The sound of ear-piercingly loud classic rock guitar woke Sam and Elizabeth up early the next morning.
Elizabeth pulled out her gun from under her pillow, Sam pulled out her spare under his. When she saw it was Dean, she pulled the blankets up over her unclothed body.
"Dean!" Elizabeth yelled. "Bloody Hell, you moron!"
"Nice reflexes." He commented, putting his phone away as he stood at the end of the bed. "Also, nice to see you two are back in the love sack."
"What the Hell is wrong with you?" Sam panted, desperately trying to slow his heart rate down. "We could've shot you."
"I still might." Elizabeth mumbled.
"Come on, Vampy Pants, you know you love me. Don't be like that." The older brother smirked. "But seriously, come on. We've got work to do."
He looked down, seeing a pile of their clothes at the foot of the bed, so picked them up and threw them at the pair before making his exit.
"Can I still shoot him?" Elizabeth groaned, planting her head back on the pillow. "Maybe not like, kill him... Just graze him or take out a kneecap or something."
Sam chuckled, leaning over to kiss her.
"'Fraid not. Cas wouldn't like it." He mumbled against her lips.
"Can't have the boyfriend being mad at me now, can we?" She smirked.

"Alright, what's up?" Sam asked as he entered the study with a cup of coffee and a glass of blood for Elizabeth.
She thanked him as he placed it down in front of her.
Dean was loading various weapons into a duffel bag.
"I called Cas, he said there was something going down in Missouri." The older brother said.
"What kind of something?" Sam asked.
"He said he couldn't talk about it over the phone."
"Why?" Sam frowned, perching himself on the table by Elizabeth.
"Because he is a weird... Guy, okay? He's a weird, dorky, little guy. But, he happens to have an army of Angels behind him and that... Even if I hate to say it, if we're gunna take a shot at Metatron, it might be useful." The older brother answered, wrapping up the First Blade to pack.
"Is that a good idea?" Elizabeth cocked an eyebrow.
"Yeah, do you really think we need that? Why don't we just leave it here?" Sam shrugged.
"We talked about this and we decided that-"
"No, in all fairness, we didn't decide. You did." The younger brother interrupted Dean, earning a nod of agreement from the Vampire, who sipped her blood.
"Okay, I decided that a hockey stick that can kill anything might come in handy. So, sue me." Dean retorted.
"How many times have we been around this block?" Sam scoffed. "Magic that powerful comes at a price, and right now, we don't know what that price is!"
"I'm fine." Dean said. "I'm fan-friggin-tastic."
"Oh, yes. Because me having to bear hug you out of mince-meating a Knight of Hell just last week totally means you're fine." Elizabeth replied.
Dean gave a dismissive glance to her, moving his eye line back to his brother.
"I'm not saying we bury the thing, I'm saying we just save it for when we really need it. Crowley, Metatron - the big boss fights." Sam told him. "You don't have to have it with you all the time, right? Just leave it... Please."
Dean looked slightly on edge, clearly annoyed but trying to hide it. But he shrugged and put the Blade back on the table.
"No problem." He gave a forced smile.
"Thank you." Sam sighed, giving Elizabeth a knowing glance as the older brother picked up the duffel bag and took it out to the car.
"It's getting bad, isn't it..." Elizabeth sighed.
"Yep. I'm not sure if I can take any more of this First Blade-induced crap." Sam huffed, taking a mouthful of coffee.

"Can it be placed on record that I really hate pantsuits?" Elizabeth mumbled as they walked up to the crime scene, buttoning up her black suit jacket.
"I'll put it on the minutes." Dean replied as they approached a local officer, going to grab their FBI badges.
"Agents Spears, Aguilera and Knowles?" The female officer asked. "FBI?"
"Uh-huh." Dean and Elizabeth looked just as disgusted as each other at the name choices.
"Your partner said you'd be along." The officer said, letting them pass.

The exterior of the Ice Cream parlour was a mess. It was all blown out like a bomb had gone off. But the interior was worse.
The shelves on the left side of the room behind the counter were hanging off; pots, pans and crockery strewn about everywhere. Bar stools were toppled over and there were bodies dotted around all over the place.
"Thank you for coming." Castiel greeted them.
"Spears, Aguilera and Knowles?" Sam cocked an eyebrow.
"I've noticed your alias' are usually the names of popular musicians." Cas gave a smile, clearly proud of his intuition.
"Wow..." Dean squinted.
Cas looked at him and gave a small sigh, before motioning into the shop.
"Come here, take a look at this." He said.
He led the trio over to a woman in a body bag. Her eyes had been burnt out, leaving only charred, black sockets.
"The other bodies are the same." He stated. "Burnt out husks."
"Okay, so what is this, some sort of mass smiting?" Dean asked.
"I don't know what this was." Cas replied, looking around the room. "I've never seen anything like it. Six Humans died here. And one Angel."
He moved over to a body on the floor, crouching down to lift the white sheet from over it.
"One of yours?" Sam frowned.
"He was a good soldier... This attack." Castiel rose to his feet. "I knew he wanted a war, but this... This is abhorrent - even for him."
"What do you think happened? Was it a solo job or was there someone else here?" Elizabeth wondered.
"I don't know... I wish I did." Cas replied.

