November 27th – November 29th, 2014

We stopped at Fat Mack's Rib Shack to grab some food. While Sam