At the Polinsky Unit in West Livingston, TX, death-row prisoner Tommy Tolliver taunts his guard, promising to kill the man's wife. The guard ignores him and reminds Tommy that he'll be executed in two weeks, and walks away.
The demon Cain arrives at the gate and teleports into the prison. He walks down the hallway toward Tommy's cell, and each light goes out as he passes it. The guards see Cain on the security monitors just as the lights on the entire call block go out. A second later the lights come back up and there's no sign of Cain in the hallway because he's teleported inside of Tommy's cell. He tells the prisoner that he's the Father of Murder and knows that Tommy killed nine people. Tommy admits that he did and tries to stab Cain with a shiv, but the demon easily disarms him and says that he's there to save him... and to punish him. He then pulls a blade and stabs Tommy in the chest, and teleports away.
A short time later, Sam and Dean arrive at the prison, posing as agents with the Office of the Inspector General. After Sam briefs Dean on Tommy's career as a serial killer, they go to Tommy's cell and meet with Warden Skeiff. Skeiff insists that there was no way that Tommy could have escaped, and Dean finds no signs of EMF. They check the security footage and spot the intruder, and the warden insists that there's no way that anyone could have gotten in. Dean has them freeze the footage and confirms that the intruder is Cain.
Castiel is interrogating a demon when his phone rings. He ignores it and continues questioning the demon, who insists that he has no idea where Cain is. Castiel cuts his cheek and the demon screams in agony, and then says that Cain was spotted one county over in Bogg's Marsh, but none of the demons know why. Once he's satisfied that the demon has told him everything that he knows, Castiel kills him.
In Hell, a bored Crowley is listening to a crossroad demon that is complaining about his lack of credit. Rowena is sitting quietly to the side and knitting, and finally suggests that her son cut the petitioning demon in half to send the message that demons shouldn't waste Crowley's time. Crowley considers and then agrees.
Dean makes a food run and tells Sam that Castiel isn't answering his phone. Checking the Internet, Sam has confirmed that Leon, Tommy's father, has disappeared from his home in Orlando. Leon is a convicted criminal and has an outstanding assault charge, and Sam figures that the two disappearances are connected. Castiel finally calls back and tells Dean that he's in Illinois, and they explain about Tommy's disappearance.
After Castiel hangs up, he looks around the field that he's found... filled with shallow graves. Cain appears and tells Castiel that he's cleaning up a mess that he made a long time ago. When Castiel points out that he fought the urge to murder for so long, Cain says that he got the taste back. When he fought back against Abaddon's army, he liked how it felt and now he's killing his "children": every one of his descendant, one out of ten human beings. He asks Castiel how Dean is doing, and Castiel admits that Dean is losing his own struggle against the mark. Cain warns that there is no cure for the Mark's blood urge and promises to deal with Dean eventually, says that Castiel isn't on his list, and teleports away.
In Hell, Rowena asks her son to help her deal with one of the ranking members of the Grand Coven. Crowley figures that Rowena is playing him and she readily admits that she is. However, she suggests that they still flex their muscle in the real world and take out the witch, Olivette. Crowley walks away, considering the matter.
Castiel meets the Winchesters at the bunker and tells them what happened. Checking the Internet, Sam confirms that Cain is wiping out entire families, and Tommy had an estranged 12-year-old son, Austin Reynolds, living in Ohio. Austin is alive for the moment, and Dean wants to leave immediately. When Sam wonders what they'll do against Cain, Dean tells his brother that he'll kill him. He goes to his room and gets his weapons, and reminds Sam that Cain predicted that he would have to put him down. Dean figures that he set the whole thing off by leading Abaddon's forces to Cain, and he needs the First Blade to kill Cain. Castiel agrees with Dean's plan, but Sam warns his brother that he may never come back if he wields the blade. Dean admits that he knows.
As Rowena plots out the attack against Olivette using an illusion hex, Crowley receives a call from Dean asking for the Blade. Crowley wonders why he should and Dean points out that Cain will come for him eventually. The demon concedes the point and Dean texts him a rendezvous location. Once Crowley hangs up, he tells Rowena that something has come up and takes the Blade out. Rowena warns him that Dean is a threat to him, but Crowley figures that they can work together because they have a common enemy. Disgusted, his mother says that working with humans has hurt his reputation, but Crowley ignores her and leaves.
