INT. POLICE LOCKER ROOM
Jerry, wearing a T-shirt, was toweling his face after shaving. He saw a spot of blood on the towel and noticed a nick on his left cheek. He rinsed it off, but it persisted.
"Oh, come on," Jerry muttered, rubbing his right cheek as a patch of skin peeled off and landed ini the sink. "Ohh. Oh." He exhaled sharply. "What the hell?"
A second cop, Ed, had been dressing in the locker behind. "Come on, man. Let's get going."
Jerry walked backwards from the mirror, breathing rapidly and leaving bloody footprints. Blood seeped through the back of his T-shirt.
"Jerry?" Ed called.
Jerry, bleeding from his mouth, said, "Ed, I think I'm bleeding."
Jerry fell forward. Blood spattered at Ed's feet. There was a mash of flesh and blood where Jerry used to be. Ed stared, horrified.
INT. DEAN'S HOUSE
Birds chirped as morning light flooded into a bedroom window. Dean was sleeping.
Lisa awakened next to him and greeted, "Hey, you."
"Hey," Dean said.
A light peck became a passionate kiss. Dean was distracted by the sound of a heartbeat. A horn blared and he felt a shake, and woke from his dream. He was in the Impala and Elena was in the passenger's seat; he had picked her up. They were parked just off a busy highway.
INT. HOTEL ROOM
Sam was inside, shirtless, working through a fitness routine of push-ups and sit-ups.
EXT. HGHWAY
Dean and Elena were by the side of the road, fully clothed, and stretched. The Impala pulled out and was back on the road.
INT. HOTEL ROOM
Sam was doing chin-ups on a pipe suspended from the ceiling.
A professional lady emerged from the bathroom. "Don't stop on my account."
Sam laughed. "I'm done."
"Last night was a..." she cleared her throat, "high point, if you don't mind me saying."
"Good."
"All right. Well, I see you need to start your day. When did you say you were heading out?" Sam exhaled, indicating impatience. "You didn't. Right. Damn, you know how to play that mystery card."
As she turned to leave, Sam cleared his throat and held up some cash.
"Right," the professional lady said. "I almost forgot. Next time..." she gave Sam a note, "you can call me on my night off. If you want. Maybe bring that girl you were talking so much about."
"Okay," Sam replied.
"Okay."
She left. The phone rang. Sam scrunched up the note and tossed it into a wastebasket. He picked up his cell.
"Hey," Sam said.
EXT. BURGER HEAVEN
"Hey," Dean greeted. "We're about eight hours out of the Campbell Base."
"Uh, change of plans. I need you guys to meet me. I'm in PA. Town called Easter."
"What are you doing in Pennsylvania?"
"Caught a case."
"A case? When? It's been like a day and a half."
"I like to work."
"Apparently."
"Glad we hashed that out. Call me when you guys roll into town." He hung up.
Dean stared at the phone. "Who died and made you boss?"
Elena let out a sigh. "Another job?"
"Yup."
"Hey, Dean, have you noticed anything different about Sam?"
"What, that he's colder and he doesn't seem to care."
"Exactly. He... I don't know what's going on with him, but that's not the Sam I remember."
"Elena, I promise you we'll eventually figure out what's going on and you'll get him back. We both will."
EXT. HIGHWAY
A cop, Toby, was parked on the side of a road. A car sped by, clocking 70 mph.
"Well, now, you could do better than that," Toby said, settling back to pour some booze into a giant-sized plastic convenience store cup.
His phone rang and he answered. "Why are you calling me? He's dead, right? Now, I don't want to talk about it. We do what we do -- we got to work, we go to the funeral." He sighed. "Calm down. This is nothing to do with you and me. You're just working yourself up. Don't call me." He hung up. "Idiot."
Something crashed through the branches towards the cop car. Boils broke out on Toby's face and hands.
"God! God! Dispatch, this is -- Please, I -- I need... Please."
