Abaddon had been at the forefront of everyone's minds from thereon in. Getting rid of her had become a top priority rather quickly.
The Winchesters had received word that Castiel needed to see them and, realising that they may or may not have forgotten to tell the Angel that Elizabeth was back - let alone that something was different and that she'd been having visions of a little girl with insane power, decided to bring her along too.
"Is this the address?" Dean asked, pulling the Impala up to an otherwise non-descript, factory-looking building.
"Yeah." Sam replied, gazing up at it.
They walked up to the front door, going to knock, but it was opened before they could.
"If you'll follow me, the Commander will see you now." A male Angel said.
Dean frowned back at the other two.
"The Commander?" He whispered.
They were led into a huge room, bustling with Angels. It was filled with state of the art computers and other tech, looking something like a command centre at NASA. The Angel took them up a small flight of stairs, leading to a window-clad office.
"Sir." The Angel grabbed the attention of the so-called Commander.
Castiel turned around, smiling to the boys as they entered.
He gave them both a hug before his eyes landed on the Vampire.
"Elizabeth!" He gasped.
"Hey, Pigeon." She smiled. "Long time, no see."
He was about to bombard her with questions before he realised the Angel was still stood in the doorway.
"Um... Dismissed." He said.
The Angel nodded, walking away.
Dean closed the office door as Cas enveloped Elizabeth in a tight hug.
"Where on earth have you been?" He asked.
"Well, there's the kicker." Elizabeth chuckled hesitantly. "I wasn't on Earth. Heaven's dungeon seems... Nice."
Castiel visibly tensed.
"You've been locked in Heaven's dungeon this whole time? You were just down the hall as I lost my grace and I never even knew?" His whole body tensed, frown lines accentuating on his forehead.
"There's more, but I'm sure you called us here for a reason." Sam pressed.
Cas' gaze flickered onto the younger brother and he nodded.
"So..." Dean started. "Commander?"
"Oh, not my idea." Cas sighed. "They had no leader and they insisted on following me."
"Yeah, no, we get it. You're a rockstar." Dean smirked, looking proud of his Angel.
"So this war between Angels is really gunna happen, huh?" Sam gazed through the blinds, down into the pit of workers and technology after Castiel had explained the circumstances.
"Not if I can find a diplomatic option for getting rid of Metatron." Cas told him.
"Good luck with that..." Dean mumbled.
"Dean..." Cas sighed. "This Angel-on-Angel violence, it has to end. Someone has to say 'enough'."
"And that someone is you?" Sam walked back over.
"That brings me to why you're here." Cas said. "We have a prisoner. It's an Angel from Metatron's inner circle. I need to know what they're planning - so far, he's revealed nothing."
"So you're done with the rough stuff and you want us to be your goons." Dean stated.
"Well, you've had success at these situations before. Plus, now Elizabeth is back... I feel her strength and... Powers of persuasion, might come in handy." The Angel replied.
"Oh, so I'm the goon." She smirked, sitting at his desk, throwing her legs up on the surface as she crossed her arms.
"And we just became the back-up." Sam nodded.
"If you don't wanna do it..." Cas trailed off, lowering his voice. "I understand."
"No, no. Fine by me. I've got a little beef I wouldn't mind feeding one of Metatron's flying monkeys." Elizabeth held her hands up.
"And who says I don't wanna do it?" Dean asked.

"You're wasting your time. I have nothing to say." Metatron's Angel smirked, almost proud of his silence.
"We disagree." Dean said, circling him like a vulture with an Angel blade in his hands.
"There's no point torturing me. I am a trained commando. It won't work."
"Wow." Dean replied. "Well, you just asked me to dance." He grabbed the Angel's face, moving the Angel blade towards his face before Sam interrupted, beckoning a sidebar.
Elizabeth was lent against the wall by the door opposite the captured Angel, rolling her eyes as the boys approached her.
"He won't be telling us anything, dead." Sam pointed out before getting an idea. "Besides, I'm really starting to realise that he probably doesn't know anything. He was probably just pretending at the bar. Most likely, he's a nobody."
Elizabeth clicked on to what he was doing.
