Callie closed her eyes again, focusing on what she felt with Ari. Part of it felt familiar, as though she were being mirrored somehow. There was another layer to the pull, one that felt different. It was lighter, somehow, even though it was just a feeling. At the same time, it felt pointed. It wasn't a jagged feeling, but a deliberate sharpness. Callie thought about Cas, picturing him as she focused on that feeling. She noticed a warmth spread through her body and a vibration inside her as she concentrated on that energy and his image. With the suddenness of an unexpected sneeze, she felt normal again. When she opened her eyes, she was looking into surprised pools of sapphire.

"I need—" she started before Cas grabbed her and crushed his mouth against hers.

Callie felt her temperature skyrocket, surprised and overwhelmed by his forcefulness and the intimate action. Without thinking, she found herself kissing him back. The energy she had felt separately from him, that same part of Ari's energy that she concentrated on, was now rushing through her like a tidal wave. Her legs collapsed but Cas had his arms wrapped so tightly around her, pressing her body against his, that she never moved. As they continued to kiss, she felt a rush of emotions coming from him, but the one that snapped her back to reality was an overwhelming amount of love.

"You said yourself that we have this undeniable connection. The thought of leaving you behind to return to nothing is just..."

He met her mouth hungrily, almost desperately, seeking affirmation and validation that she wanted to be with him. His hands went to her hips, then one hand slid under her shirt to the small of her back and the other slid under the front, up over her ribs and to her chest.

"being with you has opened me up in ways that I never imagined were possible."

She put her hands up to his head, sinking her fingers into his hair around the sides and back and pulling his head toward hers. She kissed him sweetly, and then with a little more hunger.

Callie pulled away long enough to whisper "stop."

Cas froze for a moment, and Crowley took the opportunity to clear his throat. Cas immediately straightened and released his hold on Callie, his eyes fixed on Crowley. Callie steadied herself and tried to stand tall, embarrassed, confused, and overwhelmed.

"What are you doing here?" Cas questioned Crowley.

"Helping her to find you."

Cas tilted his head in clear confusion.

"Why would she need your help? I don't know what you did, but she clearly remem—" he began.

"No, she doesn't," Crowley interrupted. "I told her she could do this. She had to practice. It's not her, still. Not fully, anyway. Not until you fix it."

Cas closed his eyes and dropped his head, and for a moment, Callie thought he might cry.

"I apologize for my inappropriate behavior," he said to her, his voice low. "I thought you must have remembered and…I'm not sure what I thought."

"That's why I need you here, though. To fix this. And me. Ari and I deserve the truth, no matter how painful."

"I once did something reprehensible that you forgave me for," Cas continued on as though she hadn't spoken. "I suppose I was hoping you would grant me that same forgiveness again, though I've not earned it."

"What reprehensible thing did you do before?"

"I worked with Crowley," he replied, glaring as Crowley stood smirking back.

"Come now, Feathers, we had some fun together," Crowley replied. "You make it sound as though I was the bad guy. As I recall, we were both the bad guy."

Callie could feel the hatred rolling off Cas as he continued to glare at Crowley.

"Thank you for helping me," she said to Crowley, which only seemed to further infuriate Cas.

"Anytime, love. And, if he does decide to help clean up his mess, know that I mean every word I've ever said."

Crowley snapped his fingers, and the final piece of exactly what happened when she first met Sam and Dean came flooding back. Callie inhaled sharply, focusing on Crowley's confession to her.

"It's because of you, all of it. You and your precious, precocious, brilliant, magnificent daughter. I love you, both of you."

He…loves me?

"Every. Word," Crowley repeated before vanishing.

Callie looked at Cas and noticed his eyes were glowing and she could hear a faint ringing. He looked furious, staring at the spot Crowley had been a moment before.

"Please," she whispered, reaching out an arm to touch him to emphasize her point.

"…from the moment she arrived, I've felt her. I always feel her. It's like…there's a pull that I can't describe, drawing me to her. It reminds me of being around other angels, only it's more powerful than that. I feel…compelled…to be physically close to her."

