Bobby helped tie an unconscious Sam up to a chair in the basement. It went against Dean's better judgment to have Sam in the same zip code as Penny, let alone the same house, but he made a promise to her and he intended to keep it no matter what. Bobby reluctantly agreed to stay upstairs with Penny until Dean sorted things out with Sam. Thankfully Castiel answered his prayers almost instantly and just as Sam was coming to.
"You're right he looks terrible" Cas said inspecting the cuts and bruises all over Sam's face "You did this?" He asked looking back at Dean. Dean didn't answer he just looked back at him letting his silence be the answer.
"Cas?" Sam groaned "What?" He gasped as Cas pulled at his eyelid "Let me go"
"Has he been feverish?" Cas asked Dean
"Have you?" Dean relayed back to Sam
"No. Why?"
"Is he speaking in tongues? Are you speaking in tongues?"
"No. Are you" Sam paused "Are you diagnosing me?"
"You better hope he can" Dean said in a low voice
"You really think that this is-"
"What you think there's a clinic out there for people who just pop out of hell wrong?" Dean asked advancing on him as Cas checked Sam's pulse, "He asks, you answer, and then you shut your hole you got it?"
"How much do you sleep?" Cas asked when he removed his hand
"I don't" Sam said after a few moments. Dean just looked at him in shock
"At all?"
"Not since I got back"
"And it never occurred to you that there might be something off about that?" Dean shot impatiently
"Of course it did, Dean I, I just never told you" Sam admit reluctantly
Cas gave Dean a reproachful glance.
"What?"
Cas didn't answer, he just looked back at Sam "Sam, what are you feeling right now?"
"Well" Sam scoffed "I feel like my nose is broken"
"No, that's a physical sensation. How do you feel?"
"I thin-"
"Feel."
"I… Don't know" Sam shook his head
"This will be unpleasant. Bite down on this" He ordered and put his belt into Sam's mouth "If there's some place that you find soothing, you should go there… In your mind" he said after a pause before shoving his hand into Sam's stomach. Dean looked on in horror as red veins crept over Sam's face. Everything in him wanted to spare his brother the pain he knew was raging inside of him right now but even more so, everything inside of him was afraid of the prognosis Cas would give him when all of this was over. Sam gasped and dropped the belt from his teeth as Cas removed his hand and moved next to Dean.
"Did you find anything?" Dean asked softly
"No"
"So that's good news." He asked hesitantly
"I'm afraid not" Cas said flatly "Physically, he's perfectly healthy"
"But what?"
"His soul. It's gone."
Dean looked down at his watch; it was still the dead of night but he knew that if he were to head off with Sam now to the only clue that they both had about Sam's missing soul, he wouldn't make it back home in time to keep his promise. Dean walked lightly into the bedroom and saw her sleeping, her tiny body much too small for an oversized bed. She looked so precious and beautiful, so peaceful when she slept. Dean sat down beside her and gently rubbed the side of her eye with his thumb to remove a stray piece of glitter that had been glimmering brightly at him by the reflection of the moonlight. When he removed his thumb he saw that it hadn't moved an inch, it just sparkled back at him defiantly and he smiled. Bobby and Penny were playing princess; he had left out the part about the glitter.
Dean ran a quiet hand over her soft curls, curls that hadn't been properly brushed or cared for in days. Lisa used to help with that, she seemed to know so much more about this kind of stuff than he did. What did he know about hair brushing or styling? How was he supposed to know what kind of clothes or shoes to buy her? Suddenly he felt his stomach clench with abandonment and betrayal. What was he supposed to do with this little girl? He didn't know the first thing about taking care of kid on his own, Ben was hard enough and he had lots of help from Lisa. Goddamn Cassie! How selfish can you get? How could she have kept something like this from him? What kind of person keeps a kid from their father like that? If Cassie didn't want to be with him that was fine, he could understand that; respect it even, but to have his kid without telling him? Goddamn her! And Lisa? He had stayed with her for a year, had taken care of Ben like he was his own flesh and blood, and this is what he gets in return? Complete and utter abandonment.
Dean brushed his hands over his own hair and heaved an exasperated sigh.