Back at 'Angel Uprisings 'R' Us', as Elizabeth called it, Castiel was greeted by a dark haired, female Angel.
"Commander." She said, walking over to them.
"That's just creepy." Dean mumbled.
"Sam, Dean, Elizabeth. This is Hannah." Cas introduced.
"The Winchesters." Hannah greeted. "Elizabeth Smythe. I've heard so much about you."
"Well, what can I say? Cas is a fan." Dean smirked.
An Angel took an evidence box Castiel was holding. Sam, apparently, didn't like that.
"Sir, this morning. Josiah wasn't at roll call." Hannah informed her Commander.
Cas frowned.
"Roll call? You hold a roll call?" Sam cocked an eyebrow.
"They like to hear me say their names." Cas told them.
"Dean wants to hear you moan his in his ear." Elizabeth sniggered under her breath.
Sam elbowed her, clearly trying to keep a straight face.
"No one's seen Josiah since Ezra was murdered. We think that-"
"You think that Josiah's the killer - that he was the mole." Sam finished for Hannah.
"Well, who else?" She asked. "We searched the grounds, but he's vanished."
"Not without wings." Dean spoke up. "He's an Angel, but he's still gotta travel like he's Human. Which means walk, drive... It means he's gunna leave a trail."
Sam sat down, grabbing his laptop from the brown leather satchel on his shoulder.
"Alright." He said. "What was his vessel's name?"
"Shaun Flynn. From Omaha." Cas replied.
"Okay." Sam nodded, typing away at his computer. "This the guy?" He turned his laptop around, showing a driver's licence.
"Yes, that's him." Cas nodded.
"Alright." Sam huffed. "Looks like someone just used his credit card at a Gas 'N' Sip in Colorado."
"Commander." An Angel sat at a desk behind them spoke up. "I have something." The group went over to his desk, where he brought up a phone video onto his computer screen. "This phone's memory chip has a video time stamp just before the explosion."
The video displayed a little girl sat alone in one of the booths at the Ice Cream parlour, when a man walked up to her.
He undid his grey trench coat, revealing a sigil carved into his bare chest.
"I do this for Castiel!" He announced, plunging his Angel Blade into the centre of the sigil.
The little girl screamed.
The video then went white before cutting out.
"What the Hell was that?" Dean demanded.
"I don't know. I didn't- I would never ask an Angel to sacrifice himself to kill innocents." Cas said, frantically looking around. "I'm gunna be sick..."
"Cas, why would an Angel blow up a Colonel Scoops in your name?" Sam asked.
"That's not what he was doing." Hannah interjected. "Roll it back."
The Angel at the desk obeyed her, rewinding the footage.
Hannah paused it on the little girl.
"There. That was an Angel; Esther. She's one of Metatron's." She said, crossing her arms.
"So this was some kinda hit?" Sam asked.
"I don't know." Cas sighed.
"Stop saying you don't know." Dean demanded.
"You can't think that I would allow something like this."
"I know you try to be a good guy, okay? I do. You try. But what you've got here? This is a friggin' cult." Cas tried to interrupt, but Dean wasn't having it. "The last time you had this kinda juice, you did kill Humans - and Angels. And you did nothing but lie to me and Sam about it the whole damn time." He raised his voice.
"Can we, uh, can we take this somewhere else, guys?" Sam spoke up.