Their hands were almost touching as they both lay there, watching the sky. After a few minutes, she reached for his hand, and he held hers without comment. She didn't fight the warm feeling this time as it spread through her body.

She tilted her face closer and leaned forward. When their lips met, she closed her eyes, feeling like an explosion of energy was released. His hand moved from her cheek to the back of her head, not releasing her as their mouths moved together. The exchange felt more powerful than she could have imagined, and she could practically feel the heat from their passions burning her face.

Callie pulled her hand back quickly, dropping to the ground and burying her face in her knees. She couldn't take much more of the random snippets of her life that were without context and without connection.

"What's wrong?" Cas asked, crouching down.

Callie lifted her head slowly, incredulous at his naivety.

"Seriously? How about everything?! How about the fact everything I thought I knew was a lie, that someone I thought was my best friend is actually the King of Hell, that the man I thought I loved and married and had a daughter with isn't actually dead because he never existed? How about the fact that my daughter doesn't know you're her father, and I can't bring myself to tell her you are because I've got no memory of you either! And so far, you haven't really given me any hope that the truth is a good thing! How about the fact I'm not even human? How about you being the one person who could help and fix this and instead you run away and refuse to allow me the chance to make my own decisions!"

Cas dropped his gaze, clearly embarrassed, but Callie didn't care. He had taken things from her and Ari that he had no right to take.

"I admit I'm terrified of your reaction. I can't…stand…to think of you hating me, but my mind keeps telling me that's exactly what will happen."

"Well so what! Boohoo! Maybe if you didn't create this whole mess, which it sounds like you did, maybe there wouldn't be anything to hate! But instead, all I have is this…this awful knowledge and nothing more. How about you take accountability for what you've done and face the consequences?"

He pulled his gaze up from the ground and stared at her.

"Why can't you answer me?!" she shouted, not caring that he was only a few inches from her face.

Instead of speaking, Cas brought his hands to her temples. Callie started to inhale sharply as—

"I'll do what I have to do to protect them," Castiel told Sam and Dean.

Elena heard Dean scoff.

"Like hell you will, Cas. This is bullshit and you know it!"

"Are you that blind, Dean? Don't you see what's at stake?"

"Of course I see it, man! But this isn't just about you. You're talking about taking away two of our most powerful weapons against—"

"Damnit, Dean! They're not weapons, they're my family!"

"What about us, man? Aren't we your family, too?"

Elena held her breath, waiting for Castiel's response. She wasn't sure what would happen if Castiel realized she was listening. She remained hidden in the darkness of the salvage yard, making sure to stay quiet and low so they wouldn't see her.

"You know how I feel about you, both of you," Castiel said finally. "I cannot let them participate in this. Ava's a child, not a warrior."

"I get that, man, but Elena? Come on! She's proven plenty of times that she can handle herself and kick ass. We can't afford to lose her."

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Dean! I can't afford to lose her, and neither can Ava. If something happens to her…"

"Look, Cas," Sam said, and Elena could picture his expression trying to placate her beloved angel. "None of us want anything to happen to her, but we all know how much of an asset she is. Crowley's raining Hell down on us, and we gotta do all we can to stop him."

"Yeah," Dean continued. "I know it's been a couple years since the last time we dealt with it, but you remember how much power it took to stop it, don't you? You think we're gonna get another Hail Mary at the eleventh hour?"

"I'm…not sure what Mary has to do with this, nor how the passage of time is related."

Elena bit her lip to keep from laughing. In the face of incredible danger, Castiel's occasional language barriers still amused her. She could tell from a frustrated noise from Dean that he wasn't nearly as amused.

"Cas, man, we're not gonna let you do this," Dean said. "No way. Not to her, and not to Ava."

"Well, Dean, I'm afraid you don't have a choice," Castiel replied.

A moment later, Elena heard two loud thumps. She jumped up from the car she was crouched behind to see what happened. She couldn't stop herself from gasping when she saw Sam and Dean's bodies on the ground lying motionless. Castiel immediately met her eyes, surprised by her presence.

