NOTE: I thought Abbadon was going to play a much bigger part in this fic, but I'm starting to think I was mistaken. So, there'll be some other characters to fill her spot on the "Featured Characters" list up there, but I'm not going to add them until they're introduced so it won't ruin any surprises.
Also, I'm attempting to change page breaks, so we'll see how that goes, too. (PSA: IT DIDN'T WORK SO I HAD TO DELETE THE CHAPTER, EDIT, REUPLOAD, IT WAS A MESS. Won't happen again. lol Sorry, folks.)
Okie doke, here's chapter six!
One would think that traveling with an angel had its own rewards. Catherine thought no such thing. At first, Balthazar was tolerable, if not annoying. He had quickly become agitated that he had to travel with a human and, therefore, agitated Catherine all the more.
Her last two meals consisted of very slow chewing while having a glaring contest with the most intolerable angel in existence.
At first they had talked. Traded a few stories about monster hunting, current events, and the like, but they both grew more annoyed with the other as time grew on, so their time together had been composed of heated silences for the most part.
Needless to say, both Catherine and Balthazar were extremely happy to finally reach Sioux Falls in the early morning and find the fabled salvage yard.
"Finally," Cat sighed, parking the car along a row of junked automobiles and getting out, more than prepared to hug these Winchester people and dump her angel on them.
Her spirits fell a bit when Balthazar, once also climbing out of the car, looked around the place with a frown and called to her. "Wait."
Heading in the direction of what looked like an old garage shop, she turned back to him. "What?" then quickly added, "Don't ruin this for me."
"The house," he said, pointing to a tree past a row of cars. "It used to peak over this mess."
Catherine quickly started to jog over in the direction he had gestured in, having no quick comebacks for that one. She stopped short once she found the charred remains of a structure that she could only assume was the house Bal had mentioned. With a tired groan, she rubbed at her eyes.
Balthazar slowly walked around her to take a closer look at the rubble, but it wasn't like he could glean anything from it all. This looked as if it had happened a while ago. He crouched down to pick at a piece of black wood, trying to come to terms with just how long he's been gone for, but his thoughts were broken by Catherine's words and he was thankful for it.
"Do you think they're still in town?"
He looked up to what still stood and back down to the piece in his hand before throwing it to the ground with a sigh. "No," he answered, straightening back up and turning to look at her as he spoke. "Knowing these boys, this wasn't an accident. They ran away from what was trying to kill them, but this happened well over a year ago. Nature's begun to take it back and I honestly don't think they would stand for it if they were around."
"Then we ask around," she replied, folding her arms across her chest, "unless you have another place in mind."
"Afraid not, love," Balthazar sighed again, flopping his arms to his side and moving around her to go back to the car. "Not even sure what talking to locals would turn up. Either no one knows or they aren't willing to tell."
She turned around to follow after him, gradually getting annoyed again, but it wasn't the angel's fault this time. "What else do we do, then? Searching around the property would help, but the trail is over a year old, like you said... Don't you have some sort of way to find people on a spiritual level or something?"
"I would have done that already," he replied from over his shoulder. "The boys have anti-detection sigils etched into their ribs so that angels won't find them and I can't sense the old man. He could have gotten one, too. Who knows?"
Catherine rubbed the back of her neck in thought. They couldn't very well leave empty handed and waiting for Abbadon to show back up wouldn't be very wise. Balthazar seemed just as trapped as she was, because he simply leaned against the car and crossed his arms instead of getting in.
She stopped a few feet in front of him, looking around the junk heap. "We might as well stay a night in town, anyway," she finally spoke up. "Asking people might get too much attention, but looking around can't hurt."
Catherine was typing away on her laptop when Balthazar sauntered back into their motel room, announcing his presence by a slam of the door. "I've snooped all over the police headquarters and the town hall," he informs her before falling into a seat across from her on the table. "There's a surprising amount of nothing."
