| Recap added by Journalbookbinder
After a very very very very long recap.....
Leith, Scotland...1723 (yup, 1723)
A young man is packing, and drinking. He hears a rush of wind, sees a bright light, and Abaddon walks into his cottage.
She says she's a friend of the family and she wants him (the young man). She comments that he's packing to sail for "the colonies". The young man asks her to leave.
Abaddon goes to grab him when the man's friend walks in...teasingly asking if the 3 of them are going to have a party. Abaddon laughs, then picks up the friend with her invisible force and slams him back against the wall where he is impaled through the back of the head on a coat hook. The young man is stunned. Abaddon starts reciting something and the symbol she pained on the inside of the cottage door glows. She and this young man are going to time travel.
Elsewhere, present day...
In a bar there are a bunch of people drinking and talking. Turns out they are all fallen angels. One of them, who is really irritating, starts bragging about how he was hand-picked by Metatron; he knows things. The angel who is bragging says he appreciates Metatron's vision for heaven. That he is putting it back together with only the chosen few, like this bragging angel.
The irritating angel leaves the bar and is grabbed on his walk home by two of the other angels who overheard him.
Next we see the bragging angel chained to a chair. Ominous footsteps are heard in the hall. It's Cas. One of Cas' followers tells the bragging angel that there are consequences to speaking so freely.
Later...the Impala pulls up outside what looks to be an old brick building of some kind; maybe an old power plant. Dean doesn't think it looks like the right place. The door opens before they can knock and it's the same Cas follower who was threatening the chained angel.
The angel tells Sam and Dean to follow him; the commander will see them now. They look questioningly at each other over the use of the word "commander". Dean kind of rolls his eyes.
Sam and Dean walk through what looks like a military command center with electronic maps, computers, and lots of personnel. They are shown into a private office where an aid to Cas presents them. Dean hugs Cas; the hug looks genuine on Cas' part, but Dean kind of quickly hugs him without smiling. Sam's hug for Cas is warmer and Sam smiles as he embraces him, appearing to be kind of surprised that Cas is hugging him. Cas pulls away from the hug with Sam and looks a bit sheepishly at the aid, dismissing him.
When they are alone in the office, Cas explains that his aide can be a little stuffy.
Dean questions the term "commander". Cas shrugs and says that wasn't his idea. The other angels had no leader and they insisted on following him. Dean says he gets it, Cas is a rockstar. Cas reminds them that Bartholomew is dead and Malachi was murdered by Gadreel and now that Metatron is as powerful as he is, Cas needed to do something.
Sam asks if the war between angels is really going to happen. Cas says he'd rather find some kind of diplomatic solution with Metatron. Dean doesn't think that will be possible. Cas says that this angel-on-angel violence has to end. Cas wants to end it.
Cas tells them that they have one of Metatron's angels and he might have inside information, but he's not talking. Dean guesses that Cas wants them to rough up the angel for information so Cas can keep his hands clean. Cas says they've had success in these situations before, but he understands if they don't want to do it.
Dean responds, "Who says I don't want to do it?" And looks at Cas with a calm, icy gaze. Sam
immediately shoots Dean a look, taken aback by his tone and his willingness to get rough with a prisoner. In previous years, Dean never wanted to cross that line after his time torturing in hell. Not anymore.
Elsewhere, in Cleveland, Ohio at the Humbolt Hotel...
Crowley is in a meeting with his demons. He's asking his advisors to restore the other demon's confidence in him; he wants them to tell the others that the King is back and the kingdom is on sound footing under him. He asks those who support him to say "yo". Silence. Until Abaddon says, "Yo!" from the back of the room.
Crowley realizes that all of his advisors have gone over to Abaddon's side. He threatens them with, "No one in the history of torture has been tortured with the torture you'll be tortured with."
Abaddon says those advisors will be rewarded for siding with her.
Abaddon tells Crowley that she knows that he helped the Wincesters get their hands on the First Blade. She also knows that one of them has the Mark of Cain. Abaddon tells Crowley that the blade can kill him too and once they get Abaddon, Crowley will be next. Abaddon wants them to work together to get rid of the Winchesters and the Blade and then they can deal with who will rule hell.
