Dean's phone rang.

"Hey." Dean greeted.

"So…I saw you called." Lisa replied over the phone.

"Yeah, it's been crazy." Dean sighed.

"Ben won't even talk about it," Lisa replied.

"Lisa, I'm sorry, but this is actually the…worst time in the universe to talk." Dean said. "C-can we do this later?"

"You shoved my kid, Dean." Lisa snapped. "How about we do this now?"

"It wasn't like that." Dean tried.

"Then how was it?"

"I can't really explain." Dean sighed.

"You want to know the truth?" Lisa asked.

Dean closed his eyes. "Probably not."

"You've got so much buried in there, and you push it down, and you push it down." She replied. "Do you honestly think that you can go through life like that and not freak out? Just, what, drink half a fifth a night and you're good?"

"You knew what you signed up for." Dean retorted.

"Yeah." Lisa agreed. "But I didn't expect Sam to come back. And I'm glad he's okay. I am. But the minute he walked through that door, I knew. It was over. You two and Angela have the most unhealthy, tangled up, crazy thing I've ever seen." She ranted. "And as long as he's in your life, you're never gonna be happy." She added. She paused for a moment. "That came out so much harsher than I meant."

Dean swallowed thickly. "It's not your fault."

"I'm not saying don't be close to Sam and Angela," Lisa replied. "I'm close to my sister. But if she got killed, I wouldn't bring her back from the dead!"

"Okay, Lisa…" Dean sighed. "I'm not gonna lie. Okay, me, Sam, and Angie, we…we've got issues. No doubt. But you and Ben—

"Me and Ben can't be in this with you." She cut him off. "I'm sorry." She added before hanging up.

~/~\~

Sam was searching Corey's bedroom. He found a box under the bed. He opened the box and took out a cat's skull.

"Sorry, Mittens," Sam mumbled.

~/~\~

Dean and Angela were walking up while Sam walked down the stairs.

"Hey, where have you guys been?" Sam asked. "I found something."

"It can wait," Dean replied. "We got to talk."

"Yeah." Sam shrugged. "What's up?"

Sam, Dean, and Angela walked back downstairs.

"There are a few things I want to ask you, and, uh, you're gonna tell me the truth," Dean said.

"Uh, yeah, Dean." Sam nodded. "Of course. What are you talking about?" he added. "Whoa. Are you saying you're…"

"I asked for the truth. And you know what? I'm getting it." Dean cut him off. "So, like I said, I have a few questions for you. When that vamp attacked me, why did you just stand there? Why did you physically keep Angie from killing the vamp?"

Sam faltered, then turned on the puppy dog eyes. "I-I didn't." he stammered. "I froze…and I-I just wanted to keep Angie safe…"

"Sam, you know that's not true," Angela replied. "Hell, Samuel said you knew—

"You froze," Dean repeated, cutting Angela off. "You have been Terminator since you got back."

"I don't know." Sam shrugged. "Shock? My knee-jerk reaction was to grab Angie's arm. And then it was too late. I feel terrible about it. Believe me." Sam added. "Dean…I can't lie here. Do you guys really think I would let something like that happen on purpose? H-how could you even—

Angela remained unconvinced but kept quiet.

"Okay." Dean sighed. "Okay. Sorry. I…I thought—I thought I saw something. I…I guess I was wrong. It's just been a really, really bad day."

"Hey." Sam put his hand on Dean's shoulder. "It's okay. I got your back and Angie's back, alright? I always have."

"Thanks, Sammy." Dean nodded.

Sam turned. His expression went blank as he walked down the stairs.

~/~\~

Dean, holding Corey's cat skull, walked to join Sam and Angela at the kitchen table.

"So this was the chick's pet?" Dean raised a brow.

Sam was working on his laptop and Angela was looking through a book.

"Well, she was obsessed," Sam replied.

"I think you mean crazy," Angela said.

Sam took the cat skull from Dean. "Alright, so cat skull, uh, grains-of-paradise seed, devil's shoestring." Sam read. "Mix 'em well, you got yourself a summoning spell."

"Demon?" Dean asked.

Sam turned the computer to show Dean and Angela a webpage about Veritas, Goddess of Truth. "God," Sam replied. "Corey was so desperate for the truth about her boyfriend's cheating heart, she went digging around. Nothing panned out, so she went looking for a different kind of help."

"Opened a door she couldn't close," Angela added.

"Yeah." Sam nodded. "Now anyone in town who asks aloud for the truth invokes Veritas. And she doesn't just give it to you. She slams you with it until you kill yourself and she gets her tribute."

"So, all that 'tribute' vanishing from the morgue," Dean said. "What do you think, uh, Soylent Green situation?"