Toby choked and stilled.
EXT. STREET
Sam, in a suit, was leaning against his car and reading some reports.
Dean drove up in the Impala and exited, along with Elena, in the midst of a phone conversation. The two men were in suits and Elena was in a blouse and skirt.
Dean spoke into his phone. "Ben... I know you're lying. Because I lie professionally, that's how. Now tell your mom that you broke the damn thing and take it like a man. Okay? Ok -- okay." He hung up.
"Wow," Sam commented.
"What?"
"You -- molding the minds of tomorrow. Who knew?"
"Yeah, tell me about it."
"How'd it go?"
"With?"
"You and Lisa. How'd she take it when you bailed?"
"Shockingly cool, actually."
"Better for everybody."
"Yeah, I suppose. Still driving the plastic piece of crap, huh?"
"What's your mileage again?"
"Shut up."
INT. POLICE STATION
Sam brief the other two as they walked through the station to the morgue. "Officer Gerald Hatch, 17-year veteran, found dead in the ready room three days ago."
Dean read the file. "Whoa. Somebody was over-hydrated."
Sam laughed. "Basically, yeah. The guy just... liquefied. Most of the meat, bones, dense tissues -- they just turned to blood."
Elena frowned. "Okay, I don't get it."
"Nobody gets it."
"No. I get that. What I'm saying is, if the guy was a mop job, then what are we doing in the morgue? What's left of him to look at?"
"Not here to look at him. Here." Sam opened a drawer, revealing the boils-covered cop.
"Ooh. Bad news," Dean commented.
"Officer Toby Gray. They just brought him in. Found him dead in his patrol car, sitting at a speed trap on the outside of town."
""Extreme allergic reaction,"" Elena read.
"Yeah. Boils. Covered from head to toe."
"Yeah, on the inside, too," Dean noted. "It says his airways are chock full of them. This startin' to look a little witchy to you?"
"That was my first instinct, but I found zero signs of hex work anywhere. Far as I can tell, witchcraft was not involved."
Elena frowned. "There's got to be some sort of link in between, um, skid mark and bubble wrap here."
"No question."
"All right, well, can we get a witness?" Dean asked.
"Yep. Uh..." He read from the notes. "Officer Ex Colfax. Saw Hatch go from a solid to a liquid."
"Another cop?" Dean and Elena questioned.
"Hatch's partner." Sam pushed the body back into its drawer.
EXT. STREET
Sam's car swung around a corner. Dean's car pulled out in front of him and was first to park his vehicle at their destination in a leafy neighborhood.
"Were you, uh... were you racing me?" Sam asked.
"No. I was kicking your ass," Dean replied.
"We were kicking your ass," Elena corrected, smiling at Sam.
Dean glanced at her. "We. Right."
"Very mature," Sam told them.
Sam, Dean and Elena knocked on the door of a suburban house.
"Hello?" Dean called. "Officer Colfax?"
The door opened to reveal Ed in full dress uniform.
"Whoa," Dean said. "Lookin' sharp, Kojak."
"Who the hell are you?" Ed demanded.
"We're the Fed, Ed," Sam told him. "We're here to ask you a few follow-up questions about your partner's death."
"Don't worry about it. It's nobody's business."
"Officer Colfax-"
"Don't worry about it!" He slammed the door shut.
Exasperated, Sam kicked the door in.
"Dude!" Dean and Elena cried.
As they walked towards Ed's office, the three hunters passed a wall of family photos with the faces scratched out. They found Ed in his office, using a screwdriver to scratch out the face of his police portrait.
"Officer Colfax?" Sam called.
"Hey, man, you all right?" Dean asked.
"Don't worry about it," Ed replied.
"Right," Elena said. "Look, Officer Colfax -- Ed. We think your partner died of unnatural causes." Ed scratched his hat. "Did he have any enemies you knew of?"
"You might say that."
"Oh, yeah? Who's that?" Sam asked.