"Life's unfair kiddo, you got to keep it moving, it's the only way to survive" That's what his dad had told him on more than one occasion. Dean took a deep breath, this was not the time to feel sorry for himself, and Cassie was gone so what good was it to be mad at her now? As for Lisa, well as much as he wanted to blame her for something, she hadn't asked for this.
Dean leaned over and kissed Penny's temple and he wondered vaguely if Cassie used to do the same. Penny stirred slightly and yawned, Dean caught his breath, but it was too late and her sleepy big hazel eyes fluttered open and found his green ones.
"Daddy!" She shrieked with explosive enthusiasm as she scrambled from underneath her covers
"Whoa hey" Dean said and caught her when she flung herself into his arms
"You came home!"
"I said I would be here right?" He smiled "How are you princess?"
"Daddy, I was a princess today with Uncle Bobby" She beamed
"So I heard." He laughed
"It was so much fun, first we made the castles from pillows and blankets and then we had tea"
"You're kidding me" Dean couldn't wipe the smile from his face, what he would've done to have seen Bobby sipping tea with a six year old under a pillow fort.
"No and Daddy look" She crawled back on to the bed, yanked something from underneath a pillow, and handed it to him. It was a macaroni necklace.
"I made it for you" She said meekly
"Wow Penny" He said turning the uncooked pasta around on the string with his fingertips "This is awesome"
"You like it?" She gasped
"Yeah I love it. It's real cool. I love it" He scooped her closer to him with one of his arms and kissed her hair "Thanks kid"
Penny reached down and took the necklace from his hands and held it up to his head "Will you wear it?"
"Wear it? No, I don't want it to get messed up sweetheart"
"But I made it for you Daddy, I made it big enough, look" She stretched out the necklace to full length. Big enough was an understatement.
"I see baby it's just that-"
"Try it on" She said and dropped the necklace in a loop over his head. It landed with a clack around his neck and hung loosely over his chest. "Yup. It fits perfect." Penny said critically to herself
Dean smiled and nodded his head "It does. Thanks baby"
"Your welcome." She blushed
"Alright sweetheart, it's still late, I want you to go back to sleep. I just wanted to stop by really fast and kiss you goodnight"
"Will you be here when I wake up again?"
"I'll try" He started and immediately her lip started to quiver "No pouting Penny, I said I'll try okay? I'll try. If I'm not here when you wake up again, I'll be back soon after okay? Now in the meantime I want you to be a big girl and not cry"
"Yes Daddy" She pouted
"That's my girl" Dean said lifting her up and placing her back down at the top of her bed. She crawled back underneath the blankets and he kissed her head.
"I love you. I'll be back tomorrow morning"
"I love you too Daddy" She yawned and stretched "I'll see you tomorrow morning"
"Alright" Dean said and as he made his way back to the door with the oversized macaroni necklace dangling around his neck, he began to think that maybe this parenting thing won't be so hard after all. Obviously anyone who said that parenting was a thankless job had never received a handmade macaroni necklace.
Sam led the way into Samuel's dark hideaway and was instantly greeted by Christian.
"Sam" He said brightly, gave him a big hug and looked at Dean
"Dean" He said flatly
"Hello Newman" Dean said returning the tone "Where's the man?"
Christian pointed a thumb over his shoulder and Dean walked past him without another word with Sam close behind.
"Come right on in" Samuel said bitterly after Dean slammed the door opened and stepped inside "What are you wearing around your neck?"
Dean looked down at the necklace Penny made and back up again "I need to ask you a few questions" He said tucking the necklace into his shirt and reminding himself to stay professional
"What's wrong?"
"The day you got back, what happened?"
"We've been over this"
"Well recap it for our wing man" Dean said flicking his eyes over to where Castiel had just appeared. Samuel turned his chair around slowly to get a better look.
"This Castiel? You're scrawnier than I pictured"
"This is a vessel, my true form is roughly the size of your Chrysler building" Cas retorted
"Alright, alright, quit bragging." Dean said turning his attention back to Samuel "So, your dead and?"
"And pow, I was on Elton ridge. Don't know how; don't know why… I got nothing to hide guys"
"Well you mind if Cas here double checks?"
