Sam reached for his alarm, shutting it off and forcing himself to sit upright. He knew he didn't have it in him to run, but he could at least keep a schedule. Shower. Eat breakfast.

He shuddered as he moved pots and pans around the stove. It was too quiet in the bunker. He used to enjoy that alone time around his morning runs. He'd leave and come back during the quiet before Dean woke up. He'd get things done, feel refreshed. Even when Cas was staying there, the angel usually tried to make himself scarce in the early mornings, leaving it as time simply for him.

Now it only managed to highlight just how large and empty this place was. Eileen was out for a few days, back at her place, and the bunker just seemed oppressively large and vacant. He kept expecting to hear something. Some far off curse as Dean knocked over some precarious pile of books or the echoes of some movie on a laptop or TV.

Miracle whined and brushed up against his shins, and he absently flashed a hollow smile down to him. "Hey Mira… I know." He put his hand down, absently ruffling his fur as he let his mind wander in thought.

Sam had been talking to Eileen about what to do with the bunker. He needed to get away from it. It was a place of death, and he didn't know when he was going to be able to walk down the halls without seeing Dean. Without seeing Cas, or Jack. He knew it wouldn't be any time soon.

"Are you sure, Sam?"

Sam gave a weak smile, looking away for a second before facing the video on his iPad once more. "Yeah. I'm sure."

Garth's face was awash with sympathy, and he shifted slightly. "I'll have to talk it over with Bess some more, but she liked the idea."

"Good. Um. Jody and the girls were looking at moving anyway. They uh, they're going to be moving sort of close by. So."

"It'll be nice to finally meet the rest of them."

"Yeah, they're good people."

"Sam, I'll run this operation, but you know you don't have to leave. It's your home."

"No." Sam said firmly. "I can't stand being here… Eileen and I… we're going to find somewhere away."

"You getting out of the life?"

The hunter gave a more sincere, if wistful smile. "No. I doubt it anyway." He swallowed. "So yeah. I'll uh… I'll drop the key off this week, okay? You take care of it." He nodded. "And don't be afraid to call us. Eileen and I will be around."

"Okay. And Sam? I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, okay." He replied, coughing to cover the break in his voice. He dismissed it, his posture stiffening. "I'll see you then."

He set the iPad aside with shaky hands, rubbing his face and trying to ground himself for a moment.

He rose to his feet, heading on auto-pilot to Dean's room. He looked around, at the untouched signs of his brother's presence. Empty bottles on the nightstand. Bed half made. That dressing robe thrown haphazardly over the chair in the corner. He sighed, taking it in, knowing he was about to leave it behind.

He was startled by the ringing of the phone from Dean's desk. He had to struggle to keep his composure through the call, taking the details of the case in Texas before he lost the fight. He had something to move towards now.

He began pulling together the things he couldn't bear to leave behind before he packed his own belongings with plans to leave and never look back.

.

Dean followed Charlie back out into the roadhouse, and took a seat at the bar. Most of the group had split off, leaving Charlie, Kevin and Ash who were chatting with Jack. He felt himself tense as he thought about this plan. "So what have we got?"

Ash grinned, turning his laptop sideways towards Dean and pointing at the screen. It was entirely for effect as Dean looked where he was pointed and the mash of enochian meant nothing to him. "The board is set, the pieces are moving. We found your in."

"That's good right?" Dean leaned back.

Charlie beamed. "Uh no, it's freaking awesome." She confirmed. "Jack says Rowena runs hell now, and is also like, not a super bitch anymore."

"Hell?"

"The barrier into the empty is weakest somewhere in Hell." She looked at Jack. "You'll need to sort of feel out where, but that's your way in." She returned to typing. "We're going to make a talisman that should help zero in on the point where it's weakest."

"And then?" Dean watched Kevin roll an angel blade across the bar top. "What, stab her?"

"No. The empty's hold is on angels and demons, right?"

"Yeah, maybe. And-?'

Jack put a small vial next to the blade. "We take his grace."

"Take his-" Dean processed what was being said, the realization dawning. "You mean, make him human?"

"She doesn't have direct control over humans." Kevin said, a grin spreading across his face. "I mean, it'd still be dangerous, getting him out. She probably has a thousand ways she can kill somebody but-"

"But we'd have a real shot." Dean confirmed, a smile of his own forming.

Jack nodded. "And I'll be fighting alongside you, to keep her busy."

Kevin sat back down. "The trick is finding him. Rowena is going to have to find a way to find him." He admitted. "She has to have a spell or something she can do to help that though."

"And it's that simple?" Dean asked. "We yank his grace out and then what?"

"Run like hell." Ash closed his laptop. "Because she is gonna be hot on your heels."

.

It took days before Ash and Charlie had the spell components for the talisman. Jack pushed it into his pocket, ready to bring into hell.

They were relying a lot on the witch's spellcraft, but Dean wasn't too worried about that. Rowena was the best person for the job. He gave one last glance at the gathered crowd as he and Jack took up position to leave. "Well, wish us luck."

"Good luck, kid." Bobby squeezed his shoulder, stepping back.

"I wish we could back you up." Charlie threw him a sympathetic look.

"We'll manage." Dean flashed a smile to cover his own doubts. From the glare he got from Charlie, he was guessing it wasn't convincing in the slightest.

Jack put a hand on Dean's shoulder and they vanished from the heaven roadhouse.

Dean shuddered, the air prickling his skin. He suppressed a shudder as the landscape of hell filled his vision. He didn't think he'd ever feel less revulsion at the sight of anything down there. He swallowed, trying to shut his mind down to memories of the past. They had something to do now.

Jack was oblivious to Dean's distress, and instead began to walk, waiting until they crossed paths with a demon who looked shocked at the visitors.