"Gods got to eat, too." Angela sighed. "Which means we got to take her out or you're on the menu, Dean."

"Alright, well, what do we know besides crazy cat lady?" Dean asked.

"Well, dogs are her Achilles heel." Sam shrugged.

"Naturally," Dean replied.

"And she was a pretty hands-on goddess back in the day," Sam explained. "Her thing was coming down from the mountain to speak truth to the masses. She wanted more than tribute. She wanted to be worshipped."

"An attention whore." Dean clarified.

"If you want to put it that way." Sam shrugged.

Angela's eyes fell on the TV which was playing the news. "And what is the 21st-century version of speaking truth to the masses?"

~/~\~

A large, backlit poster outside of the TV studio doors advertised the show, 'Frank Talk', with Ashley Frank. Sam, Dean, and Angela exited from behind the poster. Sam carried a desktop computer tower.

"So you really think this God is slumming as some farm-league Diane Sawyer?" Sam raised a brow.

Angela shrugged. "Call it a hunch."

Dean paid off a doorman. Sam put the computer in the trunk of the Impala. Sam, Dean, and Angela got in the car.

~/~\~

Sam, Dean, and Angela sat on the motel beds. Sam sat alone on one and Angela sat next to Dean on the other. The TV studio's computer was running through Sam's laptop. Sam started the recording, which was raw footage of 'Frank Talk'.

"I'm Ashley Frank." The woman said before she started coughing. "I'm Ashley Frank, bringing you 'Frank Talk'." She smiled. She sighed. "Let's do that again."

"Okay, still rolling." An off-camera producer replied.

"I'm Ashley Frank, bringing you 'Frank Talk'." She smiled. "Again." She demanded. "I'm Ashley Frank. Are organic fruits and veggies really worth the cost?"

Dean sat back on the bed and drank his coffee. "She's creepy. I mean, the hair alone. I don't know. Maybe there's nothing here."

Sam was increasing the speed of the video. "Maybe."

After a few hours, sunlight started to come through the window. Angela was asleep in Dean's bed. Dean had moved to the table and was eating pizza. Sam was still staring intensely at the video.

The recording kept playing at an increased speed. During the last statement, Ashley Frank stood outside of a house. In the background, a large dog started barking at her.

"Are we still rolling?" Ashley Frank asked nervously.

"Hold on," Sam said. "Check this out."

Dean came over and sat on the bed next to Angela. He gently nudged her, causing her to wake up slowly. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and sat up.

"Zoom in on that," Dean said.

Sam nodded, zooming in on the video. Magnified, Ashley Frank's eyes had a non-human glow.

~/~\~

Ashley Frank drove away in a red convertible. Sam, Dean, and Angela followed in the Impala. They parked near her large, modern house.

"Looks pretty normal, right?" Sam asked.

"I'm sure inside it's chock full of creep," Dean muttered.

The house's interior lit up as Ashley entered.

Dean held up three large knives. "Ready?"

Sam held up a jar of liquid. "Yeah."

Angela raised a brow. "And that's…?"

"Dog blood." Sam shrugged.

Angela looked at the jar in disgust. "Do we even wanna know where you got that?"

"Probably not," Sam replied.

"Ugh." Dean shuddered as Sam dipped the knives in the dog's blood. "Alright, let's do this," Dean said.

Dean, Sam, and Angela exited the Impala. They walked into the dining room, which looked strangely normal.

"So where's all the creep?" Sam asked, looking around.

Dean, Sam, and Angela followed a cat downstairs. They stopped at a mosaic of Veritas. They followed the cat into another room. The cat jumped onto a gurney and lapped at a bloody, mutilated human corpse.

"You came for dinner." Veritas smiled.

Sam, Dean, and Angela turned to see Ashley Frank, now dressed in a goddess's raiment. She waved her hand, sending the three hunters hurtling into a hanging torso. They fell to the floor of the large basin and lied there, unconscious.

The three hunters were sitting up in the basin. Dean and Angela were unconscious. Sam woke up to find his hands tied behind his back, to a post. He saw Veritas put the dog's blood-soaked knives into a drawer. Dean and Angela woke up, and they were startled by the bloody torso hanging over them.

"Mm. Sit tight." Veritas hummed. She pointed to the mutilated corpse. "You're up next."

Dean and Angela were shocked. Sam covertly slipped out a switchblade from his sleeve.

Veritas opened the dentist's mouth and reached in with pinchers.

Sam opened his knife and communicated a look to Dean and Angela.

Veritas pulled the dentist's tongue out of his mouth. "The tongue…is the tastiest part. It's where the lies roll off." She said before taking a bite.

Dean and Angela closed their eyes, disgusted.