Castiel's "angel cavity search" as Dean put it when Christian barged in after Samuel's screams in agony, provided them without much information. Samuel had somehow managed to come back with his soul intact. He wasn't surprised to hear that Sam was walking around for a year without a soul either, he freely admit to being afraid of Sam the whole time that they worked together.
"So what's the deal? How do we fix this? How do we get his soul back?" Samuel asked
"We don't know yet, but we have to" Dean answered
"Well I'll help of course. What leads are you working?"
"A bunch of dead ends" Sam shrugged "And you"
"Well we'll just have to dig"
"Sam, Dean" Castiel said, "I have to get back"
"You're leaving?" Dean asked
"I'm in the middle of a civil war"
"Well you better tear the attic up. Find something to help Sam"
"Of course. Your problems always come first. I'll be in touch" He said and disappeared
"So what's with the book club outside?" Dean asked turning his attention to Samuel
"We're putting together a hunt"
"This wouldn't have anything to do with my daughter, would it?" Dean said not trying hard to mask the tone of accusation in his voice
"One thing at a time Dean, we're working on it"
"Oh right, you're working on it, because you know it's not a demon right? I checked high and low for sulfur and couldn't find a trace"
"Yeah. Sam told me" Samuel nodded "Look, I'm just as turned around by this as you are, but as I said, one thing at a time"
"Right. And what is the first thing, exactly?"
"We're putting together a hunt." Samuel said dropping a toolbox on his desk with a thud
Sam's eyes narrowed on Samuel "You found him didn't you?"
"Who?" Dean glanced over at Sam
"He's got a lead on the alpha vamp"
"Do you?"
"Maybe" Samuel said grabbing a duffle bag from the corner of the room "Yeah"
"How'd you track him down?"
"We're good" Samuel smirked
"That's all I get? We're good?"
"When's the run?" Sam asked
"Dawn"
"And you didn't call me? Why?"
Samuel flicked his eyes over at Dean and looked back down at his duffle. Dean got the hint.
"Because of me. You don't trust me very much do you? Especially when it comes to big game like this."
"That's not true. It's just all this stuff with your daughter. I just" He sighed, "I know that if it was my daughter on the line, I would stop at nothing to make sure she was safe"
"That's right. But I've got a whole lot of nothing right now. No leads and nowhere to look. I could use all the help I can get so; I'm in"
"Hey no offense but uh…"
"You don't trust me?" Dean said knowingly
"I'll help you out Dean, when I have the chance but when it comes to this… I just don't know you. Not like I know Sam."
Dean nodded "Alright, you call the plays. Hundred percent. I'm here to listen"
Samuel smirked skeptically "Since when?"
"Since my little girl's situation became more than I can handle alone" He said seriously "Plus, I wouldn't want to miss big daddy blood sucker for the world. But this is your show, I get it, I'll follow your lead. I trust you"
"I don't trust him." Dean said the moment they were back outside and out of earshot "The dude's hiding something"
"What?" Sam frowned
"I can feel it. If you weren't Robo-Sam you'd feel it too"
"Huh" Sam snorted
"What?"
"Just you saying you don't trust family"
"Look we hang close, we blend in; we see what we can pick up"
"You still think Samuel's connected to this whole soul thing?"
"I think it's the only lead we got"
"The house is just over the hill. About a dozen vamps, and the alpha… We've got one chance against this son of a bitch. Christian, take flank, the rest of you with me and Sam. Dean, Gwen, hang back. Sweep any stragglers that flush out." Samuel ordered
"Of course" Dean thought bitterly to himself
"Problem Dean?"
"No sir"
"Great, I'm in the back with the reject" Gwen huffed
"Alright let's go" Samuel said and the group moved out into the woods behind Dean. Sam hung back.
"Don't worry, it's fine" he said
"No, nothing's fine. You're not fine" Dean shook his head and squeezed the bridge of his nose between his fingers "Go. Go"
As it turned out there was one straggler who had somehow been missed by the group, he and Gwen took it out easily. Dean was still wiping the blood off of his face when he heard two gunshots ring out into the air.
