Mother and son went outside to where the Winchester brothers and Castiel stood. Rowena felt embarrassment bubble up inside of her like a wellspring of pure shame, but she did not move to leave, as she was held in place by her son. She couldn't help but examine the looks on their faces. Dean looked at her with a stony eye. There was no sympathy that she could detect in his glance, and she figured that he was keeping things as objective as possible. Sam, however, looked at her with a pity and sadness that reminded her all too well of who she used to be. And Castiel looked at her with a look of pity and confusion, not quite able to grasp why what had happened had happened. For about a minute, nobody spoke a word. Then, Sam stepped forward.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Rowena forced a smile onto her face. "I'm fine. Really."

"Are you sure? Because you look like you just survived a war with gladiators and lost your armor." Said Dean. Crowley shot him a withering scowl. Despite his friendship with Dean, that was going over the line. His mother didn't need to feel any worse than she already did. Sam seemed to notice this too and promptly elbowed his older brother in the ribs. When Rowena looked down, clearly affected by his words, Dean felt a pinch of guilt in his chest. Crowley hurriedly decided to move things along.

"Be that as it may, squirrel, that's not what's important right now."

Dean felt both of his eyebrows shoot up in surprise at his words. That was definitely unexpected.

"Okay… Then what is?"

"What did you do with Angus?"

"The guy was pounding on her. We pulled him off her and carried the bastard out until we found a place to chain him up."

"Where?"

"In one of the rooms in the hall. Why?"

"Because Mum and I decided that it's time for a little payback."

Dean scoffed. "You're going to go back in there? After all that? Are you crazy?"

"Perhaps. It's not the strangest thing to ever happen, you know."

"I get why you would want to go in there, but why would you take her in there?" He asked, gesturing to Rowena.

"Because it's my turn to get the advantage over him and make him suffer." She said, voice surprisingly strong and resolute.

Dean ogled at her for a moment before he recovered himself.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" He asked.

Rowena glared at him. "Do I look like I was joking?"

"No…" He said, hesitantly.

Crowley rolled his eyes. "Are you finished with the Spanish Inquisition?"

Sam couldn't help but snigger at the comparison, while Dean eyed his brother as a traitor.

"Are you two quite finished?" He asked, sounding like a schoolteacher who was unamused by his unruly students. Sam coughed.

"Yes." He said.

"Very well then, let's go." Said Crowley. He started to leave, but paused when he noticed his mother hadn't followed him.

"Mummy? Aren't you coming?"

Rowena forced a smile. "Of course, Dearie. Just give me a few minutes, okay?" She said, kindly.

Crowley visibly hesitated for a minute before going, Sam and Dean followed behind him, but Castiel stayed behind. He waited until the other three were completely out the door and then turned to Rowena.

"You're frightened." He said. It was a matter-of-fact statement.

Rowena couldn't look at him. She felt the hairs on the back stand up and a chill run down her spine. Facing her abuser after what he'd done to her was always the most terrifying part of their relationship, both now and back then. She would never forget the cycle of abuse that occurred every single time. First, there would be the phase of tension building, where small everyday events served to begin to anger Angus. She always felt that she was walking on eggshells and landmines. Any one little thing could set him off. Then, the incident would occur. The abuse would take place, and she would get battered and bruised. For a time after, he would leave her be. Then, he would seek her out and apologize, swearing to change and that it would never happen again. And in her naïvety, she had believed him.

"What do you care, feathers? You never liked me anyways. Aren't you going to tell me in all your self-righteous glory that I got what I deserved because of what I did to you and your friends? Aren't you going to tell me that Im an idiot for doing this, and that you already know how this is going to end?"

"No." He said, calmly. "You didn't get what you deserved. Because no one deserves to be abused like that."

She looked over at him. "What did you just say?"

"You didn't deserve that." He said. "For a long time I thought you were one of the worst people that Dean, Sam, and myself had ever faced. I thought you were a terrible mother, and that you were the reason why Crowley turned out the way he did. But the more that I heard about Angus, the more I suspected he had something to do with it, and then when I finally saw what he had done to you I finally understood why you were the way you were, and why Crowley was who he was. I had never considered that you might have a good reason for being who you are. I judged you too quickly. For that, I'm sorry. But you should not be afraid of facing Angus. Because this time you will not be doing this by yourself. And you will not have to worry about him hurting you ever again.

Rowena felt herself smiling for the first time in a long while.

"Thank you." She said, quietly. He nodded.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yes. I am."

"Then let's go."

With that, the two of them headed out the door.