"Mmm. Mmm!" Veritas hummed. "I cannot wait to eat yours. I mean, I've seen liars before, but you three? Gold standard." She put down the tongue and walked away.

Sam worked his knife into the rope.

"Point of professional pride." Dean sassed.

Veritas stood in front of Dean. "I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you, Dean." She warned. "You know what happens when you base your life on lies, right? The truth comes along and…So, while you've still got your tongue, God knows you've got an earful."

Sam's knife cut into the rope.

Veritas sat next to Dean. "I think it's your turn to spill some." She said. "How 'bout we play a little truth or truth? What should we ask Dean first, hmm? Something…personal about you?" she looked at Sam. "Hey, Dean, I'm curious. What do you really feel about your brother?"

Dean hesitated at first. "Better now. As of yesterday, I wanted to kill him in his sleep."

Sam looked surprised.

"I thought he was a monster," Dean admitted.

Veritas nodded. "Very good, Dean." She praised. She walked over to Angela. "Okay, Angela, how do you feel about Sam?"

Angela looked up at Veritas and clenched her jaw slightly. "I feel like I don't know him anymore. Something's different about him and I don't know what. But it scares me—no, he scares me." She swallowed thickly. "But what hurts the most," she paused, looking at Sam. "Is that he doesn't love me anymore. The love of my life doesn't love me anymore."

Veritas smiled victoriously and walked over to Sam. "Alright, Sam." She said. "How do you feel about the band getting back together?"

Sam swallowed thickly. "Look…what we do…is hard." He replied. "But…we watch out for each other. And that's what's important. And that's it. That's the truth."

Veritas looked at Sam, confused. "No." she shook her head. "No, it's not."

"You said yourself—I can't lie," Sam replied.

"How are you doing that?" she snapped. "That's not possible. You're lying to me!"

"No, I'm not!" Sam yelled defensively.

"What are you?" Veritas glared. She looked at Dean and Angela. "What is he?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sam scoffed.

"Really?" Veritas looked back at him. "I doubt that. I doubt anything that comes out of your mouth right now. You're not human."

Dean's eyes widened in shock and confusion.

Angela frowned. "What?"

Veritas raised a brow. "You didn't know that?" she asked. "Now, that I believe."

Sam cut through the rope, tossed the knife to Dean, grabbed one of the dog's blood-soaked knives and rushed at Veritas. Veritas knocked him back with a series of punches. Sam fell back onto the floor, dropping the knife. Veritas began to choke him. Dean cut through his rope, then Angela's. Dean grabbed the hook and impaled Veritas through the back. She turned around. While she was distracted, Sam plunged the dog's blood-soaked knife into her heart. Her body lied half in the basin.

Sam stood up. Dean stepped slightly in front of Angela while brandishing one of the other knives at Sam.

~/~\~

"Guys, it's me," Sam assured as Dean threated him with the knife.

Angela shook her head. "You aren't Sam." She replied.

"Just listen." Sam pleaded.

"What are you?!" Dean yelled.

"I'm me," Sam assured. "Look, please, just let me explain."

"Why the hell should we believe anything you say?" Angela asked, swallowing thickly.

"Okay, okay. You two want the truth?" Sam asked. "Here it is. Here it is. God's honest. She was right. There's something wrong with me, really wrong. I've known it for a while. I lied to you guys. Yeah." He explained. "And, Dean…I let you get turned by that vamp. I kept Angie from helping you. Because I knew there was a cure, and we needed in that nest! And I knew you could handle it!"

Dean glared at Sam. "Handle it?!" he snapped. "I could've died! I could've killed Ben."

"And that should stop me cold," Sam replied. "But I—I just don't feel it."

Dean paused for a moment. "You what?"

"Ever since I came back, I am a better hunter than I've ever been! Nothing scares me anymore! 'Cause I can't feel it. I don't know what's wrong with me. I think…I need help."

Sam looked solicitous. Dean and Angela were clearly emotional. Dean turned away, then turned back. Sam looked hopeful. Dean hesitated, then punched Sam. Angela wanted to stop him, but she was frozen in shock. Dean punched Sam repeatedly and viciously, only stopping after Sam was unconscious and bloody.

Finally, Angela pulled herself out of her daze and pulled Dean off of Sam and hugged him tightly. Dean hugged Angela back and rested his chin on her head.

"We're gonna fix this, Angie," he whispered. "I swear to God."

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! We got a heartbreaking confession from Angela, and Sam finally admitted that he stopped Angela from helping Dean. In the next chapter Dean and Angela find out that Sam doesn't have his soul...and how will Angela react? Stay yuned to find out! Don't forget to review, your feedback is extremely important! Love you guys.

~Emily