"Like I said." She smirked, waving a lazy hand. "Flying monkey. We need someone higher up the ranks than this moron."
Sam nodded.
"Exactly. I mean, do the math, Dean. Ezra here, is one of Metatron's elite posse?" He chuckled. Dean's expression changed rather quick as he, too, clicked onto Sam's plan. "Really? One of Metatron's most trusted is hanging out of bars, blabbing about the boss. Does that make any sense to you?"
"Oh yeah, only if Metatron is purposefully surrounding himself with losers." The older brother raised his eyebrows.
"Exactly, right?" Sam laughed. "What's this guy even doing here?"
"He's a wannabe." Dean sighed. "I mean, if he was a key player, he would be up in Heaven with Metatron where all the action is."
Elizabeth glanced over at the Angel, who looked rather insulted.
"Look at him. He's so useless, he's not even worth being Heaven's janitor." She scoffed. "He's here. On Earth. With all the other fallen. A worthless, no good piece of dirt on Metatron's boot."
"What if I'm a decoy?" The Angel spoke up. "Or in deep cover?"
Sam let out a surprisingly high pitched laugh, dripping with sarcasm.
"It's pathetic." He commented.
"Mm. Probably hasn't even been to Heaven, not since the fall." Dean continued.
"Of course not!" Sam chuckled.
"Yes, I have." The Angel argued.
"Buddy, the gates are sealed." Sam waved a hand. "No one can get in."
"Who said anything about gates?" Ezra scoffed. "You don't need gates when you have a private portal."
The trio looked amongst each other, raising equal brows. They'd got him.
"Right." Sam nodded. "If there was a doorway on Earth, the Angels would've sensed it."
"Yeah, you can't hide something like that." Dean made a sceptical face.
"You can if it moves around from place to place, if it's wherever the boss wants it to be." Ezra looked smug, totally unaware that he was not only giving up the game, but also freely handing it to the opposition on a silver platter.
The trio looked amongst each other once again.
"I see, I got it." Sam stifled a laugh. "So, you heard a rumour about Metatron's 'secret portal' and you decided to run with it." He said, air-quoting.
"It's not a rumour." Ezra spoke to them like they were stupid. "He showed me."
The trio laughed.
"I get it." Dean grinned. "He's a fan." Sam and Elizabeth agreed, watching him walk over to the Angel. "Look, just 'cause you're hot for Metatron or Bieber or Beckham... Just because you know everything about them, doesn't mean that you actually know them."
"Or that they even know you exist." Sam commented.
"Ooh that's cold, Sammy." Dean sucked in air.
"Do you want me to get you some ice for that burn, anime angst?" Elizabeth sniggered.
"Ooh... Anime angst." Dean snapped his fingers in her direction. "I like that one. I'm stealing it."
Elizabeth shrugged.
"Go for it, baby cakes."
"I was interviewed personally by Metatron for a key post." Ezra interjected.
"Yeah?" Sam's brows raised. "Oh, wow. Well then, maybe, you can tell me why you weren't at your key post and you were hanging down here instead."
Ezra shuffled in his chains uncomfortably.
"Mm... Now, that blows." Dean mumbled. "He got passed over."
"I was a finalist." Ezra replied.
"Oh, man..." Sam sighed. "To get so close and then get kicked downstairs. It sucks to be you."
"Hardly anybody was chosen!" Ezra retorted. "And ground force is still a very important assignment. It was an honour to have even been considered for the squad."
"You know who else says that?" Elizabeth asked. "The kids who get picked last in Gym Class."
Dean sniggered, wagging an approving finger in her direction.
"You're right, 'Liza. You're absolutely right." He said. "What squad, by the way? There is no squad."
"Yeah, says you. It's a highly guarded secret." Ezra scoffed.
"Oh." Sam nodded.
"And what would you be doing, exactly?" Dean asked.
Ezra was about to answer, but caught himself.
Dean cupped his ear, a smug smile on his face.
Sam just laughed.
"Wait a second." He said. "Just, please, uh... Clarify this for me. You desperately wanted this job, but you didn't know what it was?"
