Gabi paced in the empty Bunker, a large book cradled in her arms. Sam and Dean had left to take care of a hunt Sam had found, and she'd volunteered to stay behind and do some more research on how to track Amara. Dean had been resistant to the idea, especially since she- like Sam- had barely left the Bunker since getting back from their trip to Hell, but he'd eventually caved. Hearing a sound elsewhere in the Bunker, she went to investigate.
Sam and Dean hadn't called, and she wasn't expecting them back so soon, so she was unsure of who could have possibly gotten into the Bunker undetected. When she finally located the source of the noise, she stopped dead in her tracks, breath catching in her throat. Cas stood among several boxes, going through papers and shoving things aside. He had shed his trench coat, rolling up his shirt sleeves, and she was having trouble getting her brain to function at the sight of his toned, muscular forearms.
"Uh... C-Cas?" she stammered out. The angel turned his head, blue eyes locking onto hers and softening. Smile lines crinkled around the edges as his lips turned up while staring at her. "Hello, Gabi," he greeted her. "H-hi. Uh... What, um, what are you doing?"
"Well, I'm... looking for a spell, something to draw out Amara, but there's... There's nothing." Gabi nodded in understanding, willing her heart to stop trying to beat out of her chest. They hadn't heard from Cas in weeks, not since the incident with Lucifer in Hell. She was still wary, not entirely sure whether it was actually still Cas or if he had ended up saying yes to the devil after all and it was really Lucifer standing before her.
"I had her in my sights. She was hurt," Cas continued. "I should have ended it."
"Wait a second... you what?" Gabi asked, the words distracting enough to deter her from how hot he looked. "How?"
"Well, I don't know," he shrugged. "But there has to be something. And how many more chances are we gonna get?"
"We'll find something, Cas. It just takes time."
"That's something I'm afraid we don't have much of, however. Where are Sam and Dean?"
"Off on a hunt. I volunteered to stay behind and do research on Amara. Want some help in here?"
"That would be appreciated, yes."
Swallowing again, Gabi turned away from Cas, focusing on one of the many boxes nearby. Even though the angel in the room with her still sounded like Cas, she couldn't shake the feeling that her nightmares had become a reality. Where she normally felt a warmth and calm around him, ever since the cage she'd felt cold and on edge being near him. "Cas?" she spoke up timidly.
"Yes?"
"Where did you go? After we locked Lucifer back in the Cage?" He was silent for a long time, and she looked over at him curiously. He appeared to have become engrossed in reading one of the pieces of paper, too distracted to provide her with an answer. "Cas," she repeated, gaining his attention once more. "Yes. What?" he snapped out of it, looking over at her. "Where did you go?"
"When?"
"After we locked Lucifer back in the Cage. It's been over a week and you're just now showing back up here."
"A few different places. I was trying to find information about the Darkness elsewhere before I came back here." Gabi pursed her lips, glancing away from him. It was honestly a valid answer, if a bit vague. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that it was actually Lucifer with her.
"Is something wrong?" Cas asked, voice sounding closer than a moment before. When she looked back, he had moved to stand next to her, invading her personal space ever so slightly. "No," she shook her head, taking a small step back. "No, nothing's wrong."
"Gabi," he reached out, putting a hand on her shoulder. She glanced down at it then up at him. While his blue eyes shone with concern and worry for her, they didn't hold their normal comforting warmth within them. Like the energy he now radiated, they seemed icy and hollow as they stared at her. Even the way he said her name felt different.
"You know you can tell me anything," Cas assured her.
"No, I know. I'm fine, really."
They stared into each other's eyes for a few moments longer, Gabi's heart pounding out of her chest. "C-Cas?" she whispered. His hand moved from her shoulder up to move a strand of blonde hair away from her face. "So beautiful," he whispered to himself.
Gabi froze, unsure how she was supposed to react. This was so much different than what she normally expected from the angel. The only time he'd ever expressed those thoughts for her was during his time as a human after the angels fell. Back then, even though they both wanted more out of their relationship, they had agreed that it was better not to pursue that line of thinking. It proved to be the right call, especially after he got his Grace back.
"You're not Cas."
The words seemed to shock both of them; she hadn't meant to vocalize the thought, it just slipped out. But once it was out there in the open, she didn't wish she could take them back. "Yes, I am," Cas insisted, but Gabi shook her head. "No, you're not. You can't be."
"If I'm not Cas, then who am I?"
Swallowing hard, she thought about her dreams. About everything that happened while they were in Hell with Lucifer. About the way he'd gripped her hand so tightly after Crowley told them to leave and the threatening glance he'd given her like he knew she knew he wasn't Cas. Biting her lip, she stared up into the angel's blue eyes and whispered, "Lucifer."
Before she could react, Lucifer had grabbed her arm and they vanished from the Bunker.