Rowena however only had a broad grin to greet them. She stepped down from her throne, looking every bit the queen she had become. "Let me get a look at you two. My, how interesting." She sensed the power off both of them. "I felt the shift when Death entered the world. But you I never expected." She turned to Jack. "And you… Well this is a lovely surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"We need to breach the empty." Jack said confidently.

Rowena's expression morphed into one of disbelief. "Oh?"

"Cas is stuck there." Jack said bluntly, unaware of Dean's flinch at the mention.

Rowena caught the slight movement and studied Dean's posture for a moment. "Alright. And what brings you two here then?"

"We need your help with a few spells." Dean said gruffly. "We need a way to get into and out of the empty, and we need a way to find Cas once we're inside."

Rowena frowned, walking back towards her pedestal. She picked up a bell from the little table beside her throne and sounded it. A black clad demon walked into the room on command. "Be a dear and bring Arthur to me." The demon nodded and left.

"Arthur?… Ketch?" Dean asked in disbelief.

"Aye." She smiled as the former Men of Letters assassin walked in.

He was almost halfway through the room when he stopped. "Dean. Jack." He looked between them. "You're…"

Dean pointed at Jack. "God." He gestured to himself. "Death."

"I see." Ketch said slowly. He paused. "Well. Bully for you. Now what can I help with?"

Rowena rejoined the group. "I need every book you've found on angels." She ran her hand across Ketch's shoulders. "And if you have something on the empty, add that in too."

Ketch tensed slightly but gave a nod. "Understood." He gave another brief nod to Dean and Jack before he exited the room.

Dean stared after the door for a moment. He whipped back to face Rowena. "Ketch?"

"He beat me here." She smirked. "He's been fighting through some of the further reaches of hell, collecting texts that have been lost for a long time. We'll see what they have to say about your problem. I don't suppose you brought the book of the damned."

"Sorry." Dean shrugged. He looked up, taking in Jack's posture and far off look. "Kid?"

"I am needed." Jack said, looking back to Dean, an apology in his eyes. "I have to look into this. Pray to me when you are ready."

"Wait, Jack-" The nephilim was already gone.

Rowena rolled her eyes, walking up and retaking her seat.

Dean settled back down on one of the chairs he had sat in last time.

"You know, it's very rude to upstage a regent's coronation." She mused. "Who would have guessed that you two would make anything of yourselves."

"Yeah, well. Don't worry. We'll find a way to screw it up sooner or later."

"And what of Sam? Did he-?"

"No, he's fine." Dean crossed his arms, leaning back. "Just me."

"Heroic or mundane?"

He let out a hiss of a half laugh. "Right in the middle."

She studied him for another moment. "So I take it you didn't resolve whatever was wrong between you when you were here last?"

"What-?"

"Whatever has you looking so dour about rescuing your handsome angel. I told you boys to fix it before you regretted it."

"No, it's not exactly like that."

"Oh? Then what is it like, exactly?"

Dean closed his mouth, leveling a glare at Rowena that warned her off the subject.

She clucked her tongue, shaking her head. "My, so touchy."

"Do you think you have what we need?"

"I am sure." She watched the hunter carefully. "What is your plan when you reach him?"

"We cut out his grace. If he's human we can make a run back towards hell."

A look crossed Rowena's face that Dean thought looked a lot like pity. She masked it quickly. Before he could ask, Ketch was walking in with a stack of books.

.

Dean flipped through his third book, turning each page to try and find something useful. This was the last book in English so his usefulness was running out. "Can't even get out of research if you die." He snapped the book shut. He scrubbed his hand over his face, leaning back in his chair.

"I think I found something." Ketch interrupted, ignoring Dean entirely.

Dean sprang back upright. "So? Spill." he demanded.

"Tracking an angel. There is a spell to track an angel using a sliver of their own grace as a focus."

"Well that'd be great except we don't have any of Cas' grace. So what good is that?"

"The scar on your shoulder." Ketch's tone was bordering on exasperation.

Dean absently touched his sleeve over the hand print.

"How did you-"

"Men of Letters. That scar was left by the contact with an angel's unshielded form. It's caused directly by exposure to the grace. That's why it's still there even though I imagine your Castiel has healed you in the past, yes?"

"Because it was full of angel mojo?"

"Enough to use it to track him." Rowena confirmed. "And I've found the spell to get you there and back."

.

Jack arrived with the last of the ingredients just as the Queen of Hell was ready for them.

"This is going to spark the grace in the mark. You should be able to sort of feel where he is. Make your way to him." She looked up at Dean. "When you sever her link to him, she's going to throw everything she has at you. She'll be able to read the grace and pull up any memory she wants to construct. And she controls them. You must keep moving." She handed him a small satchel of herbs and other spell components. "When you get back to the seam, you'll need to sort of boost the magic to allow you out. Set the grace into these and it should split the seam wide enough for you three to get out." She pulled out an ornate bowl. "We'll be keeping it active from this side." She looked between them. "You two going to remember that?"

"Cut Cas free. Fight a bunch of nightmares. Pour the grace in the magic dirt and get out."

Rowena looked to the ceiling, begging for patience. "Perfect." She continued putting together spell ingredients. She hesitated, considering her words before she spoke again. "After you cut out Castiel's grace, you'll need to be particularly careful with him."

Dean looked at her, not sure where she was going with that.

"Death cannot touch a human or they die." She continued. She watched the understanding dawn on Dean. "You'll need to be sure you don't make contact with him at any point on your escape."

The hunter paused, his breath hitching in his chest. He let it out carefully, fighting to keep his face neutral. "Noted."

Rowena watched him for a moment longer before she continued with the spell. She gathered the bowls and ingredients she would need for the spells.

Jack popped back into the room, talisman in hand. "I found where the barrier is weakest."

"We're ready."