"What did you do? What did you do?!" Elena screamed, rushing to the boys.

"They're fine, I swear," Castiel insisted. "But Elena, I have to do this. I have to protect you and Ava."

"How does knocking Sam and Dean out protect us?" she yelled back, after making sure they both had a pulse.

"They won't even realize you're gone," Castiel told her, and Elena felt an involuntary chill run through her.

"Wh-what do you mean? Gone? How will I be gone, Castiel? I'm not going anywhere."

"It's what I have to do," he repeated, advancing toward her.

Elena jumped to her feet and got into a defensive stance.

"I won't let you send me away," she growled.

"You won't be able to stop me," he told her before vanishing.

Elena blinked a few times, expecting him to come back at any moment, but the salvage yard remained angel-free. She crouched back down to Sam and Dean, trying to shake them awake. Neither responded, and Elena blew out an angry sigh. She bit her lip, thinking of what she could do. She decided to focus on their energy and see if she could help them come back to the waking world. As she closed her eyes, she realized there was a noise coming from the monitor she'd clipped onto her belt. She'd slipped the monitor into Ava's room before sneaking out, just in case Ava woke up while Elena was outside trying to get information.

"Daddy?" she heard Ava ask sleepily.

"It's okay, Ava," she heard Castiel say. "This will make you feel a little sleepy, but you'll be fine. I promise. I love you. Please know that: I love you more than I can ever express, more than I can bear."

"Wha—"

Elena heard Ava inhale sharply before groaning in pain and fear. Her feet were racing back to the house before she even realized she had made the decision. When she got to Ava's room, she saw Castiel in the shadows by the window, holding something shimmery in his hands and muttering something she couldn't understand.

"What did you do to her?!" Elena screamed.

"What I had to," he replied.

Elena could sense that Ava was alive and not in danger, but she couldn't tell what Castiel had done. Ava wasn't moving, just like Sam and Dean. She looked at Castiel in horror, terrified of whatever he was doing. The only thing she knew was that she had to protect Ava. Elena felt anger surge through her and saw the yellow tint around her in her peripheral vision.

"Elena, this is the only way," he insisted.

Elena started to run to him, prepared to fight and get whatever he had just done, undone. Before she could land a blow, her ear caught the faintest sound of Castiel muttering something. She collapsed to the floor.

—everything flooded back to her instantly. Elena stared at Castiel as he sat back on his heels, waiting for her to say something.

Elena turned to the side and vomited immediately, unable to emotionally process what had happened, what Castiel had done to them all. It took a few rounds before she could sit back again, her stomach finally empty.

"Elena," Castiel began, but she shook her head and he stopped.

"Castiel," she started, her voice low with barely-contained rage. "What the absolute fuck did you do?"

"I gave you a different life to hide you," he responded evenly.

"How? What the fuck did you do to Ava?! You're not powerful enough to have done this to me, to her! What did you DO?!" she screamed, jumping up and balling her hands into fists.

Elena knew from the smell in the air her hands were engulfed in flames that would never burn her. Rage poured through her being like water through a flooded plain, invading every corner and crevice until there was no safe place.

"I used some of her Grace," he whispered, still crouched on the ground. "It's more powerful than mine. It was powerful enough to do what I needed to do to keep you both safe. And it worked," he stated, as if that mattered at all.

"You harmed our daughter to steal part of her Grace and wipe our memories of who we were?"

"When you put it like tha—" Castiel began, but Elena punched him before he could finish.

The power behind her punch laid him out flat immediately. He blinked a few times, stunned.

"Elena," he began, sitting up, and she hit him again.

He went down as quickly as before, and this time she knelt on top of him, continuing to punch him over and over. He put his hands up to try and block her throws, but she screamed and knocked his hands out of the way with one arm while making contact with the other. She kept screaming and punching until she was dragged off him. She continued thrashing and screaming and trying to hit him, oblivious to anything else.

