Death made good on his promise to return Sam's soul, but it was a bit touch and go after that.

Sam was unconscious for days. Both Martha and Castiel examined him and neither was certain if Sam would ever wake up again. And even if he did, Dean didn't know what to expect.

Cas and Crowley both had warned him that Sam's soul would be mangled and mutated. Even Death questioned if returning Sam's soul was the right thing to do, but Dean couldn't allow Sam to carry on as he had been. All Dean could do now was hope that the wall Death put up in Sam's mind to block out the memories of hell would last.

Eventually, Sam did wake up and things began to change.

Or rather they went back to normal.

In the following weeks, Sam had reverted back to the brother that Dean remembered. Dean's life was back to how it used to be. Each week was a new town and a new case. Dragons. Humanoid spider monsters. Vengeful spirits inhabiting mannequins.

They were definitely back in the saddle.

Dean sat at the desk in Bobby's study searching through newspaper clippings while Sam sat nearby thumbing through a beat up old tome.

Martha entered the room with her arms full of more books. She glanced around as she deposited the books on the desk. "Where's Bobby?"

Sam looked up from his book. "He went to town on a supply run."

"In this?" Martha balked as she looked out the window. It was storming like crazy outside.

"Yeah." Dean nodded. "The man's a hero." He emptied the last few drops of alcohol into his glass. "We're officially out of hunter's helper."

The thunder grew louder outside and lightning flashed near the window. The air seemed to become electric.

"It's getting worse out there," Martha commented.

"That wasn't the storm." Dean hopped out his chair and stared into the face of the angel Balthazar. The last time they saw him was when he gave part of the Staff of Moses to a boy hell bent on taking revenge against some dirty cops.

"Hello boys." Balthazar strolled into the study. "You've seen The Godfather, right?" he asked as he began gathering things and set them on Bobby's desk. "You know, the end, where Michael Corleone sends his men to kill his enemies in one big, bloody swoop?" He picked a box of salt and poured it into a large bowl. "Moe Greene gets it in the eye. Don Cuneo gets it in the revolving door." He paused. "I need blood of lamb." He disappeared and reappeared next to Bobby's refrigerator. "Beer. Cold pizza. Yes! Blood of lamb!"

Sam frowned. "Why are you talking about The Godfather?"

"Because we're in it right now," Balthazar explained as he emptied the jar of lamb's blood into the bowl on Bobby's desk. "With Raphael in the role of Michael Corleone."

Dean scoffed. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Balthazar ignored Dean's question as he emptied out Bobby's desk drawer and sorted through them the contents. "Bone of a lesser saint." He smiled. "Your Mr. Singer does keep a beautiful pantry."

"Raphael is after you?" Martha questioned.

"Raphael is after us all," Balthazar responded as he sprinkled bone fragments over the lamb's blood and salt mixture. "He's consolidated his strength and now he's on the move."

"But where's Cas?" Dean demanded.

"Cassie is deep, deep underground. So, good old Raffy put out a hit list on every last Samaritan who helped our dear Cas," he told them as he mixed the bowl's contents. "Including the three of you and more importantly, me." He dipped his fingers into the bowl as he walked over to the nearest window and began drawing a sigil with the blood.

"Why should we believe you?" Sam challenged.

"Oh, you don't have to," Balthazar countered. "You'll go where I throw you either way." Lighting flashed and electricity filled the air again. Balthazar glanced around precariously. "That's all the time we have, kids." He opened his jacket and checked his inner pocket for something, revealing a bloody wound in his side. "Where is it?"

Martha instinctively stepped forward and inspected his wound. "What happened?"

Balthazar glanced down. "Uncle Raffy sent one of his nastiest to handle me. I'm flattered, actually. And down a lung at the moment, but that's all right." He handed a key to Martha.

Martha looked at the key in her hand. "What am we supposed to do with this?"

"Run with it," Balthazar instructed before he was thrown across the room. Another angel appeared. He dusted himself off as he stood up and looked at the other angel. "Virgil," he addressed the other angel then turned towards the others. "I said, run!" He raised his hand and sent them flying through the window marked with a blood sigil.

Sam, Dean and Martha crashed through Bobby's window and landed on a mattress on a TV show set. The three of them scrambled to their feet feeling disoriented.

"Cut!" the director called out. "Jared, Jensen, Freema. That was just great. Outstanding!"

Dean peeked back through the window and saw a set that resembled Bobby's study. "What happened to the angels?"

Sam glanced at the various crew members roaming around the set. "Should we be killing anybody?"

Dean shook his head. "I don't think so."

"I don't want to alarm you boys, but I think I know what's going on," Martha told them.

Dean glanced back at her. "Well?"

Martha looked around. "I think Balthazar's send us to an alternate dimension."

Dean paced back and forth in what was apparently his trailer. "So we're in an alternate dimension where our lives are a TV show?"

"Pretty much." Martha nodded. "Apparently I'm Freema Agyeman, you're Jensen Ackles and Sam's Jared Padalecki."

Dean looked at Sam. "Wait. You're Polish now?"

"Why would anyone want to watch a show about our lives?" Sam asked.

"Not a lot of people do according to the interviewer that cornered me back there," Martha responded. "Apparently that's why I'm here." She paused. "Well, why Freema is here. Crossover with a show called Doctor Who in order to boost the ratings and broaden your audience."

