I really didn't want to get out of bed. Sam and I had gotten the vamp death juice laced nails to work in the shells, I'd tuned up Baby, Sam got ten hunters to hit the road and then we'd all passed out. All of us except Cas, Sam had set him up with the Iron Man movies and some research ideas for him to delve into once he got bored watching Robert Downey Jr fly around. I got the impression that Cas wasn't all that impressed with Iron Man's suit. Why would he be? Cas used to be able to do all that without a suit.

We hadn't set alarms since Oliver was going to text us when landed which would give us plenty of time to get functioning. My phone had gone off, I rolled over and glared at it.

"Landed, see you soon."

"Already? Damn." I set the phone back down and closed my eyes. Sam's two bed idea had made sleeping a lot more comfortable for Coyote and I but there wasn't a lot of room left over to maneuver in the room itself. We'd ended up shoving the bed to the corner to give us a small path to the door and bathroom. Coyote was sleeping closest to the wall, I don't do well being penned in between a wall and a person. I don't like having someone in my way if I have to shoot something or move fast.

"Wasn't that our cue to get up?" Coyote asked.

"In theory, yes." Two or three more hours of sleep seemed in order.

"You really are a cranky bastard when you hunt aren't you. I don't remember you being this grumpy when we used to hook up."

"That's because I was in vacation mode when I was with you, no reason to be cranky. Now you're seeing me in all my pissy, grouchy, feeling sorry for myself hunter mode. It passes, usually after a half pot of coffee and some good tunes. The mornings are always the worst."

I felt her slide closer to me, then her chest pressed into my back and she ran her hand down my chest. "Maybe we can jump start that process."

Things were looking better already. I reached back and slid my hand along her leg, "Shower? Get dirty while cleaning up?"

Her hand slid down lower, ducking inside my sweats. That definitely improved my mood, "I'll take that as a yes."

She pressed down harder, shifted her leg over me and rolled completely over me, "Last one there has to wash my hair," she said with a smirk while launching herself off the bed and shoving me back into the mattress.

It was a rather nice view watching her dash into the bathroom, I actually love playing with her hair so I didn't move all that fast. We worked out the rather complicated geometry required for two people around six feet tall to successfully have sex in a shower that's designed to hold one person. Shower sex is always fun, plus there's no annoying wet spots to deal with afterwards. By the time we'd gotten dressed and made it to the kitchen, I was definitely in a much better frame of mind, which was probably good because Cas looked like he had back during the Apocalypse days. All business and in full soldier mode.

"What happened?" Coyote asked.

"I received this via an email," Cas said, "Just a few minutes ago. I sent it to Felicity so she could verify it as much as possible. Sam instructed me if anything odd came over to have her check on it. Watch."

He clicked on a video, but even before he had I already knew what I was going to see, the frame it had stopped on showed a bloody room and the back of Gordon's head. Cas pushed the slider bar back to the beginning of the video and hit play.

Shayna was tied to a chair in an empty living room in what looked like a foreclosed house. The roof was caving in and the wall had holes in them. The camera zoomed in close to her battered and barely recognizable face. She'd fought and fought hard. As the camera pulled back it panned across her chest and arms, there was barely an inch that wasn't covered in blood or bruises, he'd sliced her up and taken his sweet ass time doing it. I could feel Coyote tensing up next to me, I didn't even bother going cold with rage, I just took it all in, memorizing every damn wound, every violation of her he'd done. That way I could repay the favor when I caught up to him, I'd even add a few more in for kicks.

The camera turned around and there was Gordon, that's when my anger kicked in. He bared his fangs, yup, pure vampire teeth. No shifter could do that, or at least I hoped they couldn't. Then he raised a blade and all my lingering doubts faded. It was all black, made out of obsidian, just like my blade in Purgatory had been. Rough hewn, tied together and sharp as hell. It had to be him, the only people that would make blades like that were people who'd been there. In Purgatory you and whatever weapon you had become one, you never, ever set that damn thing down. His eyes were dead and filled with bloodlust all at the same time. He was far, far, gone. It wasn't an issue any longer on how he got out of Purgatory, all that mattered was sending him back.