"They both had it coming. Me too. I'll be the next to go, and then it'll be over. And God will be satisfied."
"Why does God want you all dead?" Dean wondered.
"'Cause of Christopher Birch." He knocked over a bottle of booze and watched it spill for some time. "Oh, damn it."
"Who's Christopher Birch?" Sam questioned.
"He has no face."
"Ed?"
"Officer, you all right?" Dean inquired.
Ed righted the bottle as Sam asked, "Who is Christopher Birch, Ed?"
"Ed!" Dean and Elena called.
"Christopher Birch is a kid with no face... and a planted gun," Ed answered.
"Uh, you, uh... you got a little something..." Dean trailed, seeing blood dribbling from under Ed's hat and Ed put his finger to it, "...yeah."
"Damn. My head's been itching like a dirty jock." He fell forward and his face landed on the broken glass of the picture frame.
"Ed?" Sam said, walking behind the desk and checked Ed's neck for a pulse. "Dead."
There was a buzzing sound.
"You hear that?" Dean asked.
Sam removed Ed's hat. Locusts crawled out of a hole in Ed's head. Elena looked sadly at him, then up.
INT. HOTEL ROOM
Dean and Elena were sitting at a table, looking through papers. Sam was at the other end, working on his laptop.
"Sweet. Blood, boils, locusts," Dean said.
"Three of your more popular Egyptian plagues," Sam commented.
Dean picked up a jar containing the locusts. "Yeah, but these guys... ate their way out of a cop's melon. I don't quite remember that in the King James."
Elena glanced up and said, "That's because it wasn't."
"Meanwhile, a kid named Christopher Birch was shot in the head last month after a vehicle pursuit," Sam told them. "Hatch, Gray and Colfax were the three officers involved, and they all filed the exact same police report."
Dean read a report. ""Suspect exited vehicle brandishing of a firearm. We were forced to fire." "Just a kid with no face and a planted gun." Bunch of dicks. So they pop the kid, plant the piece."
"Maybe Colfax is right. You know, maybe Heaven has a hate-on for bad cops."
"So we're listening to the dude with the bug in his custard?"
"That's -- that's the, uh, theory you want to go with?" Elena added.
Sam glanced between them. "Dean, Penny, angels got to have something to do, right, now that we're post-apocalypse?"
"Yeah, maybe." Dean opened a beer. "We should call Cas."
"You're kidding, right?" Sam scoffed. "Dean, I tried. It was the first and second and third thing I did as soon as I got topside. Son of a bitch won't answer the phone."
Dean sat on a bed. "Well, let's give it a shot. Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray to Castiel to get his feathery ass down here."
"You're an idiot."
"Stay positive."
"Oh, I am positive."
"Come on, Cas! Don't be a dick. We got ourselves a... plague-like situation down here, and... do you... do you copy?"
"Like I said..." Sam cleared his throat, "son of a bitch doesn't answer-" he stopped, seeing Dean look up, "he's right behind me and Elena, isn't he?"
"Hello," Castiel greeted.
"Hello?"
"Y-yes."
Sam imitated Castiel. ""Hello."" He spoke in his normal voice. ""Hello"?"
"Uh, that is still the term?" Castiel questioned.
"I spent all that time trying to get to you. Dean calls once, and now it's," he imitated Castiel's voice again, ""Hello"?!"
"Yes," Castiel answered.
Sam spoke in his normal voice. "So, what, you -- you like him better or something?" He scoffed.
"Dean and I do share a more profound bond," Castiel replied, turning to Dean. "I wasn't gonna mention it."
Dean glanced at the angel. "Cas, I think what he's trying to say is that... he went to Hell for us. I mean, he really took one for the team. You remember that? And then he comes back without a clue, and you can't take five friggin' minutes to give him some answers?"
Castiel spoke strongly. "If I had any answers, I might have responded. But I don't know, Sam. I have no idea who brought you back from the Cage... or why."
