When Elena and Sam got back, Bobby called them all into the study.

"Where's Cas?" Bobby asked her, looking behind her as if expecting him.

"I'm not sure. He stayed here while we went on a walk," Elena said, confused that Cas wasn't at the house.

"Cas, get your feathery ass to the stu—" Dean started to say, and Cas appeared immediately. "—dy. Well, that was quick," he continued, raising an eyebrow.

Cas said nothing in response, staring at Elena and Sam. She gave him a smile, but he looked away.

"I think I found the lady who's doin' it," Bobby said. "If it's the one I think it is, she was Noah's wife."

"Namaah?" Cas asked with surprise, and Bobby seemed equally surprised that Cas knew her name.

"Yeah, that's the one," he replied.

Cas furrowed his brow, but Bobby continued.

"There's all sorts of mixed stories about whether that's really her name. She's got a few different names, or sometimes no name at all, sometimes she belongs to one side of the family tree then next thing you know she's the other side. You know, just all-around solid information from those times," he said, clearly annoyed at the lack of congruity.

"She is a descendant of Cain," Cas announced.

"Yeah, that's one of the things that wasn't too clear, Cain or Seth. Interestin' that it's Cain, I think that actually makes the whole thing clearer. She said somethin' about a tainted bloodline, right?"

Elena nodded.

"Considerin' what Cain did to Abel, that makes sense."

Elena looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Who's Noah? And Cain and Seth and Abel?"

"Noah built the ark in advance of the Flood that we thought wiped out the Grigori and Nephilim," Cas explained. "Cain, Seth, and Abel were two of three sons of Adam and Eve, the two humans who lived in the Garden of Eden but were expelled when they disobeyed strict orders from God. Cain murdered Abel."

"Is there anything else you found that could help, aside from her name?" Dean asked, and Bobby frowned.

"Not really," he admitted. "Like I said, there's a lot of back and forth over pretty much everythin' from that time. I'm not sure if it's so hard to find information on her because she's a woman or what. Nobody bothered to keep tabs, I guess."

"We appreciate you checking, and tracking down a name for us," Cas said.

Bobby nodded, then frowned thoughtfully.

"I gotta wonder how she stayed alive, though. I mean, would that be somethin' the Grigori could've done? Or the Nephilim?"

"I do not believe Grigori could have kept her alive this long. As for the Nephilim, I do not know."

Bobby and Cas fell silent. Elena felt nervous and exhausted just from discussing the topic. It was an answer that led nowhere. After a path that led to death. More negative on top of negative, and she was just trying her best to figure out who she was as she carried a child. She couldn't live in fear and uncertainty every moment, especially when there was nothing any of them could do about any of it.

"I need to take a nap," she announced.

Dean and Sam looked surprised, but Bobby just nodded. Cas followed her into her room.

"I'm sorry that the information we have isn't much," he told her.

"I just wish we didn't have to worry about it on top of everything else. I wish I could remember. Maybe if I remembered, I could help figure it out. I'm tired of feeling this way."

Cas frowned from where he stood near the door.

"I know you said you don't get tired, but you can sit on the bed next to me if you want when I'm napping or sleeping."

"I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

"At this point, it's more uncomfortable for you to stand there staring at me."

"In that case, there's no other place that I would rather be," he told her, joining her on the bed.

His back was against the wall, his legs stretched out on the bed. His presence next to her felt comforting, and she quickly fell asleep. She woke up a few hours later, feeling more rested than she had in the past week. She rolled over to look at Cas, who was staring back at her from where he sat.

"What did you think about while I was sleeping?"

He gave her a small smile, his eyes soft with love.

"I thought about what it will be like when Ava is here. How she will have so much love surrounding her, how excited I am to be on this journey with you, despite the challenges."

"I'm excited, too," she admitted. "And terrified. It's nice to have everyone's support, though. Hopefully it stays that way with what I'm about to say."

Cas looked confused, but she shook her head and got dressed. He followed her to the living room, where Sam, Dean, and Bobby were talking.

"I decided something," she announced.