Crowley turns her down, saying he'll never join her. Crowley goes to leave whereupon Abaddon produces Crowley's son Gavin, time-traveled from the 1700's. Crowley tells her that he and Gavin hate each other. He's made it clear in the past that he doesn't care at all what happens to his son. Abaddon says that was before Crowley became addicted to human blood. All of those human feelings started creeping in. Maybe now he cares about Gavin. Crowley says not a chance; he's clean.
Abaddon begins to torture Gavin; cutting off his air and putting out his eyes with a twist of her wrist. Crowley watches.Crowley claims it's not getting to him. Gavin moans. She ups the torture. Finally Crowley says she's made her point and she can stop now.
Back at Cas' headquarters, the bragging Metatron angel is tied to a chair. He says there is nothing Sam and Dean can do to him to make him talk. Dean disagrees. The angel says he's a trained commando, so they aren't going to get anything out of him. Dean takes that as a challenge and menacingly tells the angel, "You just asked me to dance," as he raises the angel blade as if to kill him.
Sam shouts for Dean to stop. Sam asks for a word with him. (This scene is shot brilliantly. For some of it, it is shot as if the viewer is the one being interrogated by Sam and Dean. It's great.)
Dean and Sam have a confab. Sam tells him the angel is no use to them if he'd dead. Sam starts to loudly put down the angel; saying he's probably a nobody (the angel's name is Ezra). Dean picks up on what Sam is trying to do immediately and plays along. Sam and Dean question why, if this angel is so elite, is he even on earth at all and not up in heaven with Metatron. They say he probably hasn't even been to heaven since the fall.
Ezra says he HAS been to heaven since the fall. Even if the gates are closed, he has a private portal; the other angels can't sense it because it moves around. He tells Sam and Dean all of this in an effort to prove he does, in fact, know what he's talking about. Metatron can put the portal wherever he wants it. Sam and Dean give each other a knowing look.
Back in Ohio...
Gavin is telling Crowley that he is NOT his father. His father was a simple drunken tailor named Fergus McCloud. (By the way, Gavin's injuries from Abaddon have been healed at this point and he's wiping blood off of himself with a hotel towel.) Gavin says his father was a monster and he looked nothing like Crowley. Crowley says a lot can change in 291 years. He then shows Gavin the light bulb on the lamp next to him. This seems to be the first time it's dawned on Gavin that he's time-traveled. He goes out to the balcony and sees the surrounding city. He can't believe it. Gavin wonders if they are in heaven and Crowley and Abaddon are both angels. They both can't believe how dense Gavin is.
Back at Cas' headquarters....
Ezra claims Metatron showed him this portal. Sam and Dean accuse him of being nothing more than a fan of Metatron who knows everything about the guy, but doesn't actually KNOW Metatron in person. In fact, Metatron probably doesn't even know that Ezra exists. Ezra says he was given a "key post" by Metatron. Sam asks why he was down on earth instead of at his "key post". Ezra doesn't answer. Dean says that blows....Ezra was passed over for the job. Ezra insists he was at least a finalist.Ezra says it was an honor to even have been considered for "the squad". Dean says there is no "squad". Ezra says there is too a squad; it's a highly-guarded secret. Sam wants Ezra to explain....how he desperately wanted this job, but he didn't know what it consisted of. Ezra says that until you are chosen, the nature of the job is a highly-guarded secret. Hardly anyone was chosen for it.
Sam and Dean leave the room; leaving Ezra alive. Sam locks the door behind him with a key. As they walk down the hallway, Dean says he would like to shove someone through the back door of heaven to find out what Metatron has planned; only the door is portable and can't be found.
Back in Ohio....
Crowley is telling Gavin how he became a demon. Gavin can't believe he sold his soul for 3 extra inches on his penis. Crowley says that priorities change over time. He tells Gavin that his soul did a stint in hell where it became a demon, then he had to posses another human so he could traffic in the living. Gavin says he can't be consorting with a demon. Crowley tells him he's not just any demon; he's the King of Hell.
Back at Cas' headquarters...a female angel with long dark hair enters Ezra's room to find him dead. Stabbed. She unlocked the door before she entered, so the door was still locked when she arrived.
In Cas' office...Sam and Dean are telling Cas they didn't harm Ezra. Cas says Ezra was killed by another angel. Dean suggests that maybe there's a mole and one of Metatron's people is part of Cas' army. Cas says he was sure everyone with him was loyal. Dean says he assumes everybody's lying. "It's a gift." Dean goes to leave and do some "nosing around" to try to find the mole.