"So... it wasn't God?" Sam asked.
"No one's even seen God. The whole thing remains mysterious."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"What part of "I don't know" escapes your understanding?"
Dean looked at the angel. "Cas, look, if Sam or Elenacall, you answer. Okay? You wing your ass down here, and you tell him "I don't know." Just because you and I have some sort of a -- a bond or whatever..."
Castiel cut him off. "You think I came because he called? I came because of this." He walked to the table where Dean and Elena's research was spread out.
"Oh, well, it's nice to know what matters."
"It does help one to focus."
Sam frowned. "Wait, so -- so you and the Halo Patrol, you guys aren't the cause of these killings?"
"No. But they were committed with one of our weapons. There's only one thing that could have brought this into existence. You call it the Staff of Moses."
"The Staff?" Dean repeated.
Castiel picked uptake jar of locusts. "It was used in a dominance display against the Egyptians, as I recall."
Dean scoffed. "Yeah. That one made the papers."
"B-but I thought the Staff turned, like, a -- a river into blood, not one dude," Sam said.
Castiel glanced up at him. "The weapon isn't being used at full capacity. I think we can rule Moses out as a suspect."
Elena frowned. "Okay, but... what is -- what is Chuck Heston's disco stick doing down here, anyway? I mean, didn't your dad ever teach you to put away your toys?"
Castiel shot her a look. "Before the apocalypse, Heaven may have been corrupt, but it was stable. The Staff was safely contained." He sighed. "It's been chaos up there since the war ended. In that confusion, a number of... powerful weapons were... stolen."
"Wait, you -- you're saying your nukes are loose?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, I'm afraid so. But you've stumbled into one of them. We must find the weapon that did this." He indicated the jar of locusts. "I need your help."
Sam scoffed. "That's rich. Really."
Castiel grunted and tossed the jar of locusts at Sam. He offered air quotes as he spoke. "Sam, Dean, Elpis, my "people skills" are "rusty." Pardon me, but I have spent the last "year" as a multidimensional wavelength of celestial intent. But believe me, you do not want that weapon down here. Help me find it. Or more people will die."
"All right," Dean said. "Okay. Well, if the angels didn't pull the trigger, then that brings us back to motive."
"What?"
"Back to the case," Sam told him. "Right now, we got three dead cops. Only thing linking them... is this." Dean handed Sam a newspaper clipping. ""Father of slain suspect calls for investigation.""
INT. BIRCH FAMILY LIVING ROOM
Newspaper clippings were strewn on the coffee table. Darryl Birch was intently reading a tabloid with a front cover story entitled, 'Police Officer DIES AT PRECINCT.'
A door slammed and someone walked inside.
"Come on, Dad," Aaron begged. "How many times are you gonna read that thing? You know what? We should just throw it away."
Darryl mumbled, not looking up from the paper, "Go out back and play."
Aaron left and Darryl began cutting the story out of the paper.
Sam, Dean, Castiel and Elena suddenly appeared in the living room.
"Oh, Cas, a little warning next time," Dean said.
"What the... how'd you get in here?!" Darryl asked.
"Mr. Birch, settle down," Sam stated, showing his FBI badge. "Federal agents."
"But you can't just walk in here!"
Sam indicated the clippings. "Quite a collection you've got there, huh?"
"What are you trying to-"
"Look, we know the truth, all right? Chris don't have a gun on him when those cops shot him. They set him up."
"Yeah. They're all getting theirs."
Sam's tone turned accusatory. "And who's giving it to them, Darryl?"
"Darryl? Did you kill Toby Gray and the others?" Dean asked.
"Me? I didn't kill anyone!" Darryl cried. "Look at how they died!"
"You smote them with the Staff of Moses!" Castiel yelled.
"The hell kind of Fed are you?"
"We don't have time for this." He stepped up to Darryl. "Where is it?"
Aaron brandished part of the Staff as though it were a gun. "Leave my dad alone!"