Everyone looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"I'm done with trying to figure this out. I can't do it. It's too much, and too stressful, for next to nothing. From what you've told me, it's been this way all along. The first time Cas tried to get information, he died. The next time we tried to get information, two women and their unborn children died, and I lost my memory. I don't want to risk what the next time is going to bring. You think we have a name, great, follow up on it at your own risk, but I'm staying out of it."

Sam frowned at her.

"We don't know—" he started to say, but Elena held up her hand.

"No, we do know. How many years has it been since this flood? And everyone thought the Grigori and Nephilim were dead. There had been no indications otherwise that anyone saw until…" Elena paused, looking at Cas.

"Until I was tortured with a Grigori sword," he supplemented without hesitation.

"Right. What we know is that we are outnumbered and outgunned. Even Cas was susceptible. I just don't think there's any way we can track her down or hope to defeat her at this point. She's stayed hidden for so long. I cannot go down this road chasing after shadows, especially with what's at stake. I just want to focus on preparing for Ava. Having a child of an entirely new species who will most likely have superhuman abilities is more than enough to deal with."

"Elena, you're correct. We are up against a powerful witch who has demons and angels on her side. If we completely ignore this, we will not have any way to be prepared for when she takes you."

Dean shot Cas a sharp look before looking back at Elena, imploring her.

"If she takes you, is what Cas meant to say, I think," Dean said.

Cas didn't reply, just continued to stare at Elena. Bobby sighed and shook his head.

"Look, I get where you're comin' from. You're right, stressin' about stuff we can't change won't help. But I don't think buryin' our heads in the sand is the answer, either."

Elena looked at them all, undeterred.

"You can do whatever you'd like. All of you. I will not be a part of it anymore. Not unless I am dragged into it and have no other choice."

"I am equally as frustrated by the situation, Elena. I refuse to think it's a lost cause, but I will leave you out of it, from now on," Cas said.

Elena saw how restrained Cas looked and felt a little uneasy. Sam still looked unhappy but nodded his agreement. Dean looked mad, and she wondered if there was anything that didn't make him mad. She remembered at the hospital him telling her that he tended to piss people off, thinking the reverse was probably true as well.

"Thanks, everyone. I appreciate it."

"I need to take care of something. I will be gone for a little while," Cas said. "I trust you all will keep her safe in my absence?"

Dean looked at Cas suspiciously before nodding.

"Of course we will. Where're you going?"

"I cannot say. I must attend to something."

Before anyone could say anything else, he was gone.

"Well, that was…odd," Sam finally said, and Elena nodded.

"Maybe he's going to ask around about Namaah," Bobby offered.

"I don't know, but I do know it's dinner time and I'm hungry," Elena replied.

Cas still hadn't returned when she went to sleep. Everyone noticed but no one said anything. She could tell they would be talking about it once she was out of earshot, based on the way they all kept looking at each other. She put up with it for a while, but after an hour she'd had enough. It felt strange to go to sleep for the first time in weeks without Cas in her room. She hadn't realized until he wasn't there that she did feel safer with him watching over her while she slept, as strange an arrangement as it was. She had only been in bed a few minutes when there was a knock at her door.

"Elena?" she heard Sam ask.

"You can come in," she told him, making sure the blankets were covering her.

He walked in and closed the door behind him. When he noticed she was already in bed, he looked away, sitting on the bed with his back to her.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay," he said.

"I guess. I mean, I don't really know."

Sam sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, I can only imagine. Look, you know I respect you and everything, with whatever you decide. I'm just not sure if you staying out of this whole thing is the right call."

"I don't know what else to do, Sam. It's not like I can help with much of anything anyway. I was some sort of conduit for visions that gave us some information, but it's not like I can get out there and go hunting with you guys in this condition."

"Do you mean your amnesia or the pregnancy?"

"Both, I guess. I'm practically useless, nothing but a burden at this point."

Sam turned quickly, looking intently at her.

"Don't you dare say that. You're not useless, not even close, and you could never be a burden."

Elena gave a dry laugh.

"Yeah? Well, what am I even good for at this point?"

"You're smart, powerful, and strong—not just physically, either. A lot of people couldn't deal with half of what you're dealing with. You're kind, and beautiful, and caring, and—"

Sam stopped suddenly, swallowing hard and clearing his throat.

