"Where's my brother?" "!" "What are you?" "I'm a demon." "Everybody!" "You... owe me." "So, do we have a deal?" "You killed my dad." "Mother." "I'll get out." "Give me the girl." "Tell me you had to do this." "Son?" "Fergus!" "What's the matter?" "Nothing." "Nothing?" "You're soaked in the horror sweat." "Haven't seen that since the plague years." "Darlin', what can I do?" "Not a thing, you evil bitch." ""Not a thing, you evil bitch", mother." "Let's not get too cozy just yet." "She barely speaks to me." "She's like a wounded animal, just watching me." "Cass, you know what?" "You really tried to do the right thing that night." "You did." "This guy Claire was hanging out with Randy, all he did was use her." "She thought he was kind, and for that she loved him." "Shows how little kindness there was in her life." "Whatever Randy did, he didn't deserve..." "No, yeah." "I know." "I know." "I hear you." "Dean has had to kill before." "We both have." "But that was..." "That was what?" "Dean." "It was a massacre." "That's what it was." "There was a time I was a hunter, not a stone-cold killer?" "You can say it." "You're not wrong." "I crossed the line." "Guys, this thing's got to go." " That won't be easy." " Then, burn it off!" " Cut it off!" "" " It is more than just a physical thing." "It will take a very powerful force to remove the effect." "Dean, we have been through all the lore." "There's nothing." "This reaches back to the time of creation." "It may predate the lore." "If we had the Demon Tablet, maybe." "But you said it was missing." "It is." "There may be another way." "Oh, may I help you?" "His Majesty didn't want you wandering around unattended." "Certainly not in here." "Oh, no, I was just looking for a wee scrap of food." "That swill they bring me, hardly fit for the mother of the King." "I wouldn't know." "I don't eat." "If you please, I have my orders." "Oh, you poor, dear man." "Guthrie, is it?" "Terrified of displeasing him, aren't you?" "I know how my son can be." "You're all scared spitless." "Still, a boy listens to his mum." "I'd be happy to put in a good word for you." "I'm fine." "Thank you." "Guthrie, whatever this is, it bores me rigid." "Do I sign or not?" "I found it in order, sir." "Do sign." "Mummy." "Bored?" "Suicidal?" "Both?" "Hardly, my dear." "I'm learning so much." "This place of yours..." "Poor thing, I see now why you are the way you are." "My goodness!" "The discontent, the gossip, the plotting." " Plotting?" " Aye." "And that one, worst of the lot." "Watch yourself around him, mark my word." "You do realize that's exactly what you said about the guard, Gerald, down in the cells." "And was I not right?" "I know you mistrust me, and I earned that." "And it's a pity because more than any of your other subjects," "I wish you success." "I know what you're up to here, mother." "Do you, dear?" "You are shamelessly sucking up so that I'll free you so you can run amok and gum up my operation once again." "No, thank you." "Free, schmee." "Why would I want to be free when I can be here with my son?" "Does it hurt that you are the king and there are advantages for me in that?" "No." "But more important, I'm a mother." "Sue me." "I'm proud." "Excuse me if I don't curl up in your lap." "You did manage to stay away for 300 years." "Please." "We've been over this." "The locals were going to try me for witchcraft, and that never ends well." "I had to flee!" " You could have sent for me!" " Then came the chance to study under the great Milanese witch," "Letitia di Albioni." "And then there was the unpleasantness with the Grand Coven." "Anyway, it was no environment for a child!" "So locking me away in a squalid workhouse was your solution?" "!" "I will not apologize for being a career woman." "Besides, what's 300 years more or less to folks like us?" "Nothing." "I'm back now." "We can be a family." "They should be here by now." "Was there word of a delay?" "All I do is watch the door." "Who are you expecting, Castiel?" "Thank you, Ingrid." "I did as you asked." "At great risk, Castiel." "I know." "I approached you because I know you share my belief that it is angels' mission to protect humans." "And it's possible I can eliminate