Castiel had found Claire Novak, broken her out of a foster care home that was more like a prison. Then she had abandoned him. He had called in Sam, Dean and me to stand outside the restaurant they had been at the previous night.

"This is why you called us?" Dean asked. "This is your emergency?"

"Yes," Castiel answered.

"No, Cas," Dean told him. "An emergency is a dead body, okay? Or--or a wigged out Angel, or the Apocalypse, take three. Some chick bolting on you is not an emergency. That's... that's every time Sam and Ava get together and one of them has to take off to do their jobs, hunting and rounding up Angels alike. That's if one of them's not dead, or killed, or brought back."

I gave Dean a look, tilting my head.

"Dude," Sam told him.

Dean shrugged. "Well."

"This isn't just 'some chick'," Castiel told us. "I'm responsible for her."

"Since when?" Dean asked. "You met her once, how many years ago?"

I looked down.

Sam looked at me curiously. "Wait, did you know about this?"

I looked up sheepishly. "I knew that he was trying to make it right. I didn't know that he was going to do this."

"Great," Sam told us. "Perfect. Look, Cas. Even if we do find Claire, then what?"

"She rolled you, and then she ran, okay?" Dean asked. "It's pretty clear that she doesn't want to play house."

"I understand," Castiel told us. "But I need to know that Claire is safe. And I need your help." He looked at me. "And you said that you felt guilty about what happened to your vessel, before and after you had taken her. I know that this is different, but it could help."

"Help who?" I asked. "Me or Claire?"

"Both," Castiel answered.

I sighed. "All right." I looked at Sam. "Uh, why don't we go ask around at the group home?"

Sam nodded.

"Uh, you know what?" Dean asked. "We're going to stick here in case she circles back. You go ahead."

*  *

We found out that a friend of Claire's worked at a Weiner Hut, standing outside.

A boy walked out.

"Dustin Tate?" Sam asked.

Dustin shook his head. "Nah, man."

"Oh, really?" I asked skeptically.

Castiel grabbed Dustin by the back of his jacket. "Yes, you are." He pushed Dustin back against the brick wall. "And you're going to tell me where Claire Novak is."

Castiel gripped Dustin's throat, lifting him off the ground.

Dean walked toward us, eating, speaking with a mouth full of food. "I'd do what he says."

Sam gave Dean a look.

Dean pointed back to the Weiner Hut, giving us a thumbs up.

*  *

Claire had been about to rob a convenience store when Cas pulled her out into the alley to talk to us.

Claire took the hood off her head, starting to walk away.

"Claire, wait," Castiel told her.

"Screw you," Claire told him.

"Whoa, hey, Miley Cyrus," Dean told her. "Settle."

"Eat me, Hasselhoff," Claire told him.

"Claire, hold on a second," Sam told her. "Look, my name's--"

"Sam," Claire finished. "And you're Dean. We've met, remember?" She looked at me. "We haven't, so I don't know you."

"Octavia," I told her. "We're just trying to help."

"I don't care," Claire told us.

"You were going to rob that convenience store?" Castiel asked.

"So?" Claire asked.

"So?" Castiel repeated. "So, it's--it's wrong."

"You want to talk to me about wrong?" Claire asked. "You killed my dad. Is that wrong enough for you?"

"No, I didn't," Castiel told her.

"Really?" Claire asked. "Because without you, he'd still be here. And my mom would still be around."

"Claire, I'm--" Castiel started, taking a step toward her.

Claire drew her gun, cocking it, aiming at Castiel. "Don't!"

Castiel took a step back.

Sam and Dean took a step forward.

Claire aimed the gun at them.

Sam and Dean took a step back.

"Whoa," Dean told her. "Hey, come on."

"Hold on a second," Sam told her.

"Why?" Claire asked. "Like you don't have it coming? You stood there while this monster took my dad." I took the gun from Claire, emptying the bullets to the ground. Claire took a step back. "I used to pray to you, Castiel. Every night. I would beg you to bring him home safe."

"I know," Castiel told her guiltily.

"You know?" Claire asked. "My father was a good man. In what messed up world does he have to die and you get to live?"

"I'm sorry," Castiel told her.

Claire shook her head. "No. You feel guilty. There's a difference."

"So what?" Sam asked. "Now you run back to Randy? The guy you steal for?"

"How do you know about that?" Claire asked.

"Dustin," I answered.

"Claire, that man is using you," Castiel told her.

"He was there for me," Claire told us. "When things got bad, and they got real damn bad, he was there when no one else was. He's my family. And you're just... you can go to Hell."

Claire walked away, leaving.

We watched her go.

*  *

Sam, Dean, Castiel and I walked into a bar, sitting at a table.

The waiter walked over.

"Give me a shot of, um..." Castiel trailed off.

"Four whiskeys," I told him, settling back next to Sam.

The bartender nodded, walking away to get our drinks. 

"Cas, don't beat yourself up, man," Sam told him. "Claire was..."

"Right," Castiel told us. "She was right. Who am I to tell her how to live her life?"

"Well, somebody needs to," Dean told us. "It's not like we're talking about Mother Teresa here. The girl just about knocked over a Gas'n'Sip. She's got issues."

"Because of me," Castiel told us.

"Well, you are wearing her old man's meat suit," Dean told him. "Probably didn't help."

Sam gave Dean a look, shaking his head.

"I thought I could make it up to her," Castiel told us.

"Cas, I told you before," I told him. "I don't think you can. I mean, Jimmy was her father."

"I told you that I had to try," Castiel told me.

"And you did," I told him. "But we never knew our father, Cas. He was distant, to say the least. We don't know what it's like to have that." I looked at Dean and Sam. "But you two did. What about you? Did you love your father?"