"I mean, just, don't put yourself down like that, okay? I'll leave you alone now, but maybe reconsider if you want to stay out of it," he said hurriedly as he left the room.

Elena was lying in bed, shocked.

"Oh, hey Cas," she heard Sam say from the hall.

What the hell? Did Sam just tell me I was beautiful?

There was a loud thump, and Sam yelled out in surprise.

"Cas, what are you doing?"

Elena jumped out of bed, not bothering to throw on clothes before opening the door. Cas had Sam pinned against the wall by his shirt collar, a foot off the ground.

"Cas, stop!" she shouted, and Dean and Bobby came running down the hall, too.

"Get back in your room, Elena, or cover yourself up" Cas growled, his glare never leaving Sam's face.

"Cas, what the hell! Let him go!" Dean yelled.

"What the hell is goin' on here? Have you lost your mind?" Bobby shouted at the same time.

Oh my God, what if he won't let Sam go? What if he kills him?

Cas looked at Elena, his expression changing from anger to hurt. He dropped Sam and stepped back, lowering his gaze to the floor.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I…saw him coming out of your room and…I don't…"

Elena bit her lip, unsure of what to say.

"It's okay, Cas," Sam said, saving her from responding.

"The hell it is," Dean said, his anger clear. "I don't care what you think is going on, don't do that shit again. We know how to ward against angels if we need to. Don't think I won't do it just because it's you."

Cas nodded his understanding, still staring at the floor. Dean looked past Cas at Elena, making eye contact with her.

"You want one of us to stay in your room tonight instead of him?" he offered.

"No, it's…it's okay. It'll be okay. Right, Cas?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, barely audible.

Dean gave Cas another hard look before he turned and walked away, followed by a frowning Bobby and a worried Sam. Cas finally looked back up at her. He looked at her hard for a few seconds and then sagged visibly. He looked like he was on the verge of crying. His shoulders were slumped, and his head hung in defeat. She noticed that even his wings were drooping.

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

She took his hand and pulled him into the room, closing the door. She moved him to sit on the bed with her, waiting for him to talk.

"I'm struggling right now," he told her. "There are…there is so much happening. So much that is out of my control. No matter how I try to fix things, nothing seems to be working," he said.

"We're all feeling that way, I think. I mean, I just told everyone to leave me out of it. It's bad. None of this is easy, but I don't understand why you went after Sam like that."

He shook his head.

"Call it misdirected aggression from the stress. Elena, I feel as though I am failing you and Ava entirely," he said, his voice full of grief. "I don't know how to do this! I don't know how to just come along for the ride and hope we get answers when I know—" he stopped himself, shaking his head a little.

"When you know what, Cas?" she asked, dreading his response.

"Destiny can't be changed," he said tiredly.

There was nothing Elena could say to him at that point. His words scared her, but what terrified her the most was the fact that he seemed to believe she would be taken somehow, and that they wouldn't be able to stop it. She climbed back under the covers and rolled onto her side. Cas didn't move or say anything else, and eventually she fell asleep.

Elena was relieved to see that Dean was in a better mood the next morning than he had been the day before. Sam acted like nothing had happened between him and Cas, which she appreciated. He and Dean spent the morning telling her stories of their trips from years past, including some where Cas was involved.

"Yeah, talk about not wanting to get on this guy's bad side," Dean said with a laugh. "Calling an archangel his little bitch, that was a good one."

"Don't forget the time he molotoved Michael," Sam chimed in, and they both laughed some more.

Elena looked at Cas with a smile, and he shrugged awkwardly, causing her to laugh. Sam and Dean left to get some supplies around lunch, but Elena was too hungry to wait for them to get back, deciding to make herself a sandwich. She grabbed a few things to make a sandwich as Cas stood nearby, watching silently. She noticed him tilt his head as she put jelly on her bread, squirted some mustard on top, added a slice of bologna, spread some peanut butter on that, added a piece of Swiss cheese, mayo on top of that, exactly one piece of lettuce, and then another piece of bread to top it all off.

"Most humans would find that sandwich disturbing," he commented when she had finished.