In Ohio, Castiel locates Austin playing in his family barn. He tells the Winchesters, and Dean says that he'll take on Cain himself. Sam isn't happy using Austin as bait. Crowley teleports in and says that he'll give Dean the blade once they have Cain secured.
Later, Sam and Dean sneak into the barn and watch Austin playing basketball. Sam asks Dean what they'll do once they restrain Cain, and Dean says that they'll deal with it when the time comes. He admits that he's scared and wasn't expecting things to happen so soon.
As Austin goes back to the farmhouse, Cain appears and draws his weapon. Castiel teleports in and tells Austin to run, sending him back to the barn. The angel unleashes a blast of supernatural energy at Cain, but the demon casually knocks Castiel aside, stunning him. Cain teleports into the barn and Austin calmly begs him to stop. Ignoring the plea, the demon stabs the boy only to discover that it's an illusion. Crowley steps out and Cain realizes that the illusion was his doing. He starts to move forward but stops, and realizes that the Winchesters drew a Devil's trap on the floor. Sam comes in and Cain warns them that the trap won't stop him for long, but Sam says that he won't have to as he and Crowley go outside to Dean.
Castiel recovers and Dean tells the others that he has to do it himself, and their job is to deal with whoever--or whatever--comes out of the barn afterward. Crowley assures him that he will, and asks how he can trust Dean to give him the Blade back once he's done. Dean points out that if he doesn't hand it over then they have bigger problems to deal with, and Crowley gives him the Blade. After a moment, Dean shudders in relief and tells Sam that he's good, and then goes to confront Cain.
Cain is waiting for Dean and figures that he'll give him a chance to give up his quest so that they don't have to fight. Dean says that it's gone too far for that, and Cain says that when he killed his brother, it released a stain upon the earth tainting his bloodline. Now he owes the world to kill off the evil that he created. Dean points out that Austin is just a child, and Cain admits that he could go either way. However, he prefers to be thorough. He asks Dean how it feels to hold the Blade at last, and Dean says that it's a mean to an end. He enters the trap and Cain tells him to do it.
The two of them fight and Cain effortlessly overpowers the human. They fight and Cain tells Dean to do better, figuring that he's holding back. Despite his injuries, Dean reminds Cain that he predicted that Dean would have to kill him, but Cain knocks him through a wall and the Blade falls from Dean's hand. As the Blade lies between them, Cain says that the whole thing was his way of luring Dean to him... with the Blade. The demon summons it to his hand and wonders why he ever bothered resisting its call.
Dean charges at him and Cain grabs him by the throat and says that he cares about him, and is saving him from his fate. If Dean had managed to kill him, he would have gone after Crowley, and then Castiel when he objected, and eventually Sam as well. Cain tries to finish Dean off, but Dean grabs Cain's secondary blade and cuts off his hand. He then picks up the Blade, and asks Cain to promise to stop killing. Cain says that he'll never stop, and Dean finishes him off.
Outside, the others wait until Dean comes out, covered in blood. Crowley asks for the Blade back, but Dean gives it to Castiel instead, and admits that Cain wasn't interested in Crowley. The entire thing was a ruse to get Crowley to bring the blade. Furious, Crowley teleports away, while Sam hugs Dean and says that he did it.
In Hell, Crowley pours himself a drink and discovers that Rowena is packed and ready to go. She tells her son that she thought that she had lost him, but when they were reunited, she was proud that Crowley had worked his way up to King of Hell. But watching him for the last several weeks, Rowena has realized that he's just a bored boy playing at king. She tells Crowley that he's the Winchesters' bitch and leaves.
At the bunker, Sam congratulates Dean on controlling himself, and figures that he doesn't need a cure. Castiel arrives and tells them that he has hidden the Blade somewhere safe. Dean goes to his room to get some sleep, and Castiel asks Sam how Dean is doing. Concerned, Sam says that Dean is in trouble.
Written by Gadfly on May 22, 2016