"Yes that...? Yes."
"Shouldn't it be bigger?" Sam questioned.
"Yes. It's -- it's been sawed off."
"Leave him alone!" Aaron yelled. "It wasn't him!"
"Aaron, get out of here!" Darryl ordered.
Castiel pressed two fingers to Darryl's forehead and Darryl fell back onto the sofa, unconscious.
"What did you do to him?"
"It's all right," Elena reassured. "He's just sleeping."
Aaron pointed the staff at Elena and Dean stood in front of his friend, intent on taking the brunt of whatever occurred.
Castiel teleported next to Aaron and took away the staff.
"Cas, take it easy!" Dean told the angel before turning to Aaron. "Listen, we're not here to hurt you, okay? But we need to know... where did you get this thing?"
"Please don't kill my dad," Aaron begged. "It was me. I did it."
Elena moved from behind Dean and shook her head. "Okay, no one's killing anybody. What's your name?"
"Aaron. Aaron Birch."
"Okay, Aaron Birch, where'd you get this?"
"You won't believe me."
"Try me."
"It was an angel."
"An angel?" Dean repeated.
"Those liars, they killed my brother, and nothing bad even happened to them. It's not fair. So I prayed to God every night he would punish them. God didn't answer. But he did."
"His name -- did he give you a name?" Castiel questioned.
"No. He just said I could have justice, but I was gonna have to take it myself. He... he gave me the stick."
"He just... gave it to you?" Dean asked. "Ah, come on. He didn't just give it to you, did he, Aaron?"
"I bought it."
"You bought it?" Sam repeated with a chuckle. "With what? What's your allowance?"
Elena frowned at him before asking, "What did the angel want for it? What did you give him for it?"
"My soul."
"You sold your soul to an angel?" Sam questioned.
Dean turned to the angel. "Can that even happen?"
"It's never happened before," Castiel replied. "An angel's buying souls. That could explain why he cut the staff into pieces."
"Why?" Sam wondered.
"More pieces, more product."
"More "product"?" Dean repeated. "Who is this guy?"
"We'll find him." Castiel pressed his fingers to Aaron's forehead, causing Aaron to fall unconscious.
"What did you do that for?"
"Portability."
Castiel carried Aaron over his shoulder.
INT. SAM'S HOTEL ROOM
Castiel placed a still-unconscious Aaron on the bed.
"Cas, you realize you just kidnapped a kid," Elena pointed out.
Castiel glanced at her. "If the angel we seek truly bought this boy's soul, when a claim is laid on a living soul, it leaves a mark, a brand."
"What, like a -- like a shirt tag at camp?" Sam asked.
"I have no idea. But I can read the mark and find the name of the angel that bought the soul."
"How?" Dean and Elena wondered.
"Well, painfully for him. The reading will be excruciating."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Dean protested. "Hold on."
"Dean."
"He's a kid, Cas," Elena reminded the angel. "A ki -- Sam?"
Sam turned to Castiel. "Any permanent damage?"
"What?!" Dean and Elena cried.
"Physically, minimal," Castiel replied.
"Oh, well, yeah, then by all means, stick your arm right in there," Dean told him.
"Dean! If I get the name, I can work a ritual to track the angel down."
"And I'm all here for that. Dean is as well," Elena said. "But come on. There has to be another way."
"There is no other way."
"You're gonna torture a kid?" Dean and Elena asked.
"I can't care about that, Dean, Elpis! I don't have the luxury."
Castiel pushed his hand into Aaron's chest. Aaron screamed. Dean and Elena advanced. Sam held them back. They watched as Aaron screamed and his body lit up from the inside. He stopped screaming and fell unconscious when Castiel withdrew his hand.
"He'll rest now," Castiel stated.
"Did you get a name?" Sam questioned. "What is it?"
"I thought he died in the war."
"What, he -- he was a -- he was a friend or something?"
Castiel sighed. "A good friend."
