Cowboys and Angels

06. First Born

Castiel stood. "We need to continue your healing. We're almost done." She laid two fingers on Sam's forehead and started healing Sam. A slight look of concern crossed her face.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Nothing," Castiel lied, trying to cover it up.

Sam slapped Castiel's hand away. "You're a terrible liar."

"That is not true. I once deceived and betrayed you and your brother."

"Okay, that's not the point. Cas, what's wrong?"

"I noticed something. It's, uh... It's resonating inside you."

"What?"

"Something angelic."

"Okay, uh, what the hell does that mean?"

"Maybe we should call Dean."

Sam moved away and sat on a chair. "No. He wanted to go, and he's gone. We'll handle this."

STORAGE LOCKER

Dean and Crowley walked into the storage locker. Dean removed the hood over Crowley's head. "Is this all really necessary? I mean, I've been inside your brother. We're practically family."

Dean's eyes flashed and he grabbed Crowley and swung him into a shelf. "Listen to me. We are the furthest thing from family. You got that, dickbag?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Now, you want to hunt? Let's hunt." He opened a small gate and walked through.

Crowley started following and realized the entrance was guarded by a Devil's Trap. He rolled his eyes. "I'll be right here." He looked around at the strange items on shelves and in boxes as Dean rummaged through case files. "So, what do you call this decor, anyway? Rustic obsessive? Paranoid deco?"

"Here we go," Dean said, pulling out a file and began to read. "Looks like my dad was working with another hunter when he nabbed Abaddon's pet." He held up a picture of a woman.

"I guess the "T" didn't stand for terrible father. It stood for-"

"Tara. Doesn't ring a bell." Dean continued reading the file. "All right, looks like they interrogated the demon. Then they exorcised him. But not before he mentioned the First Blade."

Crowley said smugly, "I love it when I'm right."

"Yeah, well, the rest of the file's empty, genius."

"What? Didn't they teach you notetaking at Hunter's Hogwarts?"

"Let's go see if Tara's still kicking."

BUNKER

Sam and Castiel were at the table doing research.

"I've found, well, something," Castiel informed. "It's a detail about when angels leave their vessels... I think. It's, uh, Enochian, which can be a bit flowery. "And the departed shall remain, and the remains shall be the departed"."

"Okay, so, when an angel leaves a vessel, they leave behind a piece of themselves," Sam said. "Like, uh... like an angelic fingerprint."

"Whatever you want to call it, this piece of the departed contains grace."

"Wait, you're saying there's angelic grace inside of me?"

"Yes. But it's fading each time I heal you."

"All right. Is that good or bad?"

"Well, it's harmless. But the grace itself... might be helpful." Castiel set the book down and picked up a file titled 'On the Inner Workings of Angels'. "According to this, we may be able to use the grace that remains inside your brother to track Gadreel... if we can extract it."