( INEVITABLE )

HELL
[ TIME UNKNOWN ]

      Gerald opens the cell. Rowena and the other demon look up at him. "The boss will see you now." He says. Rowena smiles as Gerald leads her into a room.

      "Mother." Crowley says.

       "Fergus."

       "Crowley!" He exclaims.

       "Fergus." Rowena says.

       Crowley lets out a laugh. "So you haven't changed." He says.

       "But you certainly have. King of Hell, bravo. I always knew my boy was meant for big things." She says.

       "Really? As I remember it, you said I would die in a gutter, covered in my own sick." Crowley says.

       "I was motivating you to do better, aim higher." Rowena says. "And clearly, it worked. How did you die?"

       "The point is, you hated me."

      "Oh, please." She says.

       "You said you'd be back in a flash. Then you disappeared." He says. "I was eight years old. EIGHT!"

      "Oh, now you're being dramatic." Rowena says.

       "I didn't even have a father!"

       "Of course you had a father!" She yells. "You were just conceived during a winter solstice orgy, and it's not like I was taking names. What do you want me to say? I ... I had a disagreement with the locals and when they set their hounds on me, I had to leave!"

      "And never come back? For hundreds of years?" Crowley says.

       "But I'm here now! We have a second chance. We can be a real family again, Fergus."

      "CROWLEY! And I have a family." She says.

       "Who? The demons?" Rowena asks. "Any one of them would stab you in the back if they thought they could get away with it."

      "And you wouldn't?"

       "No! Because we're family! We're blood! You can trust me. I can help you!" Rowena yells as Crowley gives her a look, and she makes her way up to him. "I understand you're angry. I understand you ... hate me. And if you want to keep me locked away, then so be it. But understand that I'll always be your mother. And I'll always love you" She kisses him on the head, and Crowley stares at the ground.

BAR
[ ☾]

      Sam, Dean, Elena, and Cas come walking up. The bartender walks over to them. "Give me a shot of ... um ..." Cas starts.

      "Three whiskeys." Dean says.

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

      "Right. She was right. Who am I to tell her how to live her life?" He asks.

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

       "Because of me."

       "Well, you are wearing her old man's meat suit. Probably didn't help." Dean says as Sam shakes his head at him.

       "I thought I could make it up to her." Castiel says.

       "I don't think you can. I mean, Iimmy was her father, and to some people, that's ... That's everything, you know?" Sam asks.

      "No, I don't. I never knew my father. He was distant, to say the least." Cas turns to Dean. "What about you? Did you love your father?"

       Dean looks to Sam, then back to Cas. "With everything I had." He says.

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

       "I mean, look. John Winchester's not going to win any 'Number One Dad' awards, you know?" Dean asks as Elena leans in one arm to look at him. "But you know... damn if he wasn't there when we needed him."

       "Hey, uh ... Tell them about that time in New York." Sam says.

       "Oh yeah. 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? Too big, too loud, too dirty." Sam says.

      "Yeah, and he hated the Yankees." Dean says.

       "Big time."

        "Somehow, we convince him to let us go. So, we all go. We all, you know, see all the sights, and uh, ride the subway, eat too much pizza." Dean says. "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 starts.

       "I know. It's where The Ramones and Blondie got their start." Cas says as Sam looks to Dean, both of them taken aback.

      "Right." Dean says.

      "Wow. Anyways, he was way underage at the time." Sam says.

        "All right, so I get there. 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." Dean says. "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. First time." Sam says.

       "But not fun drunk. 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." Dean says. "And right about that time, I hear him. 'Dean Winchester!'" Cas looks confused, but Sam and Elena just smile. "My old man. I don't know how, but he found me. And now I'm really freaking out, because he's 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 looks up and he says, 'Sorry, sir'. Cas smiles, and Dean shakes his head. "Yeah. 'Sorry, sir'. To John friggin' Winchester." He and Sam take a sip of their whiskey, while Cas throws his back like a shot.

       "He saved you."

       "Yeah, and you know what he got for that? Me whining about how much he embarrassed me." Dean says. "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 finishes.

       "Yeah. And he did." Dean says.

      "Do you think Claire is in trouble." Cas says.

      "She's hanging out with a guy named Randy. She's in trouble." Dean motions to the bartender, who says their refills are coming up.

       Claire walks into Randy's house. "Randy—" She stops abruptly when she sees Randy surrounded by three men. One of them turns around to her.

      "Hey! Evenin', little lady." Salinger says.

      "Honey?" Randy asks. "Do you have something for me?"

       Claire shakes her head, and a man near Randy flips open his knife, putting it at Randy's neck. "No!" She pulls the gun out of her pocket, but is quickly overpowered by a big man from behind. He gets the gun from her easily. Salinger laughs.

       "Guns blazing, huh? That was your plan? Trust me. This pile of crap? He ain't worth it." Salinger says. Claire spits in his face and he laughs. "Put her in the other room." He walks back to Randy. "She's got fight. I like that. I married the last girl that spit in my face." He takes a drink of the beer in his hand. "Last few months, you've lost a bundle on the ponies. How much do you owe me now?"

      "Five thousand." Randy says.

      "So how about I give you a break? And you give me the girl."

       Randy shakes his head. "That's a joke, right? Claire's like family to me." He says.

