Rowena circled Cas like a lion circling its prey, trying to read him with her typical judgmental look plastered to her face. She squinted and he just sat there on the motel bed, not fully aware of what was happening yet aware enough to know that it was more than a little strange.
"Just as I thought," Rowena said, stepping back to join Dean, also staring. She sighed, crossing her arms. "Only a bit worse."
"Worse?" Dean questioned without missing a beat. "What is it?"
"Remember the memory spell that bitch Catriona hexed you with?" Rowena said to Dean, turning and beginning to pack her bag on the table.
"Generally, yeah."
She smirked. "Well, as entertaining as that was, it seems poor little Castiel here is suffering from the same thing."
Dean blinked, glancing from her to Cas. "So we can fix it, right? Just gank the witch that casted it?"
She sucked in a breath. "Ah, that's where the worse comes in."
Dean was silent, brow furrowed.
"He's...already lost everything."
Dean blinked. "...What?" He said skeptically.
She gestured aimlessly to the angel still sitting on the bed. "His memory's gone, Dean. I mean, most of his general knowledge and intelligence was spared, but other than that, there's nothing."
It was like time slowed down. Dean felt his brain trying to trudge through the information, trying to accept or make any sense of it, but it wouldn't. He looked at Cas again, sitting there quietly, clearly unsure of what to say. The angel was looking rather wondrously at the two of them, a confused yet polite smile on his face. The longer Dean looked, the clearer it became.
He almost hurled right there.
"Wait, no," he said frantically, spinning around to Rowena. "No, nononono, he didn't lose everything."
Her eyes drooped in pity. "Dean, look at him. Your poor angel is gone."
"But you can fix it, right?" He laughed quickly, bordering on hysterical. "We can get him back. Right?"
Her face grew into a pained expression. "Well..."
"You fixed me!"
She sighed. "We can, it's just...the spell requires a series of extremely complicated ingredients. Full memory recovery isn't a simple thing."
Dean scoffed. "Complicated my ass, Rowena. Since when can you not get your hands on something?"
She rolled her eyes, smirking. "As flattered as I am, I must admit that one of the ingredients has only ever been seen by three people on earth, all of which are currently very dead."
"Well, get them back."
Her face dropped seriously. She grabbed her bag. "Since when did I become your servant? I came when you called, told you what was wrong, and what do I get? Snapped at."
Dean's face hardened. "Rowena?" He said slowly, coldly. "Cas is gone. I don't care what you think of me. Get him back, or I'll do a lot more than just snap at you."
She squinted, her mouth in a thin line, as if she were trying to read Dean. Dropping a paper on the splintered motel table, she turned. "Fine."
As soon as the door shut, Dean's stomach fell. As much as he hated being around Rowena, anything was better than being alone with Cas right now. He immediately wished she'd come back.
