Breakout of Metatron

The Breakout of Metatron was an effort undertaken by hunters Sam Winchester, Bobby Singer and angel Castiel to break Scribe of God Metatron out of Heaven's dungeon to get a cure for the Mark of Cain and later to retrieve Castiel's grace.

Prelude
In order to kill the Knight of Hell Abaddon, hunter Dean Winchester takes upon himself the Mark of Cain. However, the Mark starts to change Dean, briefly turning him into a demon following his death in battle. Even though Dean is eventually restored to humanity,   the Mark eventually starts to effect him once more so the Winchesters and the angel Castiel call upon the former Scribe of God Metatron for information on a possible cure. Metatron claims to know a possible cure, but after Dean falls under the Mark's influence and starts to torture him, Castiel returns Metatron to Heaven without him giving them anything beyond a possible clue "the river ends at the source."

Battle
As the effects of the Mark of Cain upon Dean gets worse, a desperate Sam decides to turn to Metatron once more in hopes of getting a cure. Though reluctant, Castiel agrees and takes Sam to Heaven's portal where they are stopped by an angel guard on Hannah's orders. In order to speak with Castiel face to face, Hannah has the angel leave and takes over his vessel. Hannah recognizes their mission, but refuses to help, knowing that Metatron will demand his freedom in exchange for his help and he is too dangerous to be let loose again. When Castiel and Sam continue to persist, Hannah calls in three more angels to help guard the portals and Sam leads Castiel away, deciding to break Metatron out instead.

In order to break Metatron out, Sam decides to enlist the help of hunter Bobby Singer who's soul is currently in Heaven. To this end, Sam takes Castiel to psychic Oliver Pryce for help with contacting Bobby through a séance. After Oliver sees Metatron locked up in Heaven's dungeon in Sam's mind, the two explain they intend to break Metatron out and they need Oliver's help to contact their "inside man." Though reluctant, Oliver agrees to help them.

With Oliver's help, Sam and Castiel are able to successfully reach Bobby through a séance and Sam fills him in on the situation and how Dean's in a bad place. Castiel tells Bobby that their plan is for Bobby to break out of his personal Heaven, open the gate to Earth, meet up with Castiel and help him break Metatron out. After Bobby asks about anyone who might be looking for him, Castiel admits that everyone will be and they don't have a way to slow them down, but Sam expresses faith in Bobby's ability to find a solution. Though Bobby feels he's rusty, Sam tells him that this is the only option they have and Bobby agrees to help them.

Castiel explains to Bobby what he needs to do once he's out of his Heaven and directs him to look for something out of place in his Heaven which will open his "escape hatch." Searching his Heaven, Bobby finds a loose string in the carpet and pulls on it, causing a door to open in the wall. Emerging, he finds himself in a hallway containing the Heavens of everyone who ever died with a variation on the name Robert Singer just before Heaven's alarms go off, having detected Bobby's escape. In order to get past the angels that arrive led by Hannah, Bobby opens all of the doors containing other Bobby Singers and lets them free. As Hannah tries to get them to return to their Heavens, Bobby riles them up and the other Bobby's riot against Hannah and the angels and they start attempting to get away from the angels, enabling Bobby to slip past in the confusion and continue his mission.

With all of the Bobby's revolting, the angels call for everyone to help them deal with the situation, drawing the guard away from the portal to Earth. Bobby locates the right door, number 42 and opens it, causing the portal to open on Earth. Spotting this, Sam tackles the angel guard and subdues him while Castiel jumps through the portal into Heaven where he is greeted by Bobby. The two begin making their way to the dungeons and Bobby questions Castiel on where Dean is. Castiel finally admits that Dean has given up on finding a cure and has no idea about what they are doing, but that he and Sam haven't given up. The two continue on with Bobby admitting he wouldn't give up either.

Bobby and Castiel reach Heaven's dungeon where Bobby is dubious about Metatron being the Scribe of God based on his appearance. Metatron reminds Castiel that the last time he had told them he'd rather die than become Dean's punching bag again and Castiel assures Metatron that Dean has nothing to do with this, rather Metatron will be Castiel's punching bag. Amused that Castiel and Bobby are "the B-Team", Metatron directs them to the keys to his cell. Bobby wonders if getting help from Metatron is the only way and acknowledging that it unfortunately is, Castiel gets the keys and together he and Bobby get Metatron through Heaven, back to the portal and through to Earth.

Metatron and Castiel are greeted on the Earth end of the portal by Sam to Metatron's amusement. As Metatron, bound by Supernatural Handcuffs prepares to enjoy his presumed freedom, Castiel tells him that Metatron doesn't get to make demands. Metatron tells that he does as he has all the leverage with him having a cure to the Mark of Cain and Castiel's grace. At a nod from Sam, Castiel draws his angel blade, slits open Metatron's throat and removes his grace into a glass vial. Castiel then heals the cut on Metatron's throat. With Metatron now human, Sam shoots him in the leg to make a point. As Metatron deals with the pain from his wound, Castiel tells Metatron that they now have all the leverage since they have Metatron's grace if Metatron refuses to help them, Sam will "blow your frigging brains out." Panicking, Metatron finally admits that he knows of no cure for the Mark of Cain, that its God or Lucifer-level magic and is not on The Word of God tablets. When asked about the last time when he claimed to have a cure, Metatron claims that he was just making stuff up to buy time to screw them over. While Sam refuses to believe Metatron, Castiel is able to tell that Metatron is in fact speaking the truth and orders Sam to kill him.

