Castiel got out with the help of Lucifer. Castiel enraged Lucifer with the truth – the truth about his son, and about what he appeared to be now. Rage was apparently a good motivator for the archangel.

It wasn't a bad motivator for Castiel, either. Lucifer taunted him with the reminder that he kept failing, that he could never keep his wife for longer than a few stolen moments now. He kept losing her. He kept failing her. He couldn't keep her safe, couldn't keep her happy, couldn't do anything for her.

The rage between the both of them was more than enough to get them out of their cages. It also kept Castiel alive when Lucifer tried to strike at him. He got back to the Bunker with the brothers, and told them the highlights. Lucifer was back. Kylie had disappeared.

He left off the torture from Ketch. That was a personal vendetta for Castiel to settle, now.

In turn, they filled him in on their end. Jack teaming up with a dreamwalker. Things going wrong. Jack in the wind, more than likely in the correct universe. Them in a third for a short time.

The timelines matched up with when Kylie had disappeared. Somehow, she'd been connected. Somehow, she'd gone to one of the other universes.

He just didn't know which one.

He hoped it was with Jack. Jack would keep her safe.

So they left to find Lucifer, following the trail of dead vessels.

"Oh, it's only you." Castiel froze with anger the second he heard that voice. They'd been trying to find Lucifer, which led them to Sister Jo, which had led them to Elgin Hall. It had also put Castiel right in front of the singular human man he loathed most in the world.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean asked.

"Do we really have to do all of this again?" Arthur Ketch asked. "Last time we were together I saved your lives and you shot me. Doesn't that make us even?"

"You bastard!" Castiel roared. He rushed past Sam and Dean, blade in hand. It took both the Winchesters a moment to react, and three to successfully hold him back from stabbing the Brit (but even then they were only just barely keeping the angel in check). Ketch, for his credit, knew to take steps away from Cas. They all knew that if Castiel got within range he would kill Ketch. There was no doubt about that.

The only doubt was how quickly Castiel would allow it to happen.

"No, I guess not." Dean stated bluntly, adjusting his grip on Castiel. He was still struggling to get near Ketch. Sam could see the fear in the Brit's eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked. It was difficult to ask questions and hold Castiel back, but he was managing. Barely.

"My sources tell me Lucifer's back, he's weak and he's - or was - in this wonderful little slice of Americana. I was going to try and kill him." Ketch looked at the three of them, his eyes lingering on Castiel for a moment. "As were you, I assume."

"Okay, who are you working for?" Sam responded.

"Isn't it possible that I am simply trying to strike a blow for the good of humanity?" Ketch tried.

"No, that's not possible!" Castiel screamed. "You're working with Asmodeus, you son of a bitch!"

Sam and Dean froze, giving Castiel the opportunity he needed. Cas raced between the brothers and lunged. Ketch backed up farther, but he couldn't back up fast enough. Within seconds Castiel had him pinned up against a wall, his angel blade hovering two centimeters above Ketch's throat.

"Sam! Dean!" Ketch shouted, his voice cracking slightly. "A little help, please!" Neither brother responded. Instead they advanced slowly, almost angrily.

"You've been working with Asmodeus?" Dean asked. His voice was as piercing as ice.

"Yes!" Arthur sounded exasperated, but also afraid.

"And you think that we should help you?" Dean asked next.

"Yes! Your angel is about to murder me!" The brothers looked at each other. Sam shrugged.

"I say we let him." Sam stated.

"EXCUSE ME!" Ketch shouted. "I'm trying to help you, you morons!"

"Is that what you were trying to do to Kylie?" Castiel asked angrily. He stared Ketch in the eyes, and the Englishman could see something he had never before seen in an angel; he saw pure hatred. He saw the most absolute form of loathing and wrath that he could ever imagine, and Ketch was afraid.

For a moment, Ketch wondered how long it would take the angel to kill him, if the brothers let him have his way. He suspected it would be more than long enough to make Arthur Ketch regret ever meeting any of them.

"I'm trying to present an opportunity here!" Ketch argued. "If I'm working for Asmodeus," the blade in Castiel's hand pressed up snugly against Ketch's throat. The Brit paused, fighting the urge to swallow. "Then I can pass information on to you!"

"Oh right." Castiel challenged. "And you would do that for us?"

"For everyone. I know you think I'm a monster," Ketch tried, but he was interrupted.

"You are." Castiel stated. "What you did to her was inhumane. Why should we offer you any sort of mercy?"

"That was personal, this is business." Ketch tried. "However, even I must draw the line somewhere. It seems as though I set it at letting Lucifer free upon the earth, not to mention the whole Michael situation." Castiel glanced back at the Winchesters. They all knew how bad that was, Ketch's own crimes aside. "Look, I know you want to kill me. I know you can't forgive me. But if you think about it I'm the lesser of, well, at least three evils." All Castiel could see though was Kylie's face, branded with that horrible A.K. "All I ask is that you wait to murder me until after I prove useful. Hmm?" Ketch tried to look around Castiel at the brothers. The action caused the blade to dig in to his throat, creating a sharp yet thin scratch on his neck. "Anyone?"

"It's your call, Cas." Dean decided. Ketch looked into the eyes of the angel, and he could see it. This was the end for Arthur Ketch. This would be how he died – at the hands of an angel. To many, this would be considered a gift.

To Ketch, he knew that in the end death would truly be the most merciful gift this particular angel could offer him.

However, much to everyone's surprise Castiel lowered his blade. He took two steps back, regarding the Brit coldly. "Thank you." Ketch said, letting out a sigh of relief. He didn't see Castiel's fist rocketing towards him until it was too late. The Englishman fell to the floor, not exactly knocked out but not exactly fully conscious either. His nose was broken. He could feel that clearly. "I can understand how that would be deserved," he started to say. Then Castiel's fist came down again, and this one was the one that put Arthur Ketch out cold.

"Nice one, Cas." Dean complimented, clapping him on the shoulder. "Personally, I wouldn't have held it against you if you had killed him."

"Kylie would've." Castiel stated grimly. "I'm certain that she'd rather us get whatever information we can out of him first."

"What…" Sam almost sounded afraid to ask. "What happened down there, Cas?" In Castiel's mind, all he could hear was her screaming. All he could see was the pain etched across her body by this man. He could still see those scars.

He could still remember Ketch smiling.

"Nothing you can't already imagine." Castiel said ominously. The three all looked down on Ketch's unconscious form, and for a moment all three of them had the same thought.

If he died now, nobody would come looking. Nobody would blame them if they killed Ketch then and there.

"Alright," Dean said, breaking the silence. "I say we take dickbag back to the bunker and find out what he knows, put a bullet in him, then burn his bones and flush his ashes."

"I like that plan." Castiel agreed.