"Heya Dean, Sam. Long time, no see." There was no emotion in his voice, nothing, not even hate. "Dean, sorry I missed you in Purgatory. We could have some fun you and I," his lip curled into a snarl, that's when I heard it, he's need for the kill. "You made quite a stir down there though, a human showing up, teaming up with a vamp, getting him out. Gave the rest of us some ideas. Took a while, turns out there's not a lot of humans that can survive any length of time down there. We had to go through a lot actually," Then he laughed, it was hollow, mocking and sick, "Good thing you and Sam broke the world so badly that we managed to find Reapers who didn't give a shit about humans and were willing to deal." He shook his head, "They should have listened to me, the hunters, about you and Sam. You fuckers are walking Apocalypses. We should have killed you, burned your asses up and scattered what was left. So, since they didn't listen, I've decided they're part of the problem and have to pay too." He pulled the camera closer so his face filled the screen, "All of them. I'm a monster now, but you know what? We monsters have done less damage then you Winchesters did so maybe we should run the place now. So here you go guys, here's a preview of what's to come. Reckoning, Purgatory style."

He took his time severing her head from her body. She was still alive when he started, I let her screams wash over me as he sawed at her neck. Blood shot out from her throat, covering his face, he stopped sawing and drank his fill. Then he tilted his head back and laughed, "Ahh yeah, the taste. I never indulged before, you two saw to that didn't you."

Her hair had been tied up in a pony tail that was sitting along her right shoulder, the blood stained it even darker red. She stopped screaming and twitching long before he was through. I saw the life leave her eyes as they went out of focus for the last time. Her head finally dropped to the ground. He looked back towards the camera, "Be seeing you two soon." Then his bloody finger touched the screen and the recording stopped.

I should be feeling something, anything but I wasn't, not yet. "Cas, was this sent from her email?"

"Yes."

"Sam see it yet?"

"No, I was waiting to hear from Felicity."

"Is he up?"

"No."

I turned around, avoided looking at Coyote and walked down the hall. I didn't even knock on Sam's door, just opened it. He was finishing getting dressed, "Get out here now. Shayna's dead and Gordon's alive. It's him. Move it."

I watched as he went from still half asleep to wide awake and pissed in record time, "What? How?"

"Don't ask questions, just get out here."

He wasn't more than two steps behind me when we got back to the table. Coyote's fists were clenched, but she'd hid most of everything else she was feeling for now.

"This would not be a good morning," Cas said once Sam was close enough. "Felicity just replied that it is authentic. Watch."

He restarted the video at the same time both Sam's and my phones went off. I pulled mine out and saw it was Oliver. "They're here. I'll get the door. You watch that, I want us to be thinking while they watch it."

Shayna's screams reached my ears again just as I put my hands on the doorknob. The distance didn't diminish the level of pain they encompassed. She hadn't broke, I'd seen it in her eyes, he'd gotten nothing from her, at least verbally. He didn't need to though, he had her phone. Now there was another orphaned hunter kid for Krissy to help and Gordon could read everything we'd been up to. I still wasn't feeling anything, wasn't sure if that was good or bad. There was a knock on the door, I pulled it open and Oliver's eyes shifted from neutral to worried to deadly as soon as he saw me.

"Who died?" He asked.

"Hunter named Shayna. She died bloody. Gordon sent his last email."

Roy and Dig were behind Oliver, "He's dead?" Roy asked.

"He was the second I saw the vid. The fact that's he's still breathing is just a technicality. Come on down." I stepped to the side so they could walk past. Even after all these years Dig was still the military guy. He didn't go cold like Oliver and I, it takes a special kind of hell to warp a man to react like we do. Dig was a pro who still managed to hold onto an ideal that he was doing the right thing, fighting for hope, love or country. Oliver and I fought simply because we knew that the things we fought, or in my case, killed were worse than us, or that's what we told ourselves. Today though, I couldn't even be that noble. Gordon was going to die because I hated his deranged, fucked up ass. It was that simple.

Sam's back was to me but I didn't need to see his face, he was right there with me. His shoulders and neck were tight, his right hand was gripping the back of Cas's chair so tight I could almost hear the creaking of the wood from the stairs. Coyote had disappeared, I wasn't quite sure where to until she reappeared with six beers. It definitely wasn't a coffee morning. She handed one to Sam, set the others on the table, popped the lid off of hers and took a long ass drink.

"Bit early isn't it?" Roy asked.

"You'll need it, trust me," she explained.

Oliver, Roy and Dig set their bags down. Oliver grabbed a beer and nodded at Cas and Sam. "Catch us up."