"We were supposed to wait here!" She called after him after he took off towards the sound. The shots fired again and again until he reached the gate outside of an old mansion. Only the blood curdling cries of a man in the distance matched the eeriness of the headless vampire corpses littered the front yard. Dean pulled at the gate but it didn't budge an inch so he abandoned it and hurried around to the back where he only found more of the same, vampires all dead and bloody. He heard a scream through a large glass door and looked over just in time to see a woman trying to escape get grabbed by an unseen force and pulled out of view, a second later, what Dean could only assume to be her blood splattered all over the glass. Dean moved gingerly away from the house, his machete poised defensively in the air, he followed the sounds of Samuel's voice commanding his team. Dean peeked his head around the corner to find the group leading the hooded alpha into a large van. "What the?" He gasped in his mind rushing back to go and find Gwen before anyone realized he had left.
"Where were you?" She demanded as he rushed up beside her. Before he could speak Samuel appeared beside them.
"Everything alright here?"
Gwen looked from Dean to Samuel "Just uh, chopped up a runner. No big deal. How'd it go?"
"Rough but one alpha down" He said casually walking back to his truck
"Where is it?" Dean asked, "I want to pay my last respects"
"Well bring marshmallows, already on the pyre" He said before climbing inside.
"You weren't supposed to know about that." Sam admit when they were back on the road
"Know what?"
"It's just something Samuel's been doing. Catching things, bringing them somewhere, grilling them for info."
"Grill" Dean said doubtfully "Torture, right? And not telling me, that was his idea?"
"No, it was mine"
Dean nodded, wishing he could still be surprised by Sam's actions at this point "Why?"
"Honestly? Because you'd mess it up. You'd shoot first and ask questions later and we needed to ask questions"
Dean shook his head, he was at his brink with all of this and really wasn't sure how much more he could take "You know, I don't care if you got 'soullessness or the freaking mumps man, you know better than this! I mean do you even want your soul back?"
"How does that have anything to do with-"
"Have you been to the place where Samuel takes them? Have you been in on these interrogations?"
"No, but I hear-"
"What does he want? And why? I mean did it ever occur to you that this is really shady?"
Sam paused for a moment "He's our grandfather"
"Yeah. Yeah a guy who talks a great game, but you can't assume that family means the same thing to him as it does to us, he's not dad."
Sam looked down thoughtfully.
"Wow" Dean said, "You don't see it do you?"
"What?"
"You've got no instincts. I mean you are seriously messed up"
"Thanks" Sam pursed his lips sarcastically
"I'm not kidding man" Dean continued seriously "Nobody's forcing you to work with me. Okay? But if we do this, I drive the bus, I call the shots and you tell me everything whether you think it's important or not because trust me, you can't tell the difference. Or you know what? Go, go with Samuel; see how that goes. It's up to you, because I have about a hundred other things on my plate about now, and I'm not going to waste anymore time on this."
They tracked down Samuel's location through the gps in his phone and snuck inside the warehouse. They ducked behind corners and obstacles whenever they saw one of Samuel's hunters walk by, and followed the sound of his voice. The alpha vampire sat in a chair behind bars with chains crossed over his chest, bands over his wrists, and bolts through his hands and feet restraining him to the chair. Samuel stood in front of him peering threateningly through the bars.
"Where is it?" Samuel asked in a low voice "Answer the question. Where is it? How do we find it?"
He was met with calm silence. Samuel reached switch on the wall and cranked a knob sending so much electricity sparking through the bolts that the sparks were clearly visible to Sam and Dean at the other end of the hall.
"Ouch. Stop. That hurts" The alpha said flatly
"This" Samuel said waving his hands around "Is club mead compared to what we have for you"
"Oh" He said clearly disinterested
"I-got, I got all the time in the world"
"Well, that makes two of us"
Samuel grabbed a crowbar from a small table of tools and made a swift move forward but he vampire stared at him unfazed by the unspoken threat. Samuel threw the bar on the ground and stormed off to the sound of the alpha's triumphant laughter.
"Are you guys going to hide all night?" He asked once Samuel had gone "Come on out boys"
Dean and Sam exchanged a look and stepped into full view.
"How can I help you? The alpha said calmly
"Got some questions for you Skippy" Dean said strolling forward "Since you're going nowhere fast"
"Don't be so sure" He laughed
"Yeah? Locked down pretty tight. And with all that dead blood rushing through your veins, not sure you've got enough juice to fire up that psychic bat signal of yours do you?"