As Sam goes to shoot Metatron dead, Metatron begs them to wait and tells Castiel that he wasn't lying about still having some of his grace left. Metatron offers to take Castiel to his grace and after some hesitation Castiel agrees. Castiel departs with Metatron to find the remnants of his grace and leaves Sam with a letter from Bobby who is taken by Hannah and other angels for punishment for his actions in Heaven.

Castiel and Metatron begin a road trip to find Castiel's grace, hitting three of Metatron's safe houses. Each turn out to be empty and Metatron is actually stalling as he knows that as soon as he gives Castiel his grace, Castiel will kill him. As they travel, Metatron begins to enjoy the pleasures of being human such as the feelings that come with music and food. However, Metatron's vessel turns out to be lactose intolerant and while dealing with the problems that causes, Castiel and Metatron catch the attention of an angry Cupid at the diner they are eating at.

Emerging from the diner, Castiel and Metatron find the Cupid outside who feels that they have corrupted Heaven and it won't ever be the same. Castiel and the Cupid draw angel blades and fight, but when the Cupid goes after Metatron, Castiel loses his angel blade stopping him from killing Metatron. With Castiel disarmed, the Cupid is able to pin him to the ground. As the Cupid struggles to kill Castiel, Metatron retrieves Castiel's angel blade and stabs the Cupid through the back with it, killing him and saving Castiel. Castiel takes the Cupid's angel blade and Metatron returns Castiel's to him, telling Castiel he owed it to him to save his life. Castiel tells Metatron that Metatron saving him changes nothing, annoying Metatron.

Finally, Metatron leads Castiel to a library in Blaine, Missouri, explaining that a library is the safest place in the world as no one goes to them anymore. Castiel is able to sense that his grace is in the library, but is unable to determine where exactly. Castiel demands the location from Metatron, even applying pressure to his wound, causing Metatron to explain that he had another angel hide the grace even from him in case of torture. However, Metatron also had the angel hide clues in some of his favorite books and after his hands are freed, leads Castiel to a copy of Breakfast of Champions, or Goodbye Blue Monday where they find the clue "what's the maddest thing a man can do?" Metatron claims not to know the answer to the riddle as he's only been a man for a day, but tells Castiel that the clue will lead them to another book containing Castiel's grace. The two then begin searching for the right book.

As they search, Metatron insists that he and Castiel are a good team and questions what Castiel plans to do next, pointing out that there are only so many rogue angels left and Hannah has restored better order to Heaven than there has been since Heaven was created. While Castiel is left considering Metatron's words, he orders him to shut up and refuses to answer him. While they are on opposite sides of a bookshelf, Metatron uses his blood to draw Enochian sigils on a row of books, casting a spell that stuns Castiel and causes him great pain.

With Castiel incapacitated, Metatron locates a copy of Simulacra and Simulation from which he pulls a clue to what he's really looking for: "what two things do you need to succeed in life?" When Metatron answers the riddle with "ignorance and confidence", Castiel realizes that the riddles are quotes for books and begins searching for the right book, finally locating his grace in Don Quixote. As Castiel retrieves his grace, Metatron's quote leads him to another book where he finds what he truly came for: the demon tablet. Though Metatron planned to take both the demon tablet and Castiel's grace with him when he leaves, he spots that Castiel has already gotten to his grace and decides "one out of two ain't bad" and flees, successfully escaping. Finishing the quote "what's the maddest thing a man can do? Let himself die", Castiel opens the container holding his grace and inhales it. Castiel regains the remainder of his grace, causing a wave of destruction to spread through the library and restoring Castiel's status and power as a Seraph.

Aftermath
Following Metatron's escape with the demon tablet, Sam and Castiel worry about what he could do with it but lie to Dean about how Castiel got his grace back, telling him that Hannah got the information out of Metatron. As a result of Castiel's rogue actions, the angels move the portal to Heaven and he becomes disliked once more by his brethren.

While Metatron is able to get away with the demon tablet, he doesn't use it and instead gets a job as a videographer recording crimes for the news and manages to adapt to a human life. However, Metatron doesn't enjoy his new life and finds it undignified. Castiel is later able to locate and capture Metatron in an attempt to get information on the Darkness from him. After nearly beating Metatron to death and learning that the Darkness is in fact God's older sister, Castiel lets Metatron go, seeing him as no longer a threat and not worth imprisoning or killing. While capturing Metatron, Castiel is also able to retrieve the demon tablet. Metatron is later called upon by God to help write his autobiography and having grown fond of humanity, convinces God to help with fighting the Darkness. Afterwards, Metatron aids the Winchesters in rescuing Lucifer from the Darkness and is killed buying them time to escape.

Trivia

 * While not shown in Book of the Damned, Metatron steals Castiel's car to escape as revealed in The Bad Seed. The location of the library from Book of the Damned is also revealed to be in Blaine, Missouri during The Bad Seed.
 * While Castiel and Sam worry about what Metatron will do with the demon tablet after he retrieves it, he never uses it and Castiel later finds it under Metatron's bedbug ridden mattress in his apartment.
 * When Castiel removes Metatron's grace, its a mirror of the scene in Sacrifice when Metatron steals Castiel's own grace.
 * Ironically Castiel uses the knowledge of pop culture Metatron downloaded into his brain in Meta Fiction to find his hidden grace.