***
Dean entered the Bunker, on a search for gold blades. It turned out, the creature he and Sam were after was a banshee, and since they didn't have any gold blades in the trunk, he'd had to come back to retrieve the weapons so they could kill it. "Hey, Brie, it's me. I'm just stopping by to grab some stuff and I'm heading back out. You sure you don't want to come with?"
He listened, waiting for a response from his sister, but was met with only silence. "Brie?" he called out again, heading down the hall in the direction of her room. He didn't hear her call back, and he frowned, growing worried. "Brie, you in there?" He knocked on her door, then opened it without waiting for a response. The room was dark, no sign of his twin anywhere. "Gabi?!" he yelled, hurrying back down the hall. "Gabriella!"
As he was heading down the hall, he noticed the door of one of the rooms was ajar. Drawing his gun, he kicked open the door and aimed the weapon into the room. There was no one inside, but there were boxes and papers strewn about haphazardly as if someone had been there. "What the hell?" he murmured, putting his gun away. He pulled out his phone, dialing Gabi's number. However, he heard the ringtone she'd set for him nearby, and he furrowed his brow.
Looking down, he spotted her phone laying on the floor by his foot, and his heart dropped in his chest. He hung up, reaching down and picking up the phone. "No," he whispered, staring at the cracked screen. Remembering why he originally came back to the Bunker, he slipped Gabi's phone in his pocket and started hunting for the gold blades.
Right when he located them, his phone rang. "Sam?" he answered. "Dean, look up Edward Durbin II," Sam told him. "Wait. What?" he asked. "In the Men of Letters' files," Sam continued. Bringing the blades with him, he went to another room to go through the files and found the name Sam had told him. "Oh, son of a bitch. She ain't lying," he said. "According to the Men of Letters' records, Edward Durbin II was inducted in 1939, part of a small delegation that was sent to Europe."
"Wow," Sam breathed. "Right," Dean returned. He bit his lip, knowing he had to tell Sam Gabi was missing, but unsure of how to bring it up. "Yeah, her father had just lost his job. He had a nervous breakdown," Sam continued. "So, he was vulnerable," Dean translated. They had figured out that the banshee only preyed on victims who were vulnerable in some way.
"Right. And her mom only knew basic spells," Sam continued. "She used one to banish the banshee, saved Eileen's life. Dean, the banshee we're hunting is the same one that killed Eileen's parents."
"Awesome. Alright. What's the plan?"
"Well, we're gonna use the same Celtic spell Eileen used to trap me. When the banshee comes for Mildred tonight, we trap it. And we hit it with the gold," Sam explained. "Right. I don't like using Mildred as bait." Sam lowered his voice on the other end, "Are you worried about her? Does this mean she has a shot?" Despite himself, Dean smiled. "Well, I always did have a thing for Blanche on 'Golden Girls'."
"Seriously?"
"Hey, don't judge what you don't understand, Sammy."
"No, I'm- I'm not judging. I- I just always had a thing for Sophia."
"Yeah, I could see that," Dean chuckled. "Look, I don't like using anyone as bait," Sam continued, lowering his voice even more. "But this is all we got."
"I'm on my way," Dean replied, hanging up. He'd break the news about Gabi when he got back to the retirement home.
***
Dean walked into the apartment where Sam and Eileen were talking. "Hey," he greeted them. Sam and Eileen stood up, turning toward the door. "Eileen, this is my brother, Dean Winchester," he introduced them. "Dean, this is Eileen Leahy. And... did Gabi not want to come help?"
"Uh... About that," Dean said, swallowing. He set down the duffel bag he'd brought in, then reached into his pocket and took out Gabi's broken phone. "She's missing, Sammy. I got back and the Bunker was empty. This was all I could find." Eileen looked up at Sam with a mixture of worry and curiosity as he gingerly took the phone from Dean's hand.
"She was kidnapped?" Sam asked. Dean just shrugged helplessly. "I got no idea. I don't even know who could get into the Bunker to kidnap her." An uncomfortable silence stretched between the two brothers, and then Dean seemed to remember what they were really there to do. "Uh, okay, well. Uh..." He rummaged through the duffel, pulling out the gold blades. "Let's see here. One for you." He handed one to Sam. "And I'm guessing you already have one."
Eileen held up her own gold blade in confirmation. "Uh, guess we have an extra one for Mildred. Where's Mildred?" The door opened and Mildred walked into the room, face lighting up when she spotted Dean. "Agent!" she cried. "Oh! I'm glad you're back." She walked over, holding onto his arm. "Yeah," Dean chuckled a little. "I feel safer already," the old woman continued. "Um... come here. I want to show you something."
