"What do you mean Metatron has Cas." Dean's voice teetered on the edge between a warning and something dangerously close to panic.

Sam froze in place in the map room looking up at his brother, watching his posture change.

Gadreel spoke calmly but quickly on the other end of the line. "Metatron anticipated the potential deception. When I arrived without the tablet there was a trap already set. He used it to get to Cas. I was rendered unconscious."

"How long ago?" Dean kept his words short and sharp.

"Just over five hours."

Dean cursed. "Do. Not. Move. We are on the way to you." the hunter was already pulling open the door.

Sam opted to just send a text to Kevin, not wanting to waste precious minutes finding and informing the prophet. At least partially because he was fairly certain Dean would just leave without him.

The ride to the motel that Gadreel and Cas set up in was spent entirely in silence. Sam watched his brother from the corner of his eye. Dean's expression was serious, but somewhat calm, but his eyes were full of anger and focus. It was a look he'd only seen from Dean since his time in purgatory. That pure survival instinct, ready to do whatever it took to protect those closest to him.

Dean swerved into the parking lot of the motel, slamming on the breaks, barely stopping before pulling the keys and swinging out of the doors. Sam knew he would never treat the impala like that, but this station wagon was fair collateral in his warpath to saving Cas. He scrambled to get out of his own side, hurrying after his brother.

The older hunter didn't break stride as he threw open the door. Sam just cleared the threshold in time to see Dean shove Gadreel against the wall and lift an angel blade to press against his throat, close enough to start to draw blood. "Dean!"

Dean's voice was low and threatening. "Start talking asshole, what happened?"

Gadreel's hands rose slowly. "Metatron met me outside of the building. He sought to confirm I had completed my task, and he requested the tablet. I informed him it was not in the bunker. He looked to consider for a moment, and then simply said he was disappointed. He had an angel blade with him, and he made to kill me. Cas attempted to intercept, and Metatron missed a killing blow. Cas dragged me inside here, and used his grace to pull me back from near death."

"Then what?" Sam prompted, starting to walk forward, careful to keep his movements slow to not set off his hair-trigger brother.

"Metatron broke open the door and knocked me out. I called as soon as I regained consciousness."

Dean kept the knife pressed to his neck for a moment longer before he roughly yanked back, the blade going back to the pocket of his coat. "You're not off the hook." He spat. He pulled out his phone, dialing Cas' number, and listening to the ring. Metatron had it. This time he had to answer. He heard it pick up. "Metatron."

"Dean, Dean, Dean. Just who I wanted to talk to."

"I'm going to tell you once, you bring him back, you bring him back now, and you bring him back in one piece, do you hear me?"

You could hear the smile and small laugh through the phone. "Yeah, that's not how this works. You have something of mine, and I have something of yours. Been watching that motel. Took you three hours to get here from whatever dumpster you two call home? You have seven to get the tablet and get back. Elsewise your lover bites it. No comebacks this time. And no bluffing, I'll know if you have it."

"You better-" Dean cut off as the line cut out as Metatron hung up. A second later the phone hit the wall with force and shattered, causing Sam to jump. "Damn it."

"What did-"

"The tablet for Cas." Dean clenched his fists, body shaking slightly from the tension. "Even trade."

"So what do we-"

"I don't know!" Dean cut him off. He turned away from the pair watching him, hands coming up to scruff through his hair as he tried to think. His voice softened, faltering slightly. "I don't know." There was a moment of calm before he snapped, reaching down and upending the motel table, violently throwing its contents and breaking the legs. He braced himself on one of the chairs, taking a few rapid breaths to try and calm himself.

"Dean..."

"We get the tablet. We give it to Metatron." The hunter's voice was flat.

"We can't just give the tablet to Metatron." Sam tried to reason.

"We've got no choice."

After another pause, Gadreel took a step forward. "I apologize. I feel this is my fault."

Sam didn't have a chance to run interference before his brother turned and sprang into action. Gadreel was against the wall again, an angel blade through his shoulder and into the thin drywall behind him. Gadreel grunted in pain, and Dean just pressed further, the blade sliding through his flesh, grinding against the bone. "You're damn right it's your fault. Give me one good reason why I don't kill you right now?"

"Dean!" Sam moved forward, a hand on Dean's shoulder.

Dean reacted defensively, turning and throwing Sam off of him, knocking him back with such force Sam crashed to the ground. He didn't pay him any more attention, instead turning back to glare at Gadreel, twisting the blade slightly as the angel groaned in pain.