"Not much new except that I am pretty damn sure this is Gordon and not a shifter," I said. "Watch the vid, I'll explain why."

Cas stood up, "I've seen it enough times. If you'll excuse me."

Cas wasn't the type to get squeamish about a bloody death, he'd been party to plenty of them over the years. I watched him as he walked away, "Sam? You good to show it to them?"

He didn't say anything, just nodded. Coyote's eyes shifted between me and the direction Cas had gone, I nodded to let her know I was going to check on him. She took a quick survey of the rest of us. "Not that any of us feel like eating but we probably should. I'll make something while you watch that."

She took her beer and went back to the kitchen. I followed Cas who was walking a lot faster than he usually does. He turned down the hall that led towards the garage, pulled the door open and put a hand out to brace himself against a wall as soon as he got through the threshold. His head was lowered, guilt clouding his face.

"Cas? You all right man?"

"My fault, this is my fault. He said we Dean, if he got out, could Leviathans?"

All of a sudden I could feel again, and it felt like someone had turned an ice cold shower on inside my veins. "Let's not make shit worse than it is. We've had no hints that they're around and Gordon coming back is both our faults, not just yours. The way Benny made it sound, that portal opened because I was there and Purgatory wasn't made for humans."

Cas looked up, and I saw the deep fear I was feeling reflected in his eyes, "What if it is still open? If they are getting Reapers to bring humans across. Dean..."

"One thing at a time, Cas. One thing at a damn time. If you want to check on Purgatory have Heaven do it. We need you here."

He got that martyred look, "I was the one that.."

"Brought them here. I know. I was there. Remember?" I could tell he was thinking about heading to Purgatory himself, who knew how long he'd be gone if he did that. "Stop, right there. Remember what you said to me about repeating patterns?"

"Yes."

"Good, if I have to stop being stupid, so do you."

I'd pushed a lot of his buttons over the years, but I'd never called him stupid. He didn't seem to like it too much but he refrained from straight out smiting me, "Stupid?"

"This is what always happens when we get in these messes. You go off, do your angel thing and never follow any damn plan that makes sense. You never listen to any input Sam and I might have. That's why Heaven got destroyed. You thought your angelic intelligence was somehow better than ours, but you got played and played hard by Metatron. I warned you." Cas and I had never really had it out about this, I'd been too busy mending fences with Sam and trying to stay sane to really sit down with Cas and deal with this crap. I wasn't mad at him, but he had to realize we needed to really work together this time. He couldn't just be popping in and out when he felt he needed to. I didn't really know what he'd been up to this last year, Sam hadn't talked about it much but it was time I found out. "Please Cas, trust me on this. Send out a message on angel radio, let them know what's up but stay here. If there's issues in Purgatory we'll handle it later."

He took his hand off the wall, straightened up and it dawned on me that, unlike me, he may not have been having the best of years. He looked tired, which in itself was weird, but beyond that he looked resigned and alone. "It is not as easy as "sending a message on angel radio" for me now. I have been declared exiled from Heaven and all angels. That is a small step above fallen. Hannah convinced them to take pity on me for my help in averting the Apocalypse and ending the Leviathan threat. Some few believed that it was not my intention to kill untold numbers of my fellow angels and allow Metatron to destroy us. If I feel there is some great threat to angels I am to relay it to a watcher, who will then inform the others. In no way am I to communicate using angel radio or seek assistance of fellow angels in any endeavors which include you or Sam. I have not spoken to or seen another angel in over a year. If I were to inform them that Leviathans have returned yet again, I doubt I will continue to be shown such mercy. Especially if the means of their return were connected to you."

Somehow angels and Heaven never, ever fail to piss me off. "What the fuck? Seriously? You're exiled! After all.."

"Yes!" He snapped, his voice echoing off the walls, "After all I have done. They could have killed me Dean, they would have been well within their rights to." He stopped talking, closed his eyes and calmed down. "All that aside, you may, indeed have a point. You were correct about Metatron's motives and I should have listened to you. So, because you have asked it, I will, as you say, follow your lead."

Knowing what he was going through, I felt like a jackass riding him so hard, but he had listened. Not that it made me feel any better. "Are you still connected to them? The angel collective."

He looked away, eyes lost in thought and endless regret, "Yes, I am still an angel after all. As long as I have Grace, I will feel their presence."

