Strange Relations

Chapter 5

Dale trailed slightly behind Sam and Dean as they walked through the parking lot of the bowling alley. "If this guy is so annoying tell me again why we're going through so much trouble to speak to him again?"

Sam glanced back at her as he pulled open the door. "We don't have much of a choice, there doesn't seem to be any other reason for all the demons to be here."

"Sammy is right, Gabriel is the only one who can answer our questions."

They walked over to the rental counter and waited while Gabriel put away several pairs of shoes before he turned to them with a huge grin. "Hey, are you guys finally ready to bowl? I've got your shirts right here!" He reached beneath the counter to grab them, but Dean stopped him.

"No, we are not here to bowl, we need to ask you a few questions," Dean told him.

The archangel's shoulders slumped slightly and he gave an exaggerated groan. "Questions, I don't want to answer questions! Bowling is so much more fun!"

"Lucky us we have an ADHD angel, yay," Dale said with an eyeroll. "Answer the questions, feathers, or I'll shave your head."

Gabriel blinked before his grin returned. "Hey I like her. A lot. Straight to the point. What do you want to know, cupcake?"

"First off, do not ever call me cupcake again. Second, tell us why the demons are all up in your business?"

He shrugged. "No idea, I thought they were here because of the church and Eulalie, but they haven't gone anywhere near it. It's like they don't even know it exists. I've been hanging around trying to figure out what it is they want."

"And?" Dale prompted him.

After handing a pair of shoes to a woman, he turned back and shrugged. "No clue, okay, well, not a definite clue. It looks as if they're searching for something, well someone actually. One of them I caught up with was muttering something about being close 'to finding him', never found out who the 'him' is, I smote ... smited ... whatever, I sent his ass back to Hell because he wouldn't saying anything besides they were close to finding whoever it is and he was starting to annoy me."

Sam frowned and waved a hand around. "Wait, why would they be searching for someone?"

"No clue, but ..." He stooped and dug beneath the counter, pulling out a map of the town. "This is the general area where they're searching." He tapped a finger inside the circle he's drawn on the map in red crayon. "They're moving methodically from block to block."

"What's inside that circle that would interest them?" Dean asked.

"It's nothing but residential neighborhoods," Gabriel replied.

"You haven't been able to find any clues?" Dale asked as she shoved Dean over so she could look at the map.

"I haven't exactly been investigating it in depth. Just handling issues where they pop up."

"Why not?" Dale glanced at her brothers. "Are you sure this joker is an archangel because he's about the most useless archangel in existence."

"Hey now, that was insulting!" Gabriel stuck out his lower lip in a pout.

Dean snorted. "He's an archangel, trust me, he's just mostly interested in himself before others."

"Wounded. Dean, you struck me through the heart."

Dale snatched the map off the counter and turned away, folding it as she headed for the door. "Thanks for the map, angel boy."

"You can keep the bowling shirts," Dean told him before following Dale.