The Soul's Paw Print

1

Dean groaned sleepily when the smell of bacon and freshly brewed coffee filled his nostrils, ultimately waking him from a deep sleep. Hesitantly cracking open his vibrant green eyes he sluggishly kicked away at the covers that enveloped his body. Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed he stood up and stretched his back until a satisfying pop caused him to sigh in relief. He made his way to his bedroom door, blindly reaching for robe as he headed out in the bunker's hallways.

Dean walked through the hallways in the direction of the library, yawning and scratching lazily at his t-shirt clad chest as he went. When he got to the library, Sam and Cas were seated at one of the tables and were discussing something quietly while Sam showed Cas something on his laptop with Cas either nodding intently or responding with a thought of his own. They paused in their conversation when they noticed Dean approaching them.

"Hey." Sam said greeting his brother.

"Hello, Dean." Cas greeted in his usual fashion.

"Hey yourselves." Dean grunted back in a sleep laced voice. As Dean approached the table, he gracefully snatched the coffee mug from Sam's unsuspecting hands and sat down with a quiet thud in the chair next to Cas sipping the warm, caffeinated drink with a potent smugness.

Sam stared at the hand that had previously held his coffee before turning a cold glare towards his brother. "Dude!" Sam finally exclaimed. "That was my coffee. Go get your own!"

"Exactly, Sammy. It was your coffee. Now it's mine." Dean said with a shit eating grin plastered on his face. Sam pulled one of his many signature 'bitch faces' and continued to type with more than necessary force on the keys of his laptop. Dean let out a whoop of triumphant in his head at successfully pissing his younger brother off. Cas hid a small smile behind his own coffee mug, finding the brothers' morning banter quite amusing.

"So," Dean said as he propped his feet up on the table causing the table to vibrate and ultimately annoying Sam further, "What were you two talking about?"

Cas sipped some of his coffee before neatly setting it down to address Dean's question, "We believe we may have found a case."

Dean's attention perked up at the mention of a case, "A case, huh? Where at?"

"Sioux Falls." Sam said looking up from the laptop screen. He shifted the laptop so it faced Dean and began to explain the case as Dean skimmed through it.

"Six people have been killed since Sunday in Sioux Falls. One person for each day and fifth one was killed yesterday. All of them were basically torn to shreds and large bite marks covering their bodies. Police labeled the first one an animal attack but since that last four they're convinced it's some kind psycho on the loose since they keep finding the bodies in the same area." He reached over and clicked a previously searched tab. What looked like a hospital appeared on the screen. "Avera Heart Hospital. It's been shut down and abandoned for 20 years. Doesn't really specify why just says health code violations. Each victim has been found in the general vicinity of the hospital."

Dean nodded and pushed away the laptop sighed as if in deep thought, "So we lookin' at a werewolf, maybe?"

Cas' brow furrowed in thought before shaking his head, "The moon cycle is inconsistent with the timeframe of the victim's deaths. It could, however, be a pureblood werewolf."

Dean shrugged at the idea, "I guess it could be. The hearts aren't torn out though?"

"Pure bloods can survive without human hearts for months." Sam pointed out. "Remember that case in the college town with the Kate Girl?"

Dean scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion until recognition slowly began to appear on his face. "Oh yeah." He said distantly.
"It's probably another one that's gone feral or something." Sam while yawning.

"Well," Dean said swinging his legs off the table and onto the wooden floor, "What're we waiting for? Let's get some stuff packed and head out."

Sam and Cas both raised an eyebrow at the older Winchester's eagerness. "Why are you in such a hurry?" Sam said

Dean threw his hands above his head before allowing them to fall to his side and let out an exasperated groan, "Sam, we've been cooped up in this place for over a month doing nothing since we removed the Mark and finally healed up. We gotta do something! I gotta do something. Sitting in this place watching nothing but Netflix is driving me stir crazy."

"I quite enjoy watching Netflix." Cas mumbled not so quietly under his breath.

Dean sighed and rolled his eyes at the angel, "Not the point, Cas."

Sam felt a pang of sympathy for his brother. Removing the Mark had taken a lot out all of them, especially Dean. They had finally found a way to remove the mark after months and months of searching every book and file the Men of Letters Archive had. Oddly enough the answer had lie in Metatron. Apparently there was an ancient, very ancient God-level spell that could restore the soul of someone tainted with the Mark of Cain. He was willing to give it to them if the boys agreed to leave him be once he gave them the spell. Grudgingly, and with much resistance, they had agreed. It took Metatron a week to track down the spell and the list of ingredients needed to make it work. It was the task of finding the ingredients that proved the most taxing. They had been forced to seek Rowena's help in mixing the ingredients properly and deciphering the spell since it wasn't in any language they nor Cas recognized, meaning they had to capture her first.

They took almost two months searching everywhere for the ingredients needed for the spell. The last ingredient was the grace of a Seraph angel. Cas had immediately offered his grace, but Dean had been reluctant to let him arguing that he only had so much left. Cas refused to argue with the older Winchester and told him that he was going to use his grace regardless if he wanted him to or not. Not leaving any room for argument Dean had hesitantly agreed.

After Rowena had mixed the ingredients properly together and deciphered the spell they realized they would have to do the spell in parts. Doing it all in one go, as Rowena had warned them, would probably kill Dean and Cas. They managed to split the spell into seven parts and did it within a week. Cas gradually gave up controlled amounts of his grace each day and slowly became weaker along with Dean who also was affected greatly by the spell.

By the end of the spell, when the Mark was finally removed, Cas had given up almost all of his grace and could barely stand on his on two feet without swaying dangerously. Dean was worse off, looking pale and exhausted like death warmed over. Dean, true to his stubborn nature, refused to acknowledge his own well being and focused mainly on Sam and Cas'. Cas had managed to bounce back a lot faster than Dean and had finally forced the hunter to rest. It took another month before he bounced back completely and the man was probably sick of watching Game of Thrones.

Sam sighed in defeat, rubbing a hand roughly across his face. "Alright fine. We'll leave in an hour."

Dean's expression spread into a wide grin. "Alright! Good ol' Sioux Falls! Land of the strange and supernatural!"

Sam and Cas stared in bewilderment as the older Winchester made a quick dash to the hallway where the bunker bedrooms were located. Cas turned amused blue orbs towards Sam,

"His excitement seems very childlike, yes?"

Sam groaned and shook his head, "He's been like this since way before you showed up. Trust me, it's nothing new."

Sam shoved his chair back and stood up while stretching his impossibly long limbs. "Whelp. Better go get packed." He made his way toward where Dean had dashed off muttering quietly to himself, "Sioux Falls. Here we come."