      "Please! I know the con, all right? You find some kid with Major League daddy issues and then get her to steal for you." Salinger says. "Cut the proud papa act. I'll make you a good deal."

      "Like I said, Claire's family. So it better be a damn good deal."

      In Hell, Gerald throws Rowena back into the cell. He tries to get her back into her shackles. "Stop!" Rowena yells. She turns to Crowley. "I know who's been smuggling souls up from Hell."

       "Really? Pray do tell." Crowley says.

       Rowena turns to Gerald. "Him." She says.

      "What?" Gerald.

       The other demon in the cell stands to her feet. "It's true, Mister ... My lord. Gerald, he—we made a deal." She says.

       "She's lying!"

       "Why? Why would she lie?" Rowena asks. Gerald grabs Rowena and pushed her against the wall, closing his hand over her throat and choking her.

       "That's enough of that, Gerald." Crowley says.

       Gerald continues choking her. "I'll kill you, bitch!" He yells.

       "That's enough, Gerald

        Gerald continues choking her until he lights up, gasping and choking himself, a knife through his neck, out his mouth. Gerald falls, and Crowley is left standing there, holding the bloody knife.

      "I said, that's enough, Gerald." Crowley turns to walk away.

      "Thank you." Rowena says.

       Crowley stops at the door, turning back to her. "Coming?" He asks as Rowena follows behind him.

      "Rowena? You said that if I lied, you'd get me out of here." The Demon says.

      "Oh, and I will, darling. I'll be back in a flash." She walks from the room, closing the cell door behind her.

HOUSE
[ ☾]

       Claire is sitting on a bed by herself when she hears footsteps. The door opens, and Salinger is standing there. He motions for his men to leave, and he turns to Claire. "Hi." He finishes off his beer, then turns and locks the door. "It's Claire, right?" She won't look at him, until he's standing in front of her. He reaches down, taking hold of her chin, making her look up at him. "You really are a pretty one, you know that?"

       She lifts her leg, kneeing him in the groin. She runs to the door and tries to unlock it, but Salinger is right behind her, grabbing her as she screams.

      One of Salinger's men opens the front door to find Cas, Sam, Elena, and Dean standing there. Cas lifts a hand, and the man goes flying backwards. Randy and another of the men look towards the door. Cas and the Winchesters walk inside, and another man goes towards Cas, stopping when he sees Sam and the gun in his hand.

      "Don't!" Sam yells.

      "Back it up." Dean says. The man does as he says, and Sam and Dean hold the men at gunpoint. Cas looks around the room.

       "Where's the girl?" Cas asks. They hear screaming come from upstairs.

       In the room, Claire is screaming, trying to fight Salinger off. He's trying to hold her down, and the door flies open. Castiel is standing there, and Salinger turns to look at him, giving Claire enough of an opening to kick Salinger in the face and get up. She kicks him, over and over again.

       "Claire. Claire!" Castiel grabs her arm, and she finally stops kicking. Cas leads her from the room. They walk downstairs, and Claire moves away from Cas.

       "Randy." Claire says. He looks at her, then stares at the floor, guilt on his face.

      "Get her out of here." Dean says.

      "Yeah. Go." Sam says.

      "Go." Dean says.

       Sam nods, following after Cas, Elena, and Claire. Dean starts to follow him, until Salinger's men start to move forward. Dean raises his gun again.

      "Hey, back up! Back up. Don't be as dumb as you look." Dean says.

       "Hey!"

       Dean turns around and Salinger smashes his beer bottle over Dean's head. Dean falls, bleeding from his forehead. He looks up, then flashes back, to receiving the Mark from Cain, the feeling of holding the First Blade, killing Abaddon. The men crowd closer around him, and he remembers beheading Magnus, holding the First Blade, waking up a demon, the ritual of the sanctified blood that made him human again. Back in the present, Dean shakes his head.

       "You guys ... don't want to do this." Dean says. Salinger laughs, then kicks Dean in the face.

      Claire climbs into the back seat of the Impala, and Castiel sits beside her. Claire smiles. "Are you okay?" Cas asks.

      "Yeah." She moves over, laying her head on Castiel's chest, wrapping her arms around him. Cas hugs her back. Sam climbs in the front seat and glances back. He turns his head back towards the house as he hears shouting, then leaves the car as fast as he can.

      In the house, Dean is kneeling in the living room, a bloody knife in his hand. In a horrifying sequence, it's revealed that his dream from earlier, the blood-covered bodies surrounding him as he kneels in a room, has become a reality. Salinger and his men, along with Randy, litter the floor around Dean, their bodies sliced and bloody.

       Claire screams, and Cas pulls her to him. Sam puts his gun away as he walks to Dean. Elena steps in, also horrified, with years in her eyes. She composes herself and also walks towards Dean.

       "Dean? Dean. Hey." Elena kneels in front of Dean, then takes his face in her hands.

       "Tell me you had to do this." S says behind her.

       "I didn't ... I didn't mean to." Dean says as he looks into Elena's eyes.

        "No." Elena says. She knew what this meant for Dean. This was the end. "Tell me it was them or you!"

       Cas has a horrified look on his face as he looks from Dean to the carnage surrounding him. He leads Claire back outside, leaving Sam, Elena, and Dean alone, the bloody bodies surrounding them. Elena's hands fall from Dean's face, as Dean seems to be realizing what he's done.