Dean frowned. "Yeah, well, your frat buddy is now moonlighting a crossroads demon."
"Balthazar. I wonder..."
"So we can find him now, right?" Sam asked.
An angel appeared. "Balthazar. Thanks, Castiel. We'll make good use of the name."
The angel attacked Castiel with an angel-killing sword. Castiel blocked it with his own.
"And by the way, Raphael says hello," the angel told them.
The angel, Castiel fought in the room until they both lost their swords. They grappled each other and jumped through the window and fell several stories onto a car parked on the street. Sam, Dean and Elena looked out the window. The angel disappeared, leaving Castiel stood next to the destroyed vehicle.
"My car," Sam commented.
"Okay. Silver lining," Dean said.
EXT. STREET
Castiel was still standing by the wrecked car. Sam, Dean and Elena were still up in the room.
Castiel appeared back in the room behind the hunters and said, "He's gone."
"All right, Cas, who was that guy?" Sam asked.
"A soldier of Raphael," Castiel replied. "He must have followed me when I answered your calls."
"Raphael? The archangel? I'm sorry, what's going on here?"
Castiel got a bowl from a cupboard. "I can explain later. Right now we have to-"
Dean cut him off. "No, not later. Now. Stop, all right? Too many angels, Cas! I don't know who's on first, what's on second."
"What is on second?"
Dean narrowed his eyes. "Don't start that."
Castiel glanced at him. "It is simple: Raphael and his followers, they want him to rule Heaven. I -- and many others -- the last thing we want is to let him take over. It would be catastrophic."
"You're talking civil war," Sam said.
"Technically, yes. Which is why we have to find Balthazar and his weapons before Raphael does. whoever has the weapons wins the war." Castiel pulled Sam's weapons bag from under his bed.
"Help yourself."
"And what happens if Raphael wins?" Dean asked. "What -- what does he want?"
Castiel grabbed a flask of holy water from Sam's bag. "What he's always wanted -- to end the story the way it was written."
Elena frowned. "You mean the apocalypse, the one that we derailed?"
"Yes. That one. Raphael wants to put it back on the rails."
"Oh, great. Why?"
"I need myrrh."
"Myrrh?" Sam repeated.
Castiel was no longer by the bed.
"Freakin' angels," Dean muttered.
Castiel reappeared behind Dean and Elena. He was drawing on the kitchen table with chalk.
"Why does Raphael want to bring back all this crap?" Dean questioned.
"He's a traditionalist," Castiel replied.
"Cas, why didn't you tell us this?" Elena asked.
"I was ashamed. I expected more from my brothers. I'm sorry. Now I need your blood." He grabbed Dean's wrist and sliced his palm.
"Whoa, whoa!" Dean cried. "Hey! Ow! Why don't you use your own?"
"It wouldn't work. I'm not human. Nor is Elpis."
Dean squeezed his hand shut. Blood dripped into the bowl. Castiel added myrrh and holy water and intones.
She glared at the angel and wrapped a cloth around her hand.
Sirens sounded.
"Uh, Cas, how long does this spell take?" Sam wondered.
The wailing intensified.
"Got him," Castiel said. "Let's go."
Elena frowned. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What about him?"
Aaron was still lying on the bed, unconscious.
Castiel glanced at her. "Don't you think the police will take him home?"
EXT. MANSION - NIGHT
Crickets chirped.
"Huh," Dean noted. "I was expecting Dr. No, less Liberace."
Dean, Sam, Elena and Castiel advanced on the mansion.
Castiel was in an opulent foyer. A frog perched on the balustrade of a grand staircase and croaked. He teleported upstairs and followed loud music into a room with a piano and strobe lights. The door closed. Castiel readied his angel-killing sword.
"Cas," Balthazar said. "You're here."
"Balthazar," Castiel stated.
"It's so good to see you. He told me you were floating around."
"He?"