a great threat to them, but, I will need his help." "He must be returned intact." "Is that clear?" "Yes." "Told you last time I saw you I'd get out of the slammer." "It's temporary." "Trust me." "Speaking of temporary, you must have borrowed some more Grace." "You're looking very good." "Of course, we both know that won't last." "Is that why I'm here?" "You think I'm gonna help you?" "This isn't about me." "Of course not." "The great Castiel never stoops to such selfishness." "So, what is it, then?" "Oh, I see." "I'm betting you didn't tell Ingrid about him." "Hello, Sam." "Here to kill me?" "Lovely room." "It's where you bring the kinky chicks." "Am I right?" "I'll ask the questions here." "Your only job is to provide information." "Oh, well." "Information does happen to be a specialty." "Got about 2 billion fun facts up here." "Of course, whether I choose to cough one up or not is another matter." "We need to know how to remove the Mark of Cain from Dean's arm." "What?" "He's back?" "Because of the Mark?" "So..." "He's a demon." "No." "Okay, what then?" "Did he "kill a human" or something?" "He's gone nuclear!" "Total foaming-at-the-mouth, balls-out maniac." "That's fantastic!" "Do you know how to remove it?" "Maybe." "But here's the thing:" "you expect any help out of me, you keep that crazy brother of yours on a short leash." "Buddy," "I don't care what happens to you." "You killed my brother." "I was hoping to be gone by the time you got back." "If you don't like the room, we can find another one." "It's not the room, Castiel." "It's you." "This isn't going to work." "Come on." "You look like my father." "It is his body, but he's dead." "And I get it, you feel bad, but you, whoever you are, are nothing to me." "Claire, that's not true." "I'm in large part responsible for the way your life has unfolded." "I have a responsibility to help you." "No." "You don't." "Claire." "You have seen things, you've been through things that no one your age should have." "And you are adrift." "I want to help you have a life." "I have a life." "I'm good with it." "If what you mean is a normal life, well, that ship has sailed." "That doesn't have to be the case." "You're still young." "Stop talking to me like you're my father." "You killed my father." "And that friend of yours killed the last thing I had closest to family." "Are you speaking of Randy?" "Family?" "A man had you in that room, and Randy didn't make a move to help you." "Maybe because he was at gunpoint." "Dean Winchester's a monster." "It's possible there's a little monster in all of us." "You want me to trust you?" "And the fact that you'd even try to defend him just proves to me that I can't." "Claire." "No, Castiel!" "I'm done." "I have to be on my own." "Ain't life a bitch?" "Nebbishy little guy, me, always sticking it to the lunkhead jocks." "Screw the Mark." "Let's just kill him." "Boy, he really is a mess." "Who knew the Mark was so toxic?" "Well..." "Actually, I did." "You know it is going to own you sooner than later." "So do how do we get rid of it?" " Just like that, social hour's over?" " Yes." "And now we're moving on to our keynote speaker." "Which is you..." "With us asking the questions and me taking the personal pleasure of carving the answers out of you." "Just..." "Whoa." "Hold on there, badass." "Lighten up." "Why do you just assume I'm not gonna be helpful?" "Because you're a dickwad." "But I'm your dickwad." "I have a special place in my non-heart for you both, to which end, ta-da!" "," "I would be tickled to help you pop this biblical zit." "To do it, you are gonna need one specific thing." "Your old bud," "The First Blade." "What?" "As I said, ain't life a bitch?" "This is the single worst idea I've ever heard." "You just whacked a whole houseful of people and that's when the Blade was nowhere around, and now you want to be in actual contact with it?" "We don't know that I have to be in contact with it." "All we know is that we need it." "No, all we know is, he says we need it." "We don't even know what he wants us to do with it." "Step a time, all right?" "We play it safe, we learn whatever this spell is, how it works, and we keep the Blade out of my hand." "Are you