"True. Not near enough 'juice' for that, Dean"
Dean cocked his head and ignored the shiver that ran through him as his name rolled out of the vampire's lips and into the air "I didn't realize we were on a first name basis"
"Of course we are. After all, you were my child for a time. Dean tell me, did you enjoy it?"
A picture of Penny's crying face as she hugged him goodbye that night flashed in his memory. "I'm asking the questions here fright night" Dean said and turned the knob on the voltage.
"When your kind first huddled around the fire, I was the thing in the dark" He snarled "Now you think you can hurt me?"
Dean turned off the electricity and was met with a small smile.
"I have all night boys, you do not. Anyway, I'm happy to tell you anything you want to know"
"Why?" Sam asked suspiciously
"Why? Because soon I'll be ankle deep in your blood, sucking the marrow from your bones"
"So you're really it. The first of your species" Sam said approaching the cage
"The very first"
"But if you're the first, who made you?"
"Well, we all have our mothers, even me."
"What does that mean?" Dean asked. The vampire just laughed.
"Well what's with the big surge of vamps lately? I mean it's like-"
"We're going to war"
"Why?" Sam demanded, "What's going on? Why did Samuel bring you here?"
"You smell cold. You have no soul. What an oddity, do you feel how empty you are? What is it like to have no soul?"
"Answer my question" Sam said darkly
"You first"
"You're the one in the cage"
"The thing about souls, if you've got one of course, is they're predictable; you die, you go up or down. Where do my kind go?"
"Alright, enough with the sermon, freak" Dean glared
"I'm trying to answer the question, now, when we freaks die… Where do we go? It's not heaven, it's not hell, so?"
"Lego land?" Dean guessed condescendingly
"A little rusty on our Dante boys?" The alpha said in mild annoyance
"Purgatory" Sam said
"Purgatory" Dean repeated "Purgatory's real?"
"Oh stupid cattle. Of course! And it is filled with every hungry thing like me that ever walked this Earth, now, where is it? That is the mystery. And that is what your kind-hearted Granddaddy is trying to beat out of me"
Sam stepped closer "Samuel brought you here to find out where purgatory is?"
"I keep telling him how would I know such a thing but he refuses to untie me"
"You know exactly where it is" Sam accused, "Why does Samuel care about any of this?"
"He doesn't care" the alpha grinned, "He does as he is told"
"Well if the old man's Kermit. Whose hands up his ass?" Dean half asked himself and half asked the vampire. They heard a gun cock behind them and turned to see Samuel, Christian, and that other guy that Dean didn't take the time to remember staring at them.
"Evening guys" Samuel said
Samuel made them throw all of their weapons down on the ground in front of them in a messy mound of guns and knives.
"Now I have seen some stupid stuff in my time but you take the crown" Dean said pointing a finger at Samuel "Putting Jaws in a fishbowl? How do you think that's going to end?"
"You think I'm doing this for kicks?"
"I think you've got these people convinced that you're John Wayne, but whatever you're doing, whatever you're hiding, is going to put you and everyone around you in the ground"
Samuel took a step for him but Dean was ready, he and Sam had the upper hand in an instant and had Samuel and the other two unarmed and pinned to the wall.
"Hi guys" Gwen said from in front of them with a shotgun
"Gwen. I thought we had a moment" Dean smiled lightly before they heard a loud scream. They rushed for the alpha vampire's cage. He was gone and a hunter lay dead facedown in a pool of his own blood.
"I need to get him dosed up and back in the cage" Samuel sighed
"No" Dean shook his head
"What do you mean 'no'?" Samuel challenged
"I mean I don't know what your big plan was, but playing catch is not on the table"
"Dean-"
"We cut the things head off or it kills us all. You know that. We split up, clear every room. If you get a shot, you take it. Its not going to kill him but dude will move a lot slower without any kneecaps. And when we make it through this, you me and Sam are having one hell of a family meeting"
As it turned out, the family meeting would have to wait. Between the alpha vampire breaking Christian's neck and trying to turn, and Christian's miraculous recovery and sudden appearance of classic solid black demon eyes before disappearing into thin air with the alpha several other demons, things were moving very fast.