"I believe you two have flown together." He turned on the lights and the music stopped. "Oh, you know, the old frog in the throat."
The body of the angel who'd attacked Castiel prior was on the floor. A frog jumped out of his mouth and croaked.
"Even I know that that's a bad joke. I grieved your death."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry about that, you know. I wanted them to think, you know, so... they wouldn't come looking for me?"
"What... is all this? What are you doing?"
"Whatever I want. This morning I had a ménage à -- what's French for 12?"
"You stole the Staff of Moses?"
"Sure, sure. I stole a lot of things."
"You were a great and honorable soldier. We fought together."
"Yes, too many times to count."
"I know you. You're not some common thief."
"Common? No. Thief? Eh."
"I need your help."
"I know. I've been hearing all about you, and as far as I'm concerned, you and me, Cas, nothing's changed. We're brothers. Of course I want to help you."
"Thank you. I need the weapons."
"Don't ask that."
"Why take them? Why run away?"
"Because I could - What? What? I me -- you're the one who made it possible. The footsteps I'm following -- they're yours. What you did, stopping the big plan, the prize fight? You did more than rebel. You tore up the whole script and burned the pages for all of us." He laughed. "It's a new era. No rules, no destiny. Just utter and complete freedom."
"And this tis what you do with it?"
"Hey, screw it, right? I mean, Dad's not coming back. You might as well blow coke and jump off the bed. You proved to me we could do anything, so I'm trying everything. What difference does it make?"
"Of course it makes a diff -- It's civil war up there!"
"I know."
"If we can be a Raphael, we can end this! Just give me the weapons."
Balthazar laughed. "Do you know what's funny about you? You actually believe that you can stop the fighting. It will never stop. My advice -- grab something valuable and fake your own death."
"You've gone insane. Your little holiday is over. Raphael knows you're alive by now."
"Oh, Raphael can try me anytime. I'm armed. I'm sorry, Cas. All else aside, I'm really, really happy to see you. Even though you still have that stick up your ass."
Thunder crashed.
"Was that you?" Balthazar asked as Castiel shook his head. "Oh, that's my cue then. Tell, uh, Raphael to bite me." He disappeared.
Three angels stood outside where Sam, Dean, Elena and Castiel had stood earlier.
EXT. MANSION
Thunder crashed again.
"Watch them," Raphael instructed. "They're all snakes."
Raphael and two angels walked towards the mansion.
INT. BALTHAZAR'S MANSION
Castiel was alerted to some developments.
EXT. MANSION
An angel armed with an angel-killing sword was patrolling the grounds.
"Hey, there," Sam greeted as he produced an angel-killing sword. "Yeah, we've got one of those, too."
The angel appeared behind Sam, holding the knife to his throat. "You think you can knife-fight an angel? You're next."
"Who's fighting? Peace out, douchewad," Dean said, slapping an angel-banishing sigil painted on the side of the house and the angel disappeared.
Thunder crashed yet again.
INT. BALTHAZAR'S MANSION
Castiel said to a threatening angel, "You're making a mistake. Please. There is another way. Brother, please. I don't want to hurt you."
The angel advanced on Castiel. Castiel threw his knife into the angel's chest. The angel screamed and vacated the body.
"Why won't any of you listen?" Castiel asked as he was grabbed from behind.
"They don't listen, Castiel, because their hearts are mine," Raphael told him.
Raphael grabbed Castiel by the collar and threw him back against a set of double doors that fell open. Raphael kicked Castiel while he was down, then pulled him up to punch him several times. Castiel fell half-way down the grand staircase. Raphael kicked him to the bottom and teleported there to punch Castiel again.
Raphael raised an angel-killing sword. "Somehow, I don't think God will be bringing you back this time."
"Hey!" Balthazar called. "Look at my junk." He held up a glowing crystal.
"No."
Raphael turned to salt from head to toe; the salt clattered to the floor.