She grimaced. "Not that surprising. I've searched on every local database there is, but there's nothing about any fire at that salvage yard or anyone by the names Bobby Singer or Sam and Dean Winchester. It's like they weren't here... or-"
"A big cover up." The angel leaned on to the table, picking at her water bottle. "Do ever drink liquor?"
At the change of subject, she looked up to him in slight confusion. "I've been driving."
He just stared back in the same confusion, like she just told him something that was completely irrelevant, so Cat shook her head and drew her attention back to her computer.
"Anyway," she continued while he just looked back to her water bottle. "I can't say if it's connected or not, but it sounds like there's a job just south of here."
"You mean your sort of jobs," Bal half-muttered, leaning back in his seat again with her water, apparently stolen now.
She just twisted her lips and continued skimming the article. "Dad and his kid claim that things are being moved around their home, strange sounds in their walls, a lot of household accidents..."
"Sounds like homicidal mice."
"Yeah, but the kid claims his dead mother is living in his closet," she sighed and leaned back in her chair, too, stretching her back.
Balthazar rephrased his earlier deduction. "Homicidal mice and a kid that needs therapy."
"Maybe," she straightened up again, "but what if it is a ghost?"
"How would that even help us?" he asked, looking at her through his newly acquired water bottle. "If you were sure this ghost was connected or even if you were sure this was an actual ghost, then you might have something, dear."
"All right." Catherine's lips pulled up along the edges as she closed her laptop. "I guess we'll just sit here and... enjoy each other's company."
She smiled at him while Balthazar peeked his blue eyes over her water bottle in disapproval. It took another minute until he groaned and slouched into his seat. "Fine."
"You'll need an ID," Catherine said, immediately standing up and heading towards the door.
"A what?"
Balthazar followed Catherine outside to see her digging in the trunk of her car. He walked around her to peer in and quickly rolled his eyes at all the sigils and artillery. "You hunters are insane."
"Please," she scoffs, digging through a bag of fake ID's. "This is low profile for us." Finally, she pulls one out of the bottom of the bag that should fit him well enough. At least it was for a male. She had been hunting alone for so long, she was surprised she had any of those left. "Here. Just keep that on you. Your clothes... should do, I guess."
He took the fake badge and looked down at his usual attire before giving her a look. "My clothing options are fine, thank you," he scoffed, then looked at his new ID. "I can't believe you lot get away with impersonating federal agents at every turn."
"It's for a good cause," Catherine answered him, digging further in the trunk for some decent rock salt bullets for her pistol, just in case. She also dug out another older pistol and handed that over to him. "This, too."
Balthazar was in the middle of tucking the badge away in his blazer when he gave her a very dumbfounded look. Cat rolled her eyes. "Feds don't go around unarmed. Trust me, I'm not crazy enough to hand an angel a loaded gun."
With a grimace, he took the unarmed piece with two fingers. "As if it were the worst weapon I've ever held."
"It's one you don't know how to use," she muttered back, finally pulling away and closing the trunk. "I can just see you shooting me in the foot before we even get there."
He grumbled while tucking the gun away, too. "I told you, I'm a fast learner."
"You are not probing my brain," she told him for at least the fifth time since their adventure started.
He just gave her a little sarcastic smile with a tilt of his head. "Don't trust me?"
She gave him a glare in return. "Cute." She then turned away to go back to their room. "Let me change and we'll go."
"Is it human women or just humans in general that take forever to do anything?" he asked, but received only a glare in reply as she just stopped to look back at him. Instead, he groaned and leaned against the back tire of the Challenger. "I hate you."
"Hate you, too, sweetie," she muttered, disappearing back into their room.
And another chapter done. This one was somewhat long, so I hope you guys enjoy that. Also, thank you for the review last time, folks. And a HUGE thank you for all the follows/faves I've been getting for this. I'm glad it seems well received so far.
Really enjoying that this fic is on a roll now. We're getting close to some big things, woohoo! (Though, I wouldn't be surprised if this thing gets well over 20 chapters for all the stuff I have planned right now. At least, I hope.)
Thanks for reading!