"Cas got taken while saving his life. Don't undo that." Sam tried to argue as he pulled himself up, hands up in a placating gesture as he slowly inched forward. He was careful to keep to the side, within the hunter's view. He was unpredictable at the moment, and Sam didn't want to be the thing that pushed him over the edge into killing the angel. "We may need him… to get Cas back…"

Dean looked up at Sam, the rage still burning in his eyes, but he took in the sight of his brother who was trying to talk him down. He kept Sam's gaze as he abruptly yanked the blade out of Gadreel's shoulder and the angel crumpled to the ground, pressing a hand to his wound. "Text Kevin. We go, now." He left the room without another word.

Sam took a second to check on Gadreel before he turned and followed his brother out to the car. "Dean, wait! We should have a plan."

"I have a plan. Get Cas back. Whatever that entails."

"Yeah but Dean-"

"Are you coming?" He swung into the car, starting her up. Sam rushed to get into it, barely shutting the door before it was off and on the road again.

The plan they managed to cobble together was questionable at best. Sam would have liked to nail down something a little more concrete, but Dean hadn't slowed down at all since leaving the motel, and he was in a less than chatty mood in the car. Gadreel was setting up a wide ring of holy oil, and so far the plan seemed to be to show him the tablet, hope he had Cas, and maybe get him trapped. Sam couldn't see any of that actually working, but it was more or less their best option at that point.

The three stood firm beside the red station wagon as they waited for the scribe to show, and when he did, Dean was the first to step forward. "Where is he, asshole?"

"Ah, ah, ah. First, the tablet."

Dean glared at him, but jerked a nod at Sam who slid it out of his jacket.

"Bingo."

Before either brother could move, the tablet was yanked from Sam's hands, and flew to Metatron's. His eyes glowed blue, the tablet's text glowing to match. Gadreel droped the match, the circle lighting up around the scribe.

Metatron just laughed. "Yeah, no. Sorry cupcake, not going to work." Holding the tablet close he simply took a deep breath and extinguished the fire. Grinning, he backed up, a car pulling behind him. Two angels exited, before a bound and gagged Cas was being pulled from the car after them. "Well, a deal is a deal."

"Why are you doing this?" Dean demanded.

"Because I can. Because you and your little brother. Your broken boyfriend and your new fine feathered friend. And all those secrets you've got locked away in your bunker can't stop me. But I am gonna enjoy watching you try. It's gonna be a hell of a show. I'll see you around." He looked up. "Castiel. Never forget I gave you a chance."

The angels threw Cas forward, and he stumbled, Dean moving forward to catch the angel in his arms before he could face plant onto the pavement. A flutter of wings accented the sound of the car pulling away, and the four were left alone in the motel parking lot.

Cas straightened up, coming to lean against the car as Dean worked to untie his restraints and remove the tape over his mouth. "Hey, hey hey… are you okay?"

Cas looked distressed, taking in the scene around him. The smell of the extinguished holy oil. The haphazardly parked station wagon. The blood running down Gadreel's shoulder. He turned to look at Dean directly, his brain catching up to everything. "Yes."

Dean took a step back, giving him some space to breathe. He looked after where the car had driven off and shook his head. "Does anyone want to tell me what the hell just happened?"

Cas sighed. "Metatron is trying to play god."

"And what the hell was that with the holy fire and the whatever-"

Gadreel spoke. "He must know how to use the tablet to his advantage."

Cas nodded in agreement. "It was touched by God, it may yet retain some of his power."

"Great, so we just gave him the god rock and powered up his angelic takeover." Dean turned, putting the jar of holy oil back in the trunk and slamming it shut.

"We'll find a way to stop him." Cas asserted.

"Fine, whatever." Dean turned back to him, looking Cas in the eyes. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes… are you? There's something different about you."

Dean managed to plaster on a weak grin. "Yeah," he patted Cas on the shoulder. "I'm fine."

Cas snatched his hand, yanking it down and pushing his sleeve back to reveal the mark. Sam noticed both Cas and Gadreel tense at once. "What have you done?"

Dean pulled his arm back, roughly pulling the sleeve back in place. "It's a means to an end."

"Damn it, Dean."

"Whatever. Glad you're safe." Dean pulled away, walking off to get some space himself, to regroup before he would rejoin them.

Cas waited until the hunter was out of earshot before turning back to Sam. "What happened?"

"I don't know. He went off with Crowley, came back with that on his arm. Said Cain gave it to him."

"Cain? The demon?"

"Yeah. Said the first blade was his, not the archangels. Cain gave him the mark to, I guess, use it or something. Why, what is that thing?"