"But you can't.."

"No, I cannot interact with them in any way."

"Damn Cas, I'm sorry." I couldn't even imagine how I'd deal with that, an eternal, cosmic, silent treatment. "But you can turn it off, angel radio, right?"

"Yes, but that is only a small piece of the collective. I choose not to though."

"Why?" His eyes met mine again, and I really didn't need to hear the answer. I had my nightmares as penance for the shit I'd done, this was Cas's. I had the feeling that his penance would last a lot longer than mine. "Never mind, I get it."

"Good, I'd rather not dwell on it. Shall we return to the others?"

"Yeah." He turned and opened the door, "Cas?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks, for listening."

He didn't turn to face me, "I have reflected much over the last year on the concept of wisdom and I realized that nowhere in any of your religious writings were angels ever described as wise. Only men were. Angels were simply messengers, guardians, voices of the Lord. We were not created to think, to learn, to gain knowledge. We were merely instruments of another's wishes. You humans, for good or ill, can reason, think critically. I have longed ceased to think that in some way or other I am superior to you, none of us are. Perhaps it is time for me to realize the truth Dean, that I will always be what I was designed to be. A tool for others to use. If that is indeed the case, I would rather be used by you than God. You, at least, have never abandoned me."

I watched him leave, my brain had come to a dead stop. I couldn't think of a single thing to think, much less say to that. When I finally managed to get my brain moving again, the first thought I had was that he, I and Sam were going to have a very, very long talk. Before we could do that though we had to kill Gordon and possibly a crap ton of other monsters as well. If it's not one thing, it's another.

I caught up to him halfway down the hall, we didn't say anything else. I smelled eggs and bacon as we got closer to the main rooms. It's probably a rather large indication of just how jaded I am in some ways that my stomach actually growled once I got a good whiff of it. I'd just watched someone I knew get beheaded and still wanted something to eat. Roy however, wasn't the least bit interested in food. He wasn't exactly sick but he was a lot more affected by it than Oliver or I was. Oliver was mechanically eating from the plate in front of him. He was eating because he knew he needed the fuel for his body, not because he wanted to, Sam and Coyote were doing the same. Dig was picking at his food. I grabbed a plate, loaded it up and sat next to Coyote.

"We have ten hunters meeting us in about four hours," I told them. "We're testing to see if they're still human, then asking for volunteers for bait missions. Sam? I think you and I should take Oliver's crew out with us and make a statement, video it and email it back to Gordon. Let's call his ass out and see what pops up."

Sam didn't even blink, "Take Baby? Be as obvious as possible? I'm down with that."

Dig held up a hand, "This Gordon, he was a hunter right?"

"Yup," I answered.

"So what makes you think he's going to just come after you guys and not work his way through the ranks first. He could be setting up hunts just to get your attention."

"One, he hates me with a passion," Sam said, "Two, if he wanted to be stealthy he wouldn't have sent that vid and three, we're assuming everything from here on out is a trap. That's why we called you guys. Our intel isn't matching up, on one hand. we've been told Dean and I are wanted alive, yet Gordon seems pretty bent on killing all hunters. He may be going off plan here or he's trying to pull us into something. Dean's plan is to piss him off, pick a spot to tell him to meet us at and see if he goes for it. If he doesn't, we know something else is up. If he does, we deal with it."

It's always nice to have someone in your life that knows exactly what you're thinking, "Pretty much. This is one of those feint attack things. We call his bluff and see what he's made of. Better than chasing shadows."

Oliver gave us both a level look, "Doesn't appear you need help with strategy."

"We might if he doesn't take us up on it." I said, "But mostly we needed unknowns who aren't going to be emotional about this. As soon as the hunters find out what's up, all hell is liable to break loose and I'd rather team with people who aren't out for blood."

"Smart move," Dig said, "Because you're out for blood too, both of you are."

"We know," Sam agreed, "You're here to keep us on track. Dean and I don't need to make anymore stupid mistakes."

I shot a look at Cas who's face stayed empty as he locked eyes with me for a second before he looked away. At least he knew that all three of us were in the same boat. We all had more damn baggage than was healthy or safe for people like us to have. Unfortunately, the type of people, or angels, we were, were the exact type that collected baggage at ridiculous rates.

I guess it's a good thing that we had a vigilante and his crew to keep us on the level; which only goes to show how truly fucked up we were.