"Doctor Who?" Sam questioned.

"Long story." Dean waved off his confusion. He turned to Martha. "So we're a ratings ploy in this world?" he asked irritably.

"If it makes you feel better, Freema and Jensen have a much big following than she does with some bloke called David Tennant," she informed him. "But not as big of a following as Jensen and Misha."

"Misha?" Dean repeated. "Misha. Jensen. Freema. What's with the names here?"

Sam sat down at the table inside the trailer and pulled the laptop sitting on top of it close to him. "If we're going to get by in this world we need to learn about ourselves."

"You first, Padaleski."

"I'm pretty sure it's Padalecki," Sam commented as he started typing. "Looks like I'm from Texas. And before joining the cast of Supernatural, my biggest claim to fame was…a show called Gilmore Girls."

"Gilmore Girls?" Dean laughed. "Nice one," he teased.

"Oh yea?" Sam clicked a video link. "Guess who got their big start on a soap opera."

Dean cringed at the sight of Jensen's acting past. "I don't like this universe, Sammy." He turned away.

"What about Freema?" Martha asked, leaning in closer to Sam.

Sam typed her name into the browser. "'Freema Agyeman, most famous for playing the role of Dr. Martha Jones, has carved a following for herself in the Whovian fan base despite meeting resistance at the start of her tenure due to her being considered by many to be an inadequate replacement for fan favorite Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper.'"

Martha let out a mirthless laugh. "Even in this universe I'm compared to Rose."

"Speaking of fan followings," Dean cut in. "Who is this Misha chick people want me with?"

Sam looked up from the laptop on the table. "According to Google, he's the actor that plays Castiel."

"The Twitter freak pretending to be Cas that we met on the back lot?" Dean stared at him incredulously. "I have a stupid name and soap opera past, my baby is just a prop car and now people want me to get together with Cas?" He shook his head. "We need to get the hell out of this place. Fast!"

"So what's the score?" Sam panted softly as the three of them crouched behind a set designed to look like motel room.

"Fake Cas is dead. Real Cas is back in our world," Dean commented.

"And Virgil has the key," Martha added.

Somehow Virgil had managed to cross over into the same dimension as them. More than likely he had done it because he wanted the key, which supposedly opened the door to the place where Balthazar had stored all the stolen Angelic Weapons of Heaven.

The good news was that Virgil's angel powers didn't work there, but without his mojo he had taken to other methods, namely a 12 gauge shotgun.

"The homeless guy in the alley said something important though," Sam reminded them. "Remember, he said that after Virgil killed Misha he prayed to Raphael and got a response."

Martha nodded. "He told him to return the place where he crossed over and Raphael would reach through the window and take him and the key home."

"Which means that if we have any hope of getting back to our world, then we need to get the key and get to the portal before Virgil does," Sam insisted.

Just as Sam managed to wrestle the key away from Virgil the blood sigil on the set window began to glow. "It's Raphael! Run!"

The three of them were thrust forward through the glass and hit the pavement outside of a motel that mirrored the set there was just on.

"You Winchesters have the strangest luck," Raphael commented. Unlike the last time they had seen him, he was using a female vessel.

"Nice meat suit," Dean quipped from the ground. "Dude looks like a lady."

"It'll suffice," Raphael countered as she clutched her fist, causing Sam to double over in pain and drop the key. "The key." She smiled as she picked it up from where Sam dropped it.

"The key," Balthazar repeated as he appeared suddenly. "That will open you a locker at the Albany bus station." He smirked. "I mean seriously, Raffy. Did you really think I'd entrust the real key to these two marmosets?" He scoffed and glanced at Martha. "Her…maybe. But definitely not those two."

"Give me the weapons," Raphael demanded.

"Sorry, darling, but they're gone."

"What?!" Raphael closed in on Balthazar. "You've made your last mistake."

"Step away from him, Raphael," Castiel's voice boomed around them and thunder clapped. "I have the weapons now. Their power is with me."

Raphael turned to face him. "Castiel."

"If you don't want to die tonight, back off," Castiel threatened.

Raphael disappeared, followed by Balthazar. Before the other knew it, Cas had transported them back to Bobby's house.

"Cas, what the hell was that?" Sam demanded.

"You used us a diversion?" Martha asked bitterly.

"It was Balthazar's plan," Castiel confessed. "But I would have done the same thing."

Dean scoffed. "Well that's not comforting."

Castiel exhaled sharply. "When will I be able to make you understand? If I lose against Raphael, we all lose. Everything."

"We know the stakes, Cas," Dean retorted angrily. "That's about all you've told us!"

Castiel sighed. "I'm sorry about all this. I'll explain when I can," he insisted before disappearing.

Dean groaned loudly. "Fucking angels."

Martha sighed. "At least things are back to normal," she reasoned.

Dean scoffed. "Back to normal, where angels are dicks and they screw you every time."

"And leave you with more questions than answers," Sam added.

Dean picked up the empty bottle from the desk. "And Bobby still hasn't returned with more booze."

"Okay. You're right, normal sucks," Martha admitted. "But the rain has cleared up." She gestured towards the window.

Sam shrugged. "So?"

"So grab your coats." She headed towards the door. "Drinks are on me."