Dean looked from Sam to Castiel and me. "With everything I had."

"Yeah," Sam answered. "Yeah, I mean, it wasn't always easy, but, yeah."

"I mean, look, John Winchester's not going to win any 'Number One Dad' awards, you know? But you know... damn if he wasn't there when we needed him."

"Hey, uh, tell them about that time in New York," Sam told him.

"Oh, yeah," Dean told us. "Yeah, okay. So, uh... we were working this haunting in Long Island, and me and Sam begged the old man to let us go to the city for once."

"He had this thing about New York, right?" Sam asked. "Too big, too loud, too dirty."

"Yeah, and he hated the Yankees," Dean told us.

Sam nodded in agreement. "Big time."

"Somehow, we convince him to let us go," Dean told us. "So, we all go. We all, you know, see all the sights, and, uh, ride the subway, eat too much pizza. The whole nine. Well, by about midnight, Sam and Dad are zonked, and I figure... screw it. I'm going to CBGB."

"So CBGB is--" Sam started.

"I know," Castiel told us. "It's where the Ramones and Blondie got their start."

I looked at Sam and Dean, all of us taken aback. "Right. Wow."

The waiter set out our drinks, walking away, leaving.

Sam smiled a small smile. "Anyways, he was way underage at the time."

"All right, so I get there," Dean told us. "I sneak in, and it is nuts. I mean, people are drinking, and they're smoking, and they're--they're snorting whatever. There's a five-hundred pound guy on stage with a Mohawk just screaming. And, uh, my mind is blown. I don't even know what to do. Then this girl walks up and she says, 'Hey, why don't you come over and sit down with me and my friends at our table?' 'All right!'"

"Yeah, and they get him drunk," Sam told us. "First time."

"But not fun drunk," Dean told us. "I'm not quite sure what was in that stuff, but the room starts to spin, and I feel like I'm going to puke... forever. And right about that time, I hear him. 'Dean Winchester!'" Castiel looked confused. I was curious. Sam smiled. "My old man. I don't know how, but he found me. And now I'm really freaking out, because I'm just standing there, not saying anything. I look around, and everybody else is freaking out, too. In fact, nobody's even looking him in the eye. And finally, this one guy with, like, a safety pin through his nose and a--a 'Kill Everything' tattoo and looked up, and he says, 'Sorry, sir'." I smiled. Dean shook his head. "Yeah. 'Sorry, sir'. To John freaking Winchester."

Dean took a drink.

Sam and I picked up our drinks, looking at the other, smiling small smiles, clinking glasses and drinking.

Castiel threw his back like a shot. "He saved you."

"Yeah, and you know what he got for that?" Dean asked. "Me whining about how much he embarrassed me. Me telling him that I hated him. But then he stopped and turned around, and he looked at me and he said, 'Son, you don't like me? That's fine. It's not my job to be liked'."

"'It's my job to raise you right'," Sam finished.

"Do you think Claire is in trouble?" Castiel asked.

"She's hanging out with a guy named Randy," Dean told us. "She's in trouble."

I motioned to the bartender.

The bartender signaled that our refills were coming up.

*  *

We found Randy's house.

We could hear Claire screaming from inside.

A man opened the front door.

I used magic to push him into the wall, making him fall.

Two men looked toward us.

We walked inside.

One man walked toward us, stopping when he saw Sam and the gun in his hand.

"Don't," Sam told him.

"Back it up," Dean told him.

The man backed away.

Sam and Dean held the men at gunpoint.

I looked around the room. "Where's the girl?"

We could hear Claire's screaming coming from upstairs.

Castiel and I ran upstairs.

Castiel tried to open the door to the room where the screaming was coming from, only to find that it was locked, looking at me.

I used magic to throw the door off.

A man was trying to hold Claire down.

I used magic to push the man off of Claire, into the wall, making him fall to the floor.

Claire stood, kicking at the man over and over and over again.

"Claire," Castiel told her. "Claire!"

"Get her out of here, Cas," I told her. Castiel led Claire out of the room. The man stood, trying to go after Claire. I used magic to push him against the wall. "I don't think so."

I walked out of the room, knowing that the magic holding him to the wall would let him go once I got a certain distance away, walking downstairs.

Claire looked at one of the men. "Randy."

Randy looked at Claire guiltily, lowering his gaze to the floor.

"Get her out of here," Dean told us.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "Go."

Castiel, Claire and Sam walked outside.

There were two more men outside.

I followed, putting fingers to their foreheads, making them fall unconscious.

*  *

Claire got into the backseat of the Impala.

Castiel sat beside her.

Claire smiled a small, relieved smile in thanks.

"Are you okay?" Castiel asked.

"Yeah," Claire answered, embracing Castiel.

Sam got into the front seat, glancing back. "Ava, come on."

I looked at Sam through the passenger window. "Dean's still inside."

I heard shouting from inside, running toward the house.

Dena was kneeling in the living room, a bloody knife in his hand. 

The room was filled with the blood-covered bodies of the men that had tried to hurt Claire, and Randy, dead.

Dean was kneeling to the floor in the middle of all of them, covered in blood.

We all walked in to see the horrifying scene.

Claire screamed.

Castiel pulled Claire outside.

Sam put his gun away, walking toward Dean. "Dean? Dean. Hey." He knelt in front of Dean worriedly. "Tell me you had to do this."

"I didn't... I didn't mean to," Dean told us.

"No," Sam told him. "Tell me it was them or you."

I looked around the carnage, hiding my reaction, completely in shock.

Dean seemed to be realizing what he had done.