When Sam and Cas are alone in the office, Cas asks Sam about Gadreel. What it was like when Gadreel possessed him. Sam says he really doesn't like to talk about it, but goes on to say that Gadreel didn't possess him completely. More like they "shared housing". Sam says he was "still him". Cas asks if Sam ever sensed a presence. Sam says he doesn't really know what he felt. He says he did feel that maybe he "wasn't completely alone". Cas asks if Sam ever felt threatened. Sam says no, more like Gadreel wasn't at rest; like he had unfinished business. Sam thinks Gadreel felt misunderstood. Cas asks if he was a danger or hostile. Sam says no, but he was obviously wrong because Gadreel killed Kevin. Sam leaves.
In Cleveland, Gavin and Crowley are still talking. Crowley admits he beat him (he had no role models; Crowley's mother was a witch). Gavin says he grew up knowing he was less than nothing. He was never allowed to go to school. He still can't read. Crowley gets up and touches Gavin's forehead, telling him, if he wants to read, go ahead and read. Gavin grabs the newspaper from Crowley. He can read. Crowley points out that being the King of Hell has its perks.Gavin says that if Crowley is King, then he must be a prince. Gavin asks that, if he accepts Crowley as his father, could he keep him from eternally burning in hell, no matter what his sins are? Crowley is amused that Gavin is negotiating with him. Gavin seems to feel that this situation has possibilities. He wants to goback to his own era so he can board the ship for the New World...the trip that he was packing for when Abaddon grabbed him.
Crowley tells the demon watching them to get Abaddon; he's ready for that chat (he is about to tell Gavin something about the ship he planned to board, but decides against it).
Next we see Cas out in the woods, meeting with Gadreel.Cas thanks him for coming. Gadreel says he's seen Cas through Sam's eyes and Sam trusts him. Cas has a reputation for honor. Cas tells Gadreel that Gadreel's reputation precedes him. Gadreel says that what happened in The Garden was not his fault. Cas starts to play on Gadreel's desire for redemption. He says he knows what Gadreel is doing with Metatron, he's doing because he believes it's for the greater good, but he placed his faith in "the wrong Master". Cas said he placed his trust in Metatron once and it led to the fall. Gadreel points out that the fall led to his (Gadreel's) second chance.
Cas says this is about more than just Gadreel...that Gadreel should consider re-joining the side he was originally on; the side of heaven; the heaven that the angels were made to serve. Gadreel says that's what he's doing. But Cas says he's been deceived. Cas says that heaven under Metatron will be worse for Gadreel than the centuries he spent locked away. Gadreel looks like he's thinking about what Cas is saying.
Suddenly, another angel runs up behind Cas to attack him, but Gadreel warns him and Cas fends off the angel, killing her. Other angels attack...a different male angel attacks Cas' attendant, killing her, then Cas kills the attacker.
Back in Cas' office, Dean is remembering the power the First Blade and Mark of Cain had over him. It's like he's in a trance. Sam appears next to him and claps his hands to try to snap Dean out of it. Sam points out that Dean's phone is ringing. Dean didn't hear it.
It's Crowley. Dean says it's about time Crowley called. Crowley said he'd promised to call Dean when he found Abaddon...and he's calling. He found her. Dean asks where Crowley is. Crowley says first he'll given them the location of the First Blade so they can get it, then he'll tell them where to go. He'll keep an eye on Abaddon.
While he says all of this, he's sitting right next to Abaddon. It appears he may be in cahoots with her.
Turns out, Crowley stashed the First Blade inside a newly-buried body. Dean goes to reach into the body when Sam hears some snarling in the distance. Dean's pretty sure it's a hellhound. Dean and Sam both run, chased by hellhounds. They get inside a crypt and pull the iron gates closed behind them. Dean calls Crowley while Sam struggles to hold the gates closed and tells him the grave was guarded by hellhounds. Crowley acts surprised. Dean says he's putting Crowley on speaker phone. Crowley calls off the dog (Juliet).
Sam and Dean walk back to the grave. Dean cuts into the corpse. Sam stops Dean from reaching inside the corpse. Dean tells Sam he can grab the Blade without it taking control of him. Sam's not taking any chances.
Dean lets Sam reach for it instead.
It's very disgusting. Sam pulls a very gooey blade out of the corpse as it drips with rotting organs.
Back in Cleveland...
Crowley and Gavin are still arguing about him going back to his own time so he can board the ship.