"Can you stow the baggage, Dean? We've got a case. Let's work it." The younger brother snapped as soon as the four got into Cas' office. "Cas, did you know the Angel in that video?"
"Yes." Cas replied, not bothering to turn and face them. "His name was Oran. He was a new recruit. For community outreach."
"What does that mean?" Dean asked.
"Some of my troops are stationed at a local hospital. They help where they can. Minor miracles, it's nothing that would draw attention." Cas said, finally turning around.
"So what was he doing in that video?" Sam asked. "With the stabbing."
"The Enochian runes that were carved in his chest, I think that they were meant to focus energy. When he stabbed himself, it unleashed all that power." Castiel explained.
"So what about the girl? What happened to her?" Sam pressed.
"If she was the target, if the blast was focused on her, then more likely than not, she was atomised." The Angel explained. Neither the boys or the Vampire really knew what to do with that information. "So what do we do now?"
"Well, you don't do jack." Dean spoke up. "Me and Sam, we'll head to the hospital, see if we can't find somebody who knew this... Walking nuke."
"Hold on," Cas started. "These are my people, I can help."
"Well, that's sort of the problem. I mean, the Manson girls aren't gunna give us a straight answer with Charlie in the room. So, just... Hang back." Dean sighed.
"So I should just sit here..." Cas raised his eyebrows.
"Pretty much." Dean nodded.
"No." Cas stated. "If you don't want my help, then I will follow Josiah's trail to Colorado. I have to do something, Dean."
"Alright, fine." Dean huffed. "But Sammy's going with you."
"Because you don't trust me?" Cas asked.
"To help." The older Winchester said. "Elizabeth, you can come with me."
"I kinda wanna go with Commander Pigeon, over here. I have a few questions he might be able to answer." Elizabeth sighed.
"Ask them when we get back. I'd rather one supercharged person per pair." Dean told her.
"Whoop. The magical adventures of Deanabeth strike again." She smirked, trying desperately to lighten the tense mood a little.

Elizabeth ended up being the muscle. Again.
Dean was questioning the Angels in the hospital one by one.
But one of them, a woman who called herself 'Flagstaff', got a little too deep under Dean's skin.
"I hate men like you." Were her last words before Hell broke loose.
Dean threw the table between them, pinning her to the floor with an Angel Blade in her face.
"Dean!" Elizabeth protested, moving forward to intervene if needed.
"Honey, there ain't no other men like me." He growled.
"Dean!" The Vampire repeated, louder this time.
"Don't... Please." The Angel begged.
"Oran! Friends. Answers." Dean snapped.
"Constantine." Flagstaff blurted out. "And Tessa."
"Dean. For Christ's sake... Get off her." Elizabeth sighed, grabbing at his jacket.
She pulled him up before holding out a hand for Flagstaff, who shakily took it.
"Tessa... The Reaper; Tessa?" Dean frowned.
"You know her?" The Angel asked, straightening out her clothes.
Dean didn't answer, he simply left the room.
"I'm really sorry about him." Elizabeth said. "He's... A little on edge, right now. Not that that's an excuse."
"I don't care. So long as I never have to see him again." Flagstaff mumbled.
Elizabeth nodded, turning to leave.
"You've got it."
"You're not like other Vampires, are you?" The Angel asked.
Elizabeth stopped in her tracks.
"I'm a Hunter before anything else." She replied.
"That's... Not what I meant." Flagstaff frowned. "You're something different. Something new."
Elizabeth took a few steps towards her.
"What do you know?" She asked.
The Angel shrugged.
"Nothing. Just that you felt different. You felt... Ancient. Almost as ancient as me and the rest of the Angels. And powerful. So powerful. Do you not know what you are?" She asked.
Elizabeth sighed.
"I've been second-guessing that a lot recently." She said. "Thank you for your help. And I'm sorry about him again."
With that, she left the room to go and find Dean.

She didn't find him until he answered his phone - after she'd left ten more messages than he'd have liked.
He was back at Angel HQ by that point with the Reaper.
"Did you seriously leave me at this damn hospital?" Elizabeth hissed into the phone.
"You were making small talk. I was busy." Dean shrugged. "Hey, this would be a good time for you to practice your teleportation power. Try it. Just lie back and think of me."
"You wish." Elizabeth smirked. "Might see you in a second. Might call you back."
"Don't think of anything too naughty, Vampy Pants." Dean chuckled, hanging up the phone.
Elizabeth took a deep breath, closing her eyes.
"Okay..." She mumbled to herself. "Let's see what you can d-"
"Holy crap, it worked!" Dean grinned wide, opening his arms for a hug.
"Oh my God, I can zap myself places." Elizabeth laughed, running into his arms to hug his neck.
They were in the corridor to the cells in Angel HQ, making the Vampire frown.
"The Hell are we doing down here?" She asked, separating from him.
"Tessa the Reaper decided to get some work done." Dean explained, waving an index finger to his chest.
"She got a sigil carved into her?" Elizabeth gasped, looking to her right, where she saw a dark haired girl sat looking rather bored in a cell.
"Bingo. I'm gunna go see what she's up to." Dean replied.
"Then, I'm coming with you. After your performance at the hospital, I'm not leaving you on interrogation duty alone." She shot him a warning look.
He didn't even bother to protest as he walked inside.