Balthazar chuckled. "Same thing happened to Lot's wife. Iodize the poor sucker, and your kitchen is stocked for life." He laughed.
"You came back," Castiel commented.
"Well, now Raphael will have to go shopping for a new vessel. Should give me a nice long head start on him. Until next time."
"Next time."
"No time like the present," Elena said as she flicked a lighter and dropped it on a circle of holy oil that surrounded Balthazar.
"Holy fire," Balthazar realized. "You hairless ape! Release me!"
"Firstly, that's rude. Secondly, you're taking your marker off of Aaron Birch's soul!"
"Am I?!"
"Sam?!" Dean and Elena called.
"Unless you like your wings extra crispy-" Sam threatened, uncorking a bottle of holy oil, "-I'd think about it."
Balthazar frowned. "I stood for you in Heaven. Are you gonna let-"
Castiel cut him off. "I believe... the hairless apes and the goddess have the floor."
Balthazar laughed. "Very well." He inhaled, touched his clasped hands to his forehead, and exhaled. "The boy's debt is cleared. His soul is his own."
"Why are you buying human souls, anyway?" Dean asked.
"In this economy? It's probably the only thing worth buying. Do you have any idea what souls are worth? What power they hold? No... release me."
"Suck it, ass clown. Nobody said anything-"
Castiel lowered his hand, lowering the flames.
"Cas, what the hell?"
Castiel turned to Balthazar. "My debt to you is cleared."
"Fair enough," Balthazar stated, flying off.
"Cas, are you out of your mind?!" Dean yelled as Castiel flew off. "Cas?! Oh, friggin' angels! Come on!"
EXT. ROADSIDE - DAY
Dean was rearranging weapons in the trunk of the Impala. "Yeah, well I didn't realize I had this much stuff back here."
Elena glanced at him. "Some of it's mine, remember."
"Well, I need some space," Sam said. "Kind of picked up some stuff along the way."
Dean closed the false bottom on the weapons cache. Sam placed his duffle bag on top. He noticed a mask and pulled it out.
"What the hell is this?" Sam asked.
"Oh, it's, uh, Ben's Halloween costume," Dean replied.
"Wendigo?"
"Yeah."
Sam looked at it approvingly. "Accurate."
Dean closed the trunk and the three leaned over the roof of the Impala.
"Hey, so, uh... are you okay?" Dean questioned.
"Me?" Sam chuckled. "Yeah, I'm great."
Elena raised a vrow. "Really? 'Cause there's been a few times that you've got us wondering. Sam, you're worrying me."
"Come again?"
"Well, like where were you when Cas was, uh, giving the Holy Taser treatment to that kid?"
"I was right there."
"Really?" Dean said. "'Cause honestly, I felt like Elena and I were the only ones raising a card."
"Right. Uh, I mean, I was with you guys, but... I don't know. W-we needed the intel."
"Yeah, we know, but we tortured a kid to get it," Penelope commented, causing Sam to sigh. "We just didn't get the feeling that you -- that you even cared."
"Y-you're wrong."
Dean glanced at Elena before saying, "Hey man, we're just trying to figure this out because... something's different with you. You know that."
"Yeah. Yeah, I know."
"Really?" Dean and Elena questioned.
"Yeah. I mean... I've been hunting non-stop for the past year, kind of... kind of on the wild, you know? So, yeah, I suppose I'm a little rough around the edges."
"Yeah, I get that," Dean replied. "I just don't think we're getting the whole scoop. You went to Hell, Sam. And believe me, I know what that does to a guy."
"To you."
"What?"
"You know what it does to you. It -- it tortured you. You know? I think it still does. But Dean, Elena... I'm okay."
Elena frowned. "So you're saying, what that -- that you're stronger than him or me? You'd be wise to remember I am a goddess."
Sam chuckled. "No. Just saying we're different." He paused, slapped the roof of the Impala and got inside.
Dean pondered, then got into the car. Elena followed suit, looking at Sam with a concerned expression.