Crowley answers his ringing phone. It's Dean. He tells Dean he hopes he was nice to his father (unlike Gavin). Dean says, "What? Shut up. We got the blade." Crowley tells Dean he has to bring the Blade to Cleveland, to the Humbolt hotel (penthouse, of course). Then he tells him that when he gets there, he'll take them to Abaddon. Abaddon is in the room as he says this. Then Crowley gives Dean his code word...telling him it's a good day's drive from Poughkeepsie, so he'd better get a move on.
Poughkeepsie.
Dean doesn't get it at first, then he does. But he doesn't tell Sam. Dean knows they are being set up.
In the hotel room...
Abaddon doesn't trust Crowley and thinks he may try to zap himself out of there, or smoke out of his host body. She pulls open a drawer, takes out a revolver, and shoots Crowley in the shoulder. He falls back against the chair. He can't move. He's been shot with a bullet engraved with a devil's trap. He's immobile. Abaddon learned that trick from Henry Winchester.
Elsewhere, now in a back alley, Cas and Gadreel are talking again. Gadreel says he never would have agreed to meet Cas in the woods if he had known they'd be attacked. Cas asks why Gadreel is telling him this. Gadreel says that he believes that, even in times of war, there are matters of honor. Cas tells Gadreel that the attack just proves his (Cas') point. Gadreel met with Cas in good faith, but Metatron used him to get at Cas. Cas says Gadreel's poor judgement was his undoing all those centuries ago and now his trust in Metatron will bring him down again. Gadreel says he gave Metatron his word. He can't go back on it. Cas says he just wants Gadreel to stay where he is, but report back to Cas on what Metatron is doing and planning. Cas wants to know when Metatron will strike. Cas says Metatron has someone inside Cas' camp; that's how he knew that he and Gadreel were meeting. He asks Gadreel how is that tactic honorable. He's just fighting fire with fire. He asks Gadreel to think about it.
Back in Cleveland, the Impala pulls up to the hotel. Sam has the First Blade wrapped in a piece of leather.
Sam's ready to get it done. Dean stops him and says they should give the place a once-over before they go in. Sam's confused. Dean says Crowley told him he thought he saw some demons heading for the basement. Crowley said he would have checked it out himself, but didn't want word to get back to Abaddon that he was snooping around. Sam wonders when Crowley told Dean all of that. Dean says he told him on the phone and it just might mean that Abaddon knows that Crowley is there.
Dean tells Sam to check out the basement while he takes a look on the main floor. He takes the Blade and walks away from Sam.
Dean enters the penthouse and sees Crowley stuck in the chair. Crowley says he won't waste time. He'll take Dean to Abaddon. It's "not far". Dean is then attacked by one of Abaddon's demons but he throws the demoninto a mirror with superhuman strength and stabs him with the Blade. The demon dies.
Just as Dean is beginning to recover from the first attack, he is violently thrown back against a large painting, breaking the glass. Dean is pinned there, several feet off the floor. Just hanging.
Abaddon strolls into the room. She's feeling confident.
In the basement, Sam realizes there is nothing there at all.
In the penthouse, Abaddon says Dean will die first. Painfully. Then Crowley will watch his son die painfully, then she'll kill Crowley and destroy the blade.
Dean's arm is still pinned to the wall by Abaddon. But as he looks down at his hand holding the blade, the Mark of Cain begins to glow all the way through his jacket. He slowly, and with great effort and determination, is able to move his hand holding the blade away from the wall. Abaddon is surprised and tries to re-pin him. But he only gets stronger and actually is able to get down and walk towards her in spite of how hard she's trying to keep him away with her invisible force. With the Blade and the Mark, he's stronger than she is.
The wind in the room starts to kick up...it's blowing Dean's hair back (it's actually a bit too much wind machine and unfortunately it starts to take things from very dramatic to a bit cheesy).
Abaddon takes one more shot and is able to overcome Dean; forcing him back against the wall again and forcing him to drop the Blade. Dean looks down at the Blade and wills it back to his hand as Abaddon attempts to choke him.
He concentrates on it and the Blade moves, then flies up into his hand. Once he has it again, he's able to overcome Abaddon's power a second time.
At this point, Sam runs in with the demon knife; the wind blows his hair back.