She dragged him across the room, sitting down on the couch. Dean stood awkwardly until she patted the seat beside her. "Well, come on and sit down. I'm not gonna bite. Never really was my thing." Hesitantly, Dean sat down next to her. "Okay." They stared out the window at the setting sun. "I have the same view from upstairs," Mildred explained. "West-facing rooms, they cost extra. You know, you got to pay for the view."
"It's not bad," Dean said.
"Not bad? Honey, it's almost as gorgeous as you are."
"Ha!"
"You know, tell me something. When's the last time you watched a sunset without waiting for something to go bump in the night?" Mildred asked. Dean shook his head, smirking a little. "Hmm. You should try it sometime." He rolled his eyes a little, knowing the chances of him actually doing that were very slim. "Yeah," he said anyway.
"I just hope this one isn't my last," the old woman continued. "I mean, does this stuff really work? A banshee shows up and... you cut your hand and slap it on one of those things, and it gets trapped? I mean, is this actually something that happens?"
"Yep." Dean reached down, taking the other two gold blades out of the duffel and placing one of them in between himself and Mildred on the couch. "And then it gets one of these. Mildred... Everything's gonna be fine. Okay? Tell me something. What did you do before you retired?"
"I was in a Patsy Cline tribute band," Mildred laughed. "No," Dean said. "I'm deadly serious," she continued. "You ever miss life on the road?" Dean asked her. "Nah. Nah, I had my fun. You want to know the secret to living a long and happy life?"
"Actually, yes, I do."
"Follow your heart," she told him, patting him on the chest. "You do that, all the rest just figures itself out. I did that. I followed my heart. Traveled the world, made people smile, forget about their problems for a while. And then my heart said, 'well, you're done'. I had my fill, and... And I retired." She patted Dean on the knee for emphasis as she finished, "And I love it."
"Hey, you know, this place isn't what I expected."
"Oh, life here is great. I'd just like to enjoy it a little more."
"And you will. I promise," Dean told her, then continued hesitantly. "Your hand is still on my knee." Mildred looked down at her hand with a smile, squeezing his knee. "I could move it higher," she joked lightheartedly. "Okay," Dean chuckled, standing up and moving away from the couch. "That's- I'm gonna-" He stopped as he suddenly heard a high pitched scream. "Do you hear that?"
"I don't hear anything. Do you?"
"Sam," Dean called out to his brother. The screaming intensified, the lights flickering as Dean clutched his head, groaning and dropping to his knees. Sam rushed over to his side. "Dean?!"
"Oh, Sam, it's what happened to Arthur," Mildred said. "Hey, hey. Dean," Sam knelt in front of him. Dean looked over Sam's shoulder, spotting the banshee. Blood was dripping from his eyes. "Dean, look at me," Sam tried to get his attention. "Sam, it's here!" Dean cried. The banshee howled, vaporizing into black smoke. Everyone looked around, trying to spot it as Dean continued to clutch his head.
The screaming started back up and the banshee appeared behind Eileen. She whirled around, swinging her gold blade at the creature. The banshee flung her across the room into a bookshelf. In the main room, Dean was grunting and banging his head against a doorframe. "Dean, stop! Stop!" Mildred yelled at him. "Mildred!" Eileen cried from where she'd landed. She signed 'The symbol' and pointed to her palm, then the symbol on the wall.
Dean continued banging his head against the wall as the banshee flew in behind him. Mildred sliced her hand with the gold blade and slapped her palm in the middle of the symbol. The banshee was flung across the room, pinned to the second symbol. Eileen grabbed her gold blade from the floor, running across the room and stabbing the creature in the stomach. The wound glowed and the banshee vaporized into black smoke. The screaming stopped, and the lights turned back on.
Dean groaned, sitting up from where he was hunched over. His head was bleeding where he'd banged it repeatedly into the wall, and Mildred hurried over to his side. "You okay?" she asked. He just groaned in response. Sam looked over at Eileen, signing and saying, "Thank you." She nodded in response.
***
The next day, the boys returned to the Bunker. "Where exactly did you find her phone?" Sam asked Dean. "In here," Dean replied, leading him down the hall. They entered the room where the boxes and papers were still strewn haphazardly about. "Did Gabi do this?" Sam asked, looking at the mess. "I literally have no idea, Sam," Dean shook his head. "All I know is when I got here, she wasn't here, and when I tried calling her, her phone was on the floor in here."
Sam frowned, moving forward to study some of the papers left out of some of the boxes. "Well, whoever did this, it looks like they were searching through ancient lore... Possibly information on the Darkness. Doesn't look like they found what they were looking for, though."
"So, it could have been Brie," Dean said. "I don't know, Dean. Gabi wouldn't be this messy about it." Dean swallowed, looking around at the boxes with despair. "What the hell, Sammy?"
"We'll figure it out, Dean. It'll be fine."