It was a little after 5pm when Cas finally woke up, Dean had carried him downstairs to sit on the couch while they all hung out. No one was particularly gung-ho about checking out the basement, they knew it would be extremely dangerous and though it could be exciting none of them were stupid enough to ignore the reality of it. Dean wasn't sure he should bring Cas with, he wasn't confident that he could keep Cas safe down there but he knew that Cas wouldn't take it well. Leaving Castiel behind wouldn't happen, especially not if they were heading into the depths of the basement's labyrinth.

Cas stretched out, taking over Dean's lap and the other half of the couch as his wings flexed and blocked Dean's vision for a few seconds. He gurgled to himself and sat up, rubbing his eyes as he yawned and brought his wings back in.

"Good evening, sleepy head," Dean grinned and ruffled up Cas' hair. Castiel returned the favour by licking Dean on the mouth again.

"He does that sometimes," Sam said quickly before Charlie could ask any questions.

"I'm not surprised by much anymore," Charlie commented distantly, a little too into their Harry Potter marathon to care.

Castiel got up and fluttered off, Dean watched him go and sighed as he dropped back against the couch. "Okay, so he's awake now. I'll get him something to eat in a bit but we should talk about what we're going to look at down there."

"It's practically a maze," Sam leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees as looked around at the others, "I wandered pretty far and I think it spans most of the property."

"The property's pretty big," Jet nodded thoughtfully, "You think there's a map or something?"

"If there was it'd probably be downstairs, no sense in keeping a secret lab map outside the secret lab." Bobby scoffed and Dean had to agree with him, he didn't take MacLeod for the stupid type.

Charlie paused the video and turned her focus on their conversation, "I think I want to stay by the computers, do some more reading. Maybe I can keep Cas there with me? That way he doesn't go into the dangerous parts."

"That sounds great," Dean smiled, relieved that a solution came up before he had to worry himself sick about it, "So we'll get going down there and you can wait for Cas by the basement door maybe? Otherwise he might just follow me."

"Yeah I thought so too," She laughed a little but it her expression was grim. "So what do you expect to find down there, exactly?"

"We didn't get that far in the videos I was showing you," Jet spoke up first, "but there was a big room of Cas clones down there. MacLeod did something that would 'find out which was the strongest.' I think he let them all loose or something."

She frowned as she recalled the videos she did see, "He was conditioned to fight anything that looks like him, I wouldn't be surprised if they were all dead."

"I'd like to believe that since most things down there starved to death hopefully whatever was left is dead too." Sam added with a touch of optimism.

"Well we're gonna have to find out," Jet said seriously as he got up from his spot beside Sam, "Let's get this shit over with," he glanced at Bobby and looked like he might say something but decided better of it. Dean figured he knew what it was; they could give Bobby the option of sitting it out and waiting with Charlie. But Jet was smart enough that he knew Bobby's answer would be a little insulted and they'd all go together anyway. Best just avoid the whole thing.

Sam on the other hand didn't have the same rapport with Bobby that Dean and Jet had. "You want to come down too, Bobby?" Asking in a different way was just one example of how Sam was different than the other two, but he added that little sweetness to his tone that usually put Bobby in the palm of his hand. "We could use the extra help, or Charlie could use a hand with Cas-sitting."

"The kid did like me," Bobby nodded a little; Dean couldn't believe that Sam managed it in a way that didn't offend or challenge Bobby's ability to do anything. He might just have to take notes on Sam's approach, though he was sure Bobby would see through him in a second. "My buddy's closer to the area than I thought so I might need to stay by the door."

"Might be good to not get lost in a labyrinth if you're expecting company," Jet chuckled, "So you'll watch Cas, Charlie does some research, and we make sure all the doors down there are sealed up on the living things. Sound like a plan?"

"Sounds like a plan," Sam agreed and they all got up to head to the basement.

Castiel hopped up to Dean's side as soon as they exited the living room, his step right in line with Dean's. "Dee," he said and Dean couldn't do anything but give his attention to Cas.

"What's up?" He asked with a smile, he couldn't help but love the way Cas said his name, part of him hoped Cas would continue to do it even after he could speak properly again.

Cas took a second, preparing himself as he attempted to speak. "I want… to go wit'chu." His stuttering was still there and his inflections could use work, but Dean was pretty impressed.

"I'm sorry Cas," he smiled sadly, "it's safer for you to stay with Bobby and Charlie."

Cas stared at him and Dean repeated it, he wasn't sure why, it was the first time he repeated something to help Cas understand but somehow he felt it would actual do something this time. Castiel's expression changed a little after the second repetition and he sighed, looking away with a dejected gaze. "Okay Dee."

"Thanks Cas, you're the best." Dean leaned in and hugged him, smiling a little wider when Cas snuggled up to it.

"Yo, let's go dude," Jet called to him, the only one waiting at the end of the hall.

Dean nodded to him and took Cas' hand, "C'mon."

Dean had a bit of a hard time letting Cas go when they got to the lab but Bobby stepped up and took Cas' hand from him. "I got him, son."

"Thanks," Dean smiled with a light sigh and followed Sam and Jet to the doors leading to the experimental rooms. "See you guys later."

"Good luck!" Charlie waved, keeping herself upbeat for her own sake Dean figured.

"Don't do anything stupid," Bobby yelled after them, Jet snapped him a peace sign before shutting the door.

"Do we know what we're looking for?" Sam asked nervously as they wandered down the dimly lit walkway together.

"This is my first time down in this part," Jet replied, "Honestly I have no idea what to expect other than what I saw in the videos and on the surveillance cameras."

"I wouldn't be too worried, Sammy." Dean gave his brother's shoulder a squeeze, "Jet and I have been in our fair share of fights, you're in good hands."

"These things have been scientifically altered; they could probably do anything and have any characteristic. Forgive me if I'm not as confident in your abilities."

"Ouch," Jet chuckled and looked back at Sam who they stuck in the middle; Dean had taken up the rear. "C'mon babe, have a little faith."

Sam scoffed and looked away, "Fine, I have faith we're in over our heads."

"Good enough," Dean smirked; he didn't exactly think Sam was wrong about that. "So can I ask why we didn't bring any kind of weapon?"

"I'm pretty sure there isn't anything lurking in this area," Jet sounded calm; it was comforting to know he wasn't on edge yet. Dean tended to think that Jet had a better sense of danger than himself or Sam, then again Jet could've been lying and he'd never know it. "Even if there is something it'll be starving to death, if we can't punch something like that out then maybe we deserve to get our asses kicked."

"That's not a smart way to look at it," Sam muttered but a small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

The three of them walked and looked into different cages, each one was sealed off so they couldn't smell anything but some of the imagery was rotten at best. Dean cringed and stepped away from one that was just a lump of flesh. "What the fuck was he combining anyway?"

"I have a feeling he was mixing Cas' DNA with more than just the cloning project," Sam replied quietly, glancing at the grotesque scenes around them. The walkway had led them to an area that just had cage after cage, nothing was moving from what they could so thus far and though it was a good sign for them it still left an unsettling feeling.

Jet paused and looked at one of the small enclosures, Dean noticed that most of them had very unremarkable living spaces compared to what Cas had been given. Castiel was allowed a distinctive name, room to move and even fly if he wanted. The rest were probably just tests and failed experiments, considering how they'd been treated. The one Jet was looking at had a fuzzy thing curled up on the floor, at first glance it looked dead but there was a small bit of movement around it's chest.

"Makes you wonder if they're safe like Cas or just killing machines," Jet mumbled and kept walking.

"I don't know," Dean shook his head and followed suit, "But I opened up one cage and could've gotten my head bit off, you guys get the next one."

"We're not quite as stupid as you are." Sam nudged Dean's arm with a smile, Dean returned the playful gesture with a headlock and a noogie.

"What was that? I didn't quite hear you over the sound of your pretentiousness."

"Agh! Dean let go!" Sam struggled and pulled at Dean's arm, he'd gotten stronger from when they were kids but Dean still came out on top. Once that was obvious to both of them he let go with a grin on his face and a just a little too hard smack to Sam's back. "Asshole," Sam grumbled as he fixed his hair.

"Serves you right," Dean laughed and pushed Sam along, "C'mon, Jet's getting away from us."

"We should stay in a group," Sam called to his new boyfriend who just waved over his shoulder.

"Chill out, you can still see me, I'm not that far away." He paused again and looked at another cage, his posture was mostly relaxed though Dean was pretty sure his breathing increased a little. "Did we find out how much DNA MacLeod needed to make clones and shit?"

"No," Dean and Sam caught up and looked at the enclosure that had Jet's attention. There was a nearly human body sitting naked against the wall, arms wrapped around mutated legs pulled against its chest, its head leaned back into the corner. Its mouth was open, eyes sunken and skin barely clinging to it anymore. It looked like Cas, mostly. He'd been combined with another person; Dean thought maybe it was one of the assistants that MacLeod might've been talking to in those videos. Whatever the case it was making him feel ill.

"Never thought I'd be grateful for being jaded to horror movie gore," Jet snarked and moved on.

"What were you thinking about the amount of DNA MacLeod needed?" Sam fell in line with Jet's steps; Dean struggled a little more in trying to tear his gaze away from the dead body of a human hybrid.

"Well," Jet glanced at different cages as he walked; for the most part there were similar monsters, repeating experiments on different things. Most of them were dead; every now and then they'd pass something that could've been breathing but so far nothing moved a whole lot. "I was just thinking that if he didn't need much in the way of DNA he could potentially use anyone, you know? Just go and get a swab from a public handrail or something."

"I've got a feeling he needs a little more than a few germs, bro." Dean reassured him, "I know what you're thinking, and I don't think he's made any experiments involving your DNA."

"I guess," Jet had a quiet smile that told Dean he'd hit the nail on the head.

"Yeah," Sam reached over and touched his back gently, a comforting gesture that Dean was sure he'd have to get used to from then on. "From the looks of things MacLeod needed a whole body, otherwise he wouldn't have needed to abduct Cas like he did."

"You're right," Jet sighed with some relief, "Still though, I'm gonna prepare for the worst anyway."

Dean shrugged, "You usually do."

The walkway had split several times in other directions; Dean was taking mental notes of how many times they went left or right. It was only once so far; meaning the stairs to Cas' old enclosure weren't coming up. They hadn't gone right for the room with the clones, he was pretty happy with that knowledge. He'd definitely bring a weapon with him if they were going to open that door; there wasn't proof that anything in there was dead or alive as far as he knew.

Keeping track of the time was a little difficult in the sub-levels; he kept checking his phone to make sure they hadn't accidentally spent hours down there. It wasn't because he was unprepared to walk around in the experiment zones, more so he was thinking about how much time he was leaving Cas on his own. Bobby and Charlie were good company but he knew Cas would miss him. It didn't help that Cas wanted to go with either, he felt like a dick for saying no but he knew it'd be easier if Cas weren't with them. What if they did run into a clone? Cas would lose it.

After a while of quiet wandering they reached a set of stairs leading down at the end of their walkway path, Dean glanced at the other two who both looked like they were considering going down. "Maybe we should stay at this level? Cas was originally further down, I get the feeling the tamer shit is up here."

"Maybe," Sam furrowed his brow, "But that's even more reason to go down." He passed Jet by and took the lead, that sort of determination Dean knew would be impossible to talk out of him.

"We're not here to explore and see crazy shit, Sam." Dean yelled after him but Sam just replied with an already distant 'come on.'

"No sense in arguing with him, c'mon dude." Jet gestured to the stairs, "I'll take the rear this time."

"Alright," Dean sighed and hurried down the steps to catch up with his idiot brother. When Sam came into view again there was another slightly more unique space ahead of them. It wasn't lit like Cas' had been and it was much smaller. It was lodged into the back wall, just a square terrarium kind of space with a similar control panel as Cas' had. Sam was standing in front of it and reading off a touch-screen tablet set up on the pedestal.

Dean walked up to it and looked inside, he felt a pit in his stomach but he couldn't find any body or remains. There was a single structure inside that looked like a man-made tree; it had a person-sized hole carved into it that led a little further into the back wall. It was pitch black in there aside from the small reflections of the walkway's dim lights.

"Gerontology experiment," Sam read the notes aloud, "A perfect clone of Castiel was created but he lacked key features that made someone human, recreating brain signals and neuro-links is for a future experiment, therefore an existing one has been used to complete the process." The deeper the crease in Sam's brow the more Dean worried about what he might hear next. "Holy shit…" Sam whispered and looked up at the cage, "there's kid in there."