sure this isn't the Mark making you want the damn thing?" "Why would we trust anything Metatron says?" " I don't trust Metatron." " You don't tr..." "Then what?" "What's his game if he is lying, okay?" "The Blade without me is useless, the Blade with me is trouble for him." "Then what does he want?" "I don't know, but if we weren't willing to take a shot, then what was the point in bringing him here?" "Unless you got a better idea." "Of course you recall the lovely lullaby I sang to you nightly after you fed the goat." "You never sung me a lullaby." "You dosed me with whiskey until I passed out." "Even then, I had a touch for pharmacology." "Your mum was a prodigy." "Funny." "Not what I called you." "Business." "Squirrel." "It's been awhile." "Back to your former self?" "Crowley, we need to meet a.s.a.p." "Where?" "Got to go." "Urgent." "A matter of State." "My son." "So important." "Shall I wait dinner for you?" "You don't cook." "I don't eat." "It's a perfect arrangement." "Not even a goodbye." "After my mom split and went crazy," "Randy was like a father to me." "First I lose my first dad, then I lose my second, and who killed him and trashed my life?" "The buddy of the guy who killed my first dad and wants to be my third dad." "Sounds just like my life." "Complications and pain, that's all family gets you." "Yes." "That's why me and Tony keep moving." "No strings." "Why don't you hang with us for awhile and unload this whole mess?" "You might want to reconsider." "People near me get pretty unlucky pretty fast." "Oh, my." "That's him again." "The guy who killed your second dad, or the guy who killed your first dad?" "The second thing." " Tell him to get lost." " I did." "He's a" ""turn the other cheek" kind of guy." "Hon, you seem real sweet, but sweetness don't clean up messes." "Right." "Really, Crowley?" "Radio silence?" "Say something." "You want me to do what?" "!" "Okay, we need you to bring back..." "Bring back the Blade?" "I don't think so!" "You don't have to give the thing to me." " I should say not." " No, no." "Just retrieve it and hang onto it until we need it." "You." "Moose." "You're the sane one." "You on board with this?" "!" "Wings of titania, bear mine eyes aloft as I bid thee." "It's insane." "You want me to procure the most dangerous weapon on the planet for Dean Winchester, the man who goes mental every time he touches it!" "I thought you wanted to go for a beer, catch a film." "If this plan works..." "It's not a plan." "It's a probable death sentence for me and my kind." "If it works, it's better for you." "When the Mark is gone, the Blade can't operate." "Win-win." "Huh?" "Win-win!" "Stop that." "It can't operate." "It's hidden." "The Blade might be powered down, but the Mark is not, and I'm doing everything I can to keep it together." "You think the body count around me is high right now?" "Wait till hal takes over." "We figured you stashed the Blade somewhere far away..." "Damn right." "It's in a crypt with my bones." "All right, well?" "I hate guam this time of year." "And why is this imperial communiqué coming through you?" "The King always deals with me mano a mano." "The King, my son, had pressing affairs and asked me, his mother, to speak with you, his most trusted underling." "He said, "only Guthrie can be trusted with this task"." "I don't know." "It's not your place to know, just to obey." "I did mention that as His Majesty's mother," "I have an unerring sense of what or who is best for my son, yes?" "Ad nauseam." "You will recall it was I who exposed the traitor Gerald." "The one the King executed." "Turns out, not all demons are nice, and I am a tigress when it comes to my bonny lad." "What is this task the King requires?" "Your résumé indicates you were a crossroads demon before your promotion?" "I was." "Then you do travel." "Is that not correct?" "The First Blade is back in play, and Crowley is the one getting it?" "I don't mean to be an alarmist, but you..." "Well, you know us." "When we screw ourselves, we like to go whole hog." "This would be the Crowley who let the Blade turn Dean into a demon?" "I don't have a choice, okay?" "I don't do this, I'm down the rabbit hole." "Hear evil, see evil, do