Holding the blade, Dean walks with intensity towards Abaddon and just stabs her with the Blade. We go to slow-motion here as he lifts her off the ground, impaled on the Blade. She scrams and light pours out of her eyes as her skin starts to break down a bit. Dean drops her body to the floor and then gets on top of her and stabs her repeatedly, even though she's already dead. It's serious over-kill and when he's done, he covered in her blood.
Sam yells at Dean to stop, but it's like he's possessed. Finally, when Dean pauses for a moment, Sam tells him he "can stop now" with a great deal of caring and concern in his voice. Dean looks up at Sam and looks completely lost and out of it; like he hardly knows where he is. He looks down at the blood-covered First Blade and his blood-red hand an drops the Blade, like he wants to get it away from him.
Later, in the hotel room, Crowley is digging the devil's trap bullet out of his shoulder with the demon knife. Sam's wrapping the cleaned-off First Blade back up in the piece of leather. Crowley's complaining that they aren't helping him take the bullet out. Sam says they didn't kill him, even though it would have been easy and that should be enough. Crowley says they owe him...does he get no credit for warning them this was a trap? Sam scoffs at him. " 'Poughkeepsie' ring a bell?" asks Crowley. Dean comes out of another room having cleaned himself of blood amazingly well (jacket too!) and looks guilty. Sam looks at Dean...it's accusatory without saying a word. Dean looks away. Crowley looks back and forth between them. He knows Dean didn't tell Sam that Crowley warned them.
Sam's pissed. Dean tries to change the subject. He says he can't get over the fact that Crowley has a son.
Crowley gets the bullet out finally. Dean tells Crowley that Gavin has to go back to his own time. Crowley says that if he goes back, the ship he boards will go down and he'll die. Kinda sounds like Crowley cares about Gavin. Sam says that if you change anything in the past, the ripple effect changes everything that follows. Gavin has to go back. Crowley points out that no one bends the rules like the Winchesters. Sam says you can't bend that rule. He and Dean will take Gavin back to the bunker and figure out the spell that will send him back in time. Crowley asks to at least have a minute to say goodbye.
Crowley goes into the other room with Gavin and closes the door. But before he does, he says he can't wait until the last trace of humanity leaves him. He hates having all of these feelings.
Surprise, surprise...when Sam and Dean force the doors open a second later, Crowley and Gavin are gone.
Somewhere in a field, Crowley and Gavin are talking. Crowley tells Gavin that his ship to the New World will go down. Crowley tells Gavin he'll have a chance if he stays in the 21st century. But he says this is goodbye; forever. Crowley jokes that it's goodbye, unless he catches Gavin smoking, in which case he'll "smack him silly".Gavin says goodbye and goes to hug Crowley. Crowley won't let him. He asks Gavin not to mention the "Prince of Hell" thing. Crowley disappears, leaving Gavin alone in the field.
Elsewhere, in the Impala....
Dean tells Sam he didn't tell him about Crowley's warning because he knew exactly what Sam would do. Sam would have made sure he was right alongside Dean going into that room. Sam responds, "You mean, like we always do?" incredulously, "'cause we're actually partners in this and we watch each other's backs???"
Dean says he doesn't expect Sam to understand.
"Try me," says Sam.
Dean looks at him and takes a breath. Dean says, "The first time I touched that blade...I knew. I knew that I wouldn't be stopped. I knew I would take down Abaddon and anything else if I had to. And it wasn't a 'hero' thing, you know? It was, it was just calm. I knew. And I had to go it alone Sammy."
Sam sarcastically says, "Oh, of course; so it's just another time that you had to protect me."
Dean says with his voice raised, "You could have gotten nabbed by Abaddon and she could have bargained her way out. We couldn't afford to screw this up."
Sam shakes his head and looks away out the window. He takes a deep breath. Sam says, "Look, I'm glad it worked out, okay? I am. And I'm glad the Blade gives you strength, or calm, or whatever, but Dean, I gotta say, I'm starting to think the Blade is doing something else too."
Dean responds wearily, "Yeah, like what?"
Sam says, "I don't know...like something....TO you."
Dean looks like he's thinking about it for a minute.
Sam turns towards him and says, "Look, I'm thinking, until we know for sure that we're going to off Crowley, why don't we store the Blade somewhere distant? Lock it up somewhere safe. Okay?" Sam looks at Dean with sincerity.
Dean looks straight ahead, expressionless, and just says very calmly, "No."
Sam furrows his brow, not really believing Dean said that.
Dean continues to stare straight ahead.
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