She didn't hear the shouting of Sam, or Dean, or Crowley as they continued to try and hold her back. She didn't notice or care that Castiel wasn't moving, that he was bloodied, his face swollen and broken. She didn't care about anything except making him pay for what he had done to them, to their lives, to their family, to their future. She was beyond hating him. She wanted to wipe him from existence, and she was going to do it.

"Mommy?"

Ava's terrified plea froze her in place. Her immediate cessation of resistance led to the three men falling back, taking her down with them. Elena scrambled to her feet, eyes filled with tears as she looked at her daughter, her magnificent, Divine daughter, for the first time in what felt like years. In a way, that's exactly what it was.

"Oh, Ava," she whispered, and Ava burst into tears.

Elena looked at her daughter in confusion. She reached for Ava, shocked when Ava recoiled from her and kept crying.

"Ava," she repeated. "Sweet girl, what's wrong?"

"W-w-why…wh-wh-what…my name is Ari!" Ava screamed before turning and running into the woods.

"Oh, shit," Elena heard Sam say.

"Ava! Stop!" Elena screamed, taking off after her daughter.

"Bloody Hell," Crowley shouted.

Before she could register, Crowley was gone and appeared ahead of her, intercepting Ava and grabbing her, then vanishing again immediately.

"Ava!" Elena screamed again, skidding to a stop.

"Shit!" Sam shouted from behind her.

Elena whirled around, panicked. Just as she finished turning, Dean reached her and connected his fist with her face. She stumbled backward, falling to the ground at the unexpected attack.

"Dean, what the hell are you doing? We have to get Ava back from Crowley!" She exclaimed.

Dean pulled out a gun and aimed it at her.

"I don't give a damn who the hell you are, I will end you right now if you don't leave."

"Dean, what are you doing?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"Did you just see what she did to Cas, Sammy? She was trying to kill him, and if we didn't get her off him in time she would've!"

"He deserves it for what he did to us!" Elena yelled, getting to her feet once again. "I need to find Ava, I don't know what Crowley's going to do to her! I don't know why she ran off, it just does—"

"Are you nuts, lady? You were on fire like the goddamn Ghost Rider beating the hell out of an angel. Then you went after her, covered in blood, calling her the wrong name. Of course she ran away from you, psycho bitch!"

"Dean!" Sam said sharply, but Dean ignored him.

"Get the hell away and don't you ever come back," he said.

Elena stared at him, unsure of what to do. She hadn't considered what Ava had seen, or how she looked in Ava's eyes. Just because she suddenly knew the truth and remembered who they were didn't mean that Ava did. Ava thought she was Ari, and that Elena was Callie. Ava still thought her dad was Dan Richards, who died a few years ago in an accident.

"Oh my god," she said softly, horrified.

"Believe me, I'll send you to get what you deserve if you don't get out of here, and it sure as hell ain't gonna be Heaven."

Elena was desperately trying to figure out what to do. She knew that she could bring Ava to her, but if she did, Ava might run again. She wondered if it would work in reverse, though there wasn't anything guaranteeing Ava still wouldn't run away at the sight of her. She never thought Crowley would hurt Ava, but now she couldn't be sure. Elena shook her head, trying to figure out what she'd do once she made it to Ava. How could she ever explain?

"Fine, that's fine. We'll leave. We'll just go to Bobby's," she said, nodding to herself.

Sam inhaled sharply and Elena remembered the night before when she'd overheard them talking. It felt like ages ago, and it didn't register at the time on the level she understood it now.

"Wait, wait, no. No. No, it…you said…Bobby's dead?"

Elena looked between Sam and Dean, waiting for one of them to tell her she was mistaken. Sam looked miserable, and even Dean's anger was starting to crack, the pain and sorrow leaking through.

"Wh-, I mean, how? When?"

"We don't owe you jack, lady," Dean growled. "Now get out of here!"

Elena stifled a reply, nodding slowly instead.

"I'll go. But if you want to find out why I'm so angry, go ask Castiel. I remember everything, and it's so much worse than you could imagine."

Elena closed her eyes, concentrated on the rhythm she knew was Ava, and felt the world around her vanish as she pictured herself joining the familiar vibration.