Elena looked back up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not most people."

Once she had put the dirty knives in the sink and food back in the fridge, she sat down to her masterpiece.

"I just feel like people are really limited in their sandwiches," she explained between bites. "They get so routine with what is an acceptable sandwich item. I believe that any food item can be a sandwich item if you're willing to take the risk."

Cas smiled at her.

"You are...truly something," he said. "I don't know quite what, but you are something."

Elena grinned at him and took another bite of her sandwich, replying when she was done chewing.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment."

Dean and Sam announced that night at dinner that they would be heading out again in the morning, much to Elena's disappointment. She enjoyed having them all around. Even though there had been some tense moments, they were the closest thing she had to a family, and she felt safest when they were together.

"I'm going to miss you guys when we leave tomorrow," Dean said.

"I know what you mean," Bobby replied, a smile on his face. "You boys always make this place feel more like home, and it's so good to have us all together again."

"I have to admit, this whole thing seems less overwhelming when the five of us are here," Cas agreed.

Elena looked at them in confusion as she chewed her food. Even Sam had a dopey smile on his face. At the same time, they all seemed to snap out of it.

"What the hell was that?" Dean asked aggressively, as if looking for something to attack.

"Uh, I don't know, but it sure was weird," Bobby responded.

Cas looked confused, then glanced at Elena.

"What were you thinking about?" he asked her.

"What?"

"After Dean said they would be leaving in the morning, what were you thinking?"

Elena felt uncomfortable with the way they were staring at her.

"I don't know, nothing really. I mean, I was sad because I like having us all together. I feel safe when we're all…" she drifted off.

"I think you were projecting your feelings to us," Cas said.

Dean looked surprised.

"She can do that? You can do that?" he asked Cas, then Elena.

Elena shrugged, confused.

"I don't know. I mean, I wasn't trying to do anything, I was just thinking about it."

Cas was still staring at her.

"You have always been able to read all of us very well, on an empathic level," he told her. "Perhaps that sort of empathic ability is something you can push onto people as well."

Elena didn't know how to respond so she grabbed another egg roll and started eating it.

"Okay then," Bobby said. "Just so long as we're clear where all those special feelin's were comin' from."

"Yeah, seriously," Dean muttered in agreement.

"I do appreciate being considered part of the family," Cas told them, "even if I do not say it."

Bobby looked a little uncomfortable by his openness.

"You makin' him say this?" Bobby asked Elena.

She shook her head, just as surprised as him that Cas was expressing himself so much. He gave them a small smile and bowed his head a little.

"I have been working on communicating my feelings more effectively," he told them. "I just wanted to let you know that while Elena's feelings did push me to say that at first, it does accurately reflect how I feel. I am proud to be part of this...family, and excited for Ava to experience it as well."

"Thanks, Cas. You know we consider you family," Sam said. "Though why anyone would want to be a part of this crazy family is beyond me."

"Wanna watch a movie?" Dean asked her after dinner, and he and Elena hurried into the living room to pick something out.

Sam followed them in, leaving Cas and Bobby in the kitchen. Cas was standing in the corner of the kitchen, watching Elena as she argued with Dean about which movie to watch.

"She doesn't let anythin' slow her down much, does she?" Bobby commented.

"No, she does not. I worry about her because of it."

Bobby nodded.

"Makes sense, and honestly I do, too. But we gotta let her be who she is."

Cas hesitated, clearly wanting to say something else. Bobby waited for him to continue.

"I think, sometimes, that I need her...much more than she needs me." He finally said. "She has essentially lost everything and everyone she loves twice, and yet she is still thriving. Whether she remembers me at some point or not seems irrelevant. She can manage just as fine without me as she did with me. But without her, I would be lost."

Bobby smiled sadly and nodded.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Her spirit is so strong. It's hard to not feel small up against it," he said.

Cas gave Bobby an amused smile.

"Even for an angel of God," he agreed.

"But you gotta know, even if she doesn't remember it, she loves you. As long as that's the case, well, nothin's gonna stand in the way of you two, no matter what."

Cas gave a slight nod in response.

"We picked one!" Elena called out from the living room, and they headed into the living room, their discussion done.