Ezra hesitated, getting defensive.
"Well, until you were chosen, the exact nature of the mission was kept a secret. And... Hardly anyone was chosen." He replied.
"Well, that just proves it then, boys." Elizabeth sighed, placing a hand on their backs. "We're wasting our time on a reject who's not even important enough to know what the Hell's going on."
The trio laughed.
"Well, I guess we're really not getting anything from this guy. He's just not important enough. We need to up our game an go after one of the big shots." Elizabeth shrugged, walking over to him.
She reared up and punched him with everything she had, releasing a loud groan and blood splatter from the Angel before she walked out of the room.
"The Hell was that for?" Sam asked, jogging after her.
"I told you. I had beef. He was the only one available." She shrugged as she walked down the corridor.
"Dim bulb. No wonder he got bumped." Dean commented.
"Yeah." Sam agreed. "Ground forces? Elite secret squad? What's Metatron gearing up for?"
"I don't know. Why don't we shove someone through the back door of Heaven and find out." Dean suggested, earning a scoff from his younger brother. "Oh, wait, no. It's portable and can't be found."
Elizabeth was walking in front of them with a thoughtful frown on her face.
There was an idea brewing.

Barely an hour later, there was news that Ezra had been murdered.
"That's unbelievable..." Sam huffed. "I mean, he was fine when we left him."
"A part from the Elizabeth-sized fist mark on his face..." Dean sniggered, earning a smirk from the Vampire and a warning look from his brother. "We barely touched the guy."
"Still shackled, no weapon. It wasn't suicide." Sam thought aloud.
"No." Castiel agreed, standing with his back to the three. "This was an Angel kill."
"Okay, well I'm gunna say it." Dean started. "Maybe your operation's been hacked. You know, Metatron's got someone on the inside."
Castiel sighed, shaking his head.
"I was sure everyone here was loyal." He said. "Finally united by a common cause."
"We're not doubting that, Pigeon. For all we know, whoever did it could've seen it as an execution - someone who knew that we weren't getting any more information out of him, so took him out to tick off another on Metatron's payroll." Elizabeth suggested, perching herself on Cas' desk.
"Or maybe, your problem," Dean started. "Is that you don't think anybody's lying. See, I think everybody's lying. It's a gift. Let's do some nosing around."
He got up, shortly followed by the other two.
"Sam." Castiel grabbed the younger brother's attention.
"I'll be out in a minute, okay?" Sam gave a short-lived smile to the Vampire, who nodded, following Dean out.
"So what are we doing? Good cop, bad cop? Because, if we're doing that, I call dibs on bad cop." Elizabeth smirked, jogging to catch the older brother up.
"Aw, but I only know how to be bad cop." Dean whined.
"Damn, that sucks." Elizabeth skipped off.

Later on, after Cas had gone to 'run an errand', Sam and Elizabeth found the older brother sitting alone in a room. He looked deep in an uncomfortable thought.
The Vampire's gaze caught sight of the Mark of Cain on the inside of his right forearm.
His phone had been ringing for a few seconds now, so they thought it best to bring him back down to Earth.
"Dean!" Sam clapped his hands, bringing Dean out of his daze. "What's wrong with you? You hear your phone?"
Dean ignored him, picking up the call.
"It's about time, where the Hell have you been?" He answered.
Elizabeth listened in, thinking it would be Castiel.
"I told you I'd be in touch when I'd found Abaddon." Crowley's voice came through, widening the Vampire's eyes. "Well, I'm in touch."
"Where are you?" Dean asked.
"First thing's first." Crowley said. "I'll give you the location of the First Blade. You two fetch it, I'll keep her in my sights, then we'll remove her from the payroll for good."
"Three." Dean responded.
"Three?"
"You three. Elizabeth's back. Turns out, the Angels wanted to keep her out of things for some reason." Dean explained.
"My best frenemy is back and no one bothered to tell me?" Crowley sounded like he was going to blow up.
"Yeah, well... Now you know. Text me the details." Dean replied, hanging up the phone. "Looks like we've got a move to make on Abaddon."
"So I heard." Elizabeth mumbled.