evil:" "the trifecta." "Cass, let us worry about this." "You've got enough on your plate with Claire." "Claire is gone." "Gone where?" "I don't know." "I should have stopped her, but I am certain that she is destined for more trouble and disappointment." "She is so, so full of rage." "If I could make it better, I would." "That's actually why I'm here." "I was hoping you might reach out to her." " Me?" " Yes." "Seriously, I'm probably the last person she would want to hear from." "I thought there would be a connection:" "one extremely messed-up human to another." "You could explain why you murdered her only friend." "Well, when you put it like that." "All I know is she won't talk to me." "And if she understood the kind of man Randy was and the danger she was in, she might..." "What the hell?" "Why not?" "Long shots seem to be the theme around here." "I'm gonna go make a sandwich." "I'll text you her number." "Okay." "I like texting." "Emoticons." "He seems calm." "Considering the effects of the Mark and Metatron in proximity." "Too calm." "I think he's worried about what will happen if he pops the cork." "Oh, oh!" "Sciatica." "I need a firm chair." "So I see." "I have it." "This is my responsibility." "I will deliver it only to the King." "You have demonstrated unimpeachable loyalty, Guthrie." "You more than any deserve this reward from a grateful monarch." "Don't screw with me, sycophant." "What in hell?" "!" "Exactly!" "What in the hell is going on in hell?" "!" "You said Guthrie was one of your best, your most trusted, and yet I found him inciting unrest amongst the court." " Can't be true." " Can't it?" "He said you were colluding with someone called Winchester?" "Yes?" "And that you were going to fetch him..." "Oh, what was it?" "The First Blade, which could kill us all." "He said he got it first because you couldn't be trusted." "Naturally, I confronted him, and he attacked me." "I had no choice." "I had a vision of Guthrie attacking me." "A prophecy." "I am an interpreter of signs." " It's not possible." " I know, sonny." "And yet..." "How could he have known?" "Spies everywhere." "I did try to warn you." "Fergus, these Winchesters he mentioned, they're not the hunter Winchesters, are they?" "Because they, too, can be a great danger for us." "Today we got lucky, but tomorrow, who knows?" "Who is there left for you to trust?" "We loved living there." "It was our dream house." "Of course, the family came home from vacation, screwed up everything." "I just about peed myself when the wife pulled that gun out of her purse." "We tore out there, ran 2 miles, bare-ass naked." "Hey, it's Dean." "Claire, we need to talk in person." "Just tell me where, okay?" " Call me." " That him again?" "Guy that caused you so much grief?" "Worse." "Dean Winchester." "The one who butchered Randy." "And why?" "What was this Dean's connection to Randy?" "He didn't even know him." "Or the others." "And he gutted him, and I saw him standing there, soaked in blood, looking like he enjoyed it." "And now he wants to meet and talk." "Maybe you should." "What?" "Me and Tony are worried for you." "With this guy around, you're always gonna be looking over your shoulder." "We've handled situations like this before." "We can take care of him so that they won't bother you anymore." "Beat him up bad." "Or... something more permanent." "Yeah." "Squirrel." "I've got it." "That's good to hear." "Of course, I'm gonna hang onto it until you work out how to get that thing off your arm." "I'm guessing you're not here to reminisce." "No, we did what you said." "We have The First Blade." "Not here?" "Not on your person?" "Not saying." "So, back to you." "What's next?" "This is where it gets kind of interesting." "It's very lonely here, and I have little to do but think." "And it occurred to me that you really need this Mark taken off of you." "And in order to do that, you really need me." "So, here's the deal." "That first little tip I gave you..." "A freebie, just 'cause you're you." "Every... future step?" "They're gonna cost you." "Big." "Oh, and FYI, there's a bunch." "Whatcha doing there, slugger?" "I'm settling a score that's taken way too long to settle." "And while I do that, I'm