"Well, that was dramatic" Crowley said
"Crowley?" Sam asked
"Hello boys, what an unexpected treat"
"Bring Christian back now!" Samuel growled
"I'm sorry?"
"My nephew! The one you just crammed a demon into!"
"Oh. No. I had him possessed ages ago. Samuel, really, I keep an eye on my investments." He said casually
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. You two know each other?" Dean gaped
"Not in the biblical sense. More of a business relationship, I'd say." Crowley shrugged
" You're Crowley's bitch." Sam said piecing it all together
"It's not what you think." Samuel said quietly
"It's precisely what you think. That alpha he's caught me is getting him a gold star"
Dean looked over at Crowley "Since when do you give a crap about vampires?"
"Since, uh... What's today - Friday? Since, let's see - mind your business"
"You may as well share with the class, Crowley" Sam said, "We know you're looking for purgatory."
"So you heard about that?"
"Yeah. You want to tell us why?"
"Isn't it obvious? Location, location, location. I'm a developer. Purgatory is vast, underutilized, and hell-adjacent, and I want it"
"What for?" Dean squinted
"Best shut your gob" Crowley snapped, "Employees don't question management."
"We ain't your employees!"
"Of course you are!" He said brightly "Have been for some time now, thanks to gramps. I don't keep captain chrome dome around for his wit, do I? Samuel knows things. More than any of you, actually; walking encyclopedia of the creepy and the crawly. And I knew... You two are so hung up on family-loyalty nonsense, he said jump, you'd get froggy."
"Yeah, well, the game's over" Dean smiled
"Yeah, well, afraid not, not if you want to see Sam's soul ever again" Crowley grinned
"You're bluffing" Sam squinted
"Tell them, Samuel"
"He pulled us both back, me and Sam" Samuel admit solemnly
"What?" Sam gaped "You knew?"
"No, Cas says it takes big-time mojo to pull something like that off, and you're nothing but a punk-ass crossroads demon" Dean said
"Was a punk-ass crossroads demon. Now? King of hell." Crowley corrected, "Believe me, I've got the mojo. I snap my fingers; Sam gets his soul back. Or you can be...You, and I shove Sam right back in the hole. Can't imagine what it's like in there and I can imagine so many things. So, we clear? Me, Charlie, you angels. Job's simple enough, bring me creatures; aim high on the food chain, please. Everybody wins. It's been a pleasure. See you soon"
"Working with a demon huh?" Sam asked bitterly, "You're not who I thought you were."
"You don't know anything about me, son"
"So, what's so important that you're the king of hell's cabana boy, huh? What'd he offer you? Girls? Money? Hair?" Dean taunted
"I got my reasons. You'd understand if-" He trailed off but began moving forward to leave
"If what?" Dean asked blocking his path
"You gonna make a move, go ahead.
"Or?"
"Or nothing. I'm not going to do anything to you, Dean. You boys. You're my family. So the way I see it, you got two choices, put a bullet in your grandfather or step aside."
Sam pulled out his gun and cocked it immediately aiming right at Samuel. Dean reached a hand out and pushed the gun down so it pointed at the floor.
"He sold us out" Sam defended
"I know. Let it go."
"Why?" Sam asked seriously
Dean turned to Samuel "Get out of here"
"So, what now?"
"We can't work for Crowley" Dean sighed
"Are you sure about that?"
"I don't think you understand. Demons bone you every time."
"No, I get it, believe me, I'm just running the math, do we really have another choice?"
"Sam, that isn't a choice. Okay? It's not even on the table. I have a daughter now, maybe if I didn't, I wouldn't care the kind of crap I'd have to do to get your soul back but there is just no way this can end well. No. There has to be another way" Dean shook his head
"Got any bright ideas of how to get my soul back then? Because right now, it's looking like this is it, at least until we find something else" Sam shrugged
"Even if I wanted to, which I don't, Sam; I don't have time to run errands for freaking Crowley. Samuel isn't helping okay? He never was. It's just you and me on this case."
"So how are you going to help me and her at the same time?" Sam squinted
"You two are the only family I have left" Dean frowned, "We just have to find a way to do both"