"Ugh..." Sam recoiled in disgusted. "Really, Crowley? You really have to hide the blade... In a corpse? Not with the corpse but in a corpse?"
The location they'd been given was a cemetery. Elizabeth watched from a few feet away as they dug up the coffin and opened it up, scrunching up her nose at the smell as they opened it.
"Thanks for the help, Vampy Pants." Dean muttered.
"Well, someone's gotta supervise you two clowns." Elizabeth smirked, looking over them at the body. "Gotta hand it to Crowley, though... At least he's thorough when he hides stuff."
"I gotta say," Dean shrugged. "It's not the first place I'd look. Alright... Here we go."
He knelt down, pushing up his sleeve when a growling came from somewhere in the tree line.
"Guys... Do you hear that?" Sam asked.
"Yep." Elizabeth popped the 'p', pulling out her gun.
"I'm guessing Hellhound." Dean said, standing back up.
The bushes up ahead began to rustle, followed by an aggressive bark.
"Go, go!" Dean instructed, breaking into a run as the invisible dogs charged at them.
They ran into a crypt, locking its iron bars by shoving a crowbar through it.
"Crowley never thought to warn us about them?" Elizabeth groaned, holding the gates closed as best she could without getting bitten. "I've really had enough of vertical bars in my view."
Dean pulled out his phone, dialling the King of Hell.
"Hello?" Crowley answered in an overly-sweet tone.
"Damn it, Crowley, the grave is guarded!" Dean shouted over the Hellhounds barking and snarling to get in.
"That's absurd." Crowley replied.
"A Hellhound!" Dean yelled as the beast took a particularly big hit at the gate, almost throwing Sam and Elizabeth back.
"No, no, no... She was collected." Crowley defended.
"The Hell she was!" Dean protested.
"Guys!" Sam groaned through a shout. Even with Elizabeth's strength, the Hellhound was close to breaking through.
"Time was, no one would dare disobey the King." Crowley uttered.
"I'm gunna put you on speaker." Dean announced, holding up his phone.
Elizabeth gave it a minute so the Hellhound could be heard before she started screaming.
"Crowley, I swear, if you don't bloody do something I'm gunna rip your smokey arse right out of that meat suit with my bare hands!"
"Hello, darling. Nice to hear you're alive." Crowley's smile radiated through the phone before he addressed his pet. "Juliet? It's papa. Stand down."
Almost instantly, the Hellhound calmed and began to whine submissively before trotting off who knew where.
"You're welcome." Crowley sang, hanging up the phone.
Elizabeth took a deep, exasperated sigh.
"I might just have to kill him anyway." She huffed, stretching out her limbs.

Back at the grave, the acquiring of the First Blade ensued.
Dean knelt back down beside the coffin and grabbed his blade, tearing open the corpse's shirt to reveal some foul-smelling, decaying flesh held together with thick, black stitches.
"Alright. I'm going in." He grumbled, rolling up his sleeve.
"Hey, you know what, maybe you... Maybe I should do this." Sam interrupted.
"Sam, it's fine. I can safely grab it." Dean told him.
"Does someone wanna fill me in?" Elizabeth cocked an eyebrow.
"The last time Dean touched the blade, something... I dunno, something happened to him. It's the Blade, paired with the Mark, made him... Not him anymore." Sam explained.
"He seems fine to me." Elizabeth frowned.
"Thank you." Dean huffed, turning to his brother. "See? I'm fine."
"Except for that weird zoning out thing earlier." The Vampire finished.
Dean all but rolled his eyes as Sam lifted his sleeve, taking a huffed breath.
He groaned in disgust as he felt around inside the corpse, the sounds of rotting, partially liquefied guts almost making the other two gag.
Sam pulled his hand out, as well as the First Blade - a tool entirely made of bone and teeth, covered in sticky, reddish black sludge.
"That might just be the most disgusting thing I've ever seen." Elizabeth scrunched up her nose. "And I've roamed around Purgatory covered in exploded Dick."
"Well, let's go kill a Knight of Hell, huh?" Dean smiled, patting his brother's back as he stood up.