gonna get some information." "And I'm gonna enjoy every minute of it because you're gonna tell me everything, all of it, and it ain't gonna cost me a damn dime, slugger." "I'm gonna ask this exactly once before it gets ugly." "What is the next step in removing the Mark?" "I repeat my offer:" "each step costs you." "You're confused." "See, each step you don't give me, is gonna cost you." "And it's been a long time coming." "Where do I begin?" "Steeling Cass' Grace." "Casting out the angels." "Making Gadreel kill Kevin using my brother's hands, starting an angel war." "And, oh, yeah, you killed me." "My morality is being judged by Dean Winchester?" "How many people have suffered and died because they believed in you?" "How many times have you lied to Sam, including, by the way, when he was possessed by an angel?" "And you say, "oh, well, it's all for the greater good", but lately, buddy, that greater-good thing just went away, didn't it?" "Now people die just because you want them to!" "Good, Dean." "Go darker." "Go deeper!" "Surely you've noticed every time you respond, when the Mark gets you all twitchy, you fall deeper under its spell." "You think roughing up a few humans and demons makes it worse?" "Try messing with the scribe of God, bucko!" "It's late." "I'm gonna drive around a little bit, see if I can find Claire." "Right now?" "I have to try." "Well, be careful." "Hey, Cass?" "Where's Dean?" "And Kevin's death?" "All on you." "You put him in harm's way and kept him there." "Gadreel possessing Sam?" "Who was it who tricked Sam into letting him in?" "Oh, and then my personal favorite:" "Dean Winchester, whose entire existence is defined by a war on the dark and monstrous, bromancing his way around the country with the King of Hell!" "Let's try this again." "What is the next step?" "!" "What is it you humans say so inelegantly?" "Oh, yes." "Go screw yourself." "Dean!" "Now it's time to get serious." "Dean!" "What is the next step in removing this Mark from my arm?" "Dean, open the door." "Hey!" "Open the door!" "What is... the next step?" "!" "Move!" "Behold, the river shall end at the source." "No!" "Dean!" "Hey!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "You were killing him!" "I have to take him back." " Cass, this won't happen again." " I gave my word." "I have fences to mend in heaven, and as it is, I have a lot to explain." "If you ever ask me for help again," "I will choose death." "You realize it's going to get worse, Dean." "You're gonna get worse!" "You okay?" "He said, "the river ends at the source"." "What does that mean?" "Maybe nothing." "It's the last thing he said before you guys busted in." "Dean..." "Look, man, we had to." "Hey." "No." "I get it, all right?" "I was gonna kill him." "And I couldn't stop myself." "We'll figure it out, all right?" "Remember what Cass said about needing a powerful force?" "Yeah." "So?" "So, I've been thinking." "Look," "Cain still has the Mark, right?" "And he's lived with it." "For years, he's lived with it." "So, yeah, the Mark is strong, but..." "Dean, maybe there's a part of you that wants to give into it." "And maybe you have to fight that, you know?" "Maybe part of that powerful force has to be you." "Yeah." "It's Claire." "I've thought it over." "Maybe it's only fair to hear your side of it." "I mean," "Castiel seemed to trust you a lot." "Yeah, okay." "Where do you want to meet?" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Claire!" "How the hell did you find me?" "Angels are able to find those who pray to them." "Pray?" "Oh, believe me, I gave up praying a long time ago." "It doesn't have to be a formal prayer." "I can pick up on a longing..." "Perhaps you wanted to tell me something." "No." "I don't know." "Maybe." "I guess I just wanted to tell you that I thought about what you said." "I'm gonna try doing things a little bit different, let go of the little bit of monster in me." "Well," "I could try to help you with that." "I still got to go it alone." "But I could maybe call sometime." "Get out of here, would you?" "No one's gonna pick me up with that butt-ugly car sitting there." "I'll see you, Claire." "Not that you care, but" "I like you better in a tie."