"A gift from Lucifer to Cain as a reward for what he did to his brother. It's a symbol of one of the original evils in this world…"

"And now?"

"I don't know… we keep an eye on him." Cas said gravely. "This first blade, he has it?"

"Crowley is looking for it."

"Alright." His attention was pulled back to Gadreel, who was standing a few feet back, with his hand over his shoulder. "Did Metatron do that to you?"

Gadreel met Sam's eyes, unwilling to sell out the hunter, but Sam answered for him. "Dean thought Gadreel had a hand in your capture."

"I see." Cas stepped forward, putting his hand on the angel's shoulder, the flesh knitting back together. He stepped back, feeling an intense wave of vertigo, but he masked it well. "This wound was not so grievous as your last. Your ability to heal should return to you in the days coming."

Gadreel nodded. "I owe you my thanks for the second time today."

"There will be much more to do in the near future. Metatron, I fear, is only getting started."

The other angel bowed his head in agreement.

Sam sighed. "Cas, we should all get back to the bunker. Why don't I take Gadreel in your car, and you and Dean can head back together." He spared a glance back towards the motel. "Can you two do a quick pass over the room, make sure we didn't leave anything too incriminating?"

"We can do that." Cas agreed. He pulled the keys from his pocket, handing them to Sam.

Sam looked back towards the direction his brother left. "Watch over him."

"I will."

.

It was dark by the time Dean returned to the motel room Gadreel had been holed up in. He pushed open the broken door, swinging it to mostly shut behind him. He found Castiel cleaning a bit of blood from the wall beneath the triangular hole left by the blade. Dean cleared his throat, surprised to find Cas startle, as if he hadn't heard Dean coming.

"Dean." Cas dropped the cloth, stepping forward, looking over Dean and trying to be sure that he bore no injuries. His eyes came to rest on the split knuckles of his right hand.

"I'm fine." the hunter dismissed.

Cas spoke softly. "I was concerned Metatron might hurt you instead of making the exchange."

"I would have liked to see him try." Dean flashed a cocky grin, but it was clear that it was covering for how completely drained he was. The walk to clear his head had turned into something of a desperate run, trying in vain to keep his racing thoughts from overtaking him completely. His fist had met an unfortunate fence, repeatedly, and the pain of that had allowed him to regain some semblance of control.

Cas sensed his exhaustion, moving forward in the hopes to guide Dean to sit on the bed, but as he reached to touch Dean's arm he found himself pulled into a crushing embrace instead. He was surprised at first, but slowly he reached up to wrap his arms around the hunter.

Dean didn't say anything, letting Cas go after a moment and finally allowing himself to be led to sit on the edge of the bed, Castiel sitting next to him.

The angel took the hunter's hand in his, gently rubbing his thumb over the broken skin, using his grace to heal the wounds completely. He closed his eyes against the refreshed vertigo, the healing weakening his stretched-thin grace, but he kept it from his face, unwilling to worry Dean.

"Sorry." Dean muttered, pulling his hand back and moving to stand, heading towards the motel bathroom.

"About what?"

"We shouldn't have let you go alone." Dean said over his shoulder as he rinsed the remaining blood off his hands.

"We had no choice. And I was not alone, I was with Gadreel."

"Yeah, fat lot of good that did you."

"I am back now. And we have other things to worry about now." Cas insisted.

"More important than the new wanna-be God and his heavenly war?"

"That mark means nothing good, Dean."

Dean turned, making a face as he dried his hands and tossed the towel aside. "Oh come on. I get this mark, I can use the first blade. Metatron isn't our only problem and you know it."

"I can feel the evil resonating from that thing Dean. I think even you can."

"Yeah, well. If it means sending that hell bitch to the great beyond, then it's fine with me."

"You can't mean that." Cas insisted. When Dean just shrugged he stood, his posture more angered now than concerned. "And you? You're willing to be the sacrifice in this war?"

"If that's what it takes." He met Cas' gaze and held firm.

"Dean."

Dean put his hands up in surrender, his posture deflating a bit. "Relax." he sighed. "I'm not trying to die in some blaze-of-glory style showdown. I get the blade, I kill the bitch, and then we can work on getting rid of this."

Cas sighed, relenting. "Fine. But we will figure out how to get rid of it." His expression softened and he looked over Dean again. "I'm just worried about you."

"Yeah yeah. Enough chick flick moments. Get in the car." Dean walked forward, opening the broken door once more and heading out into the cooling night air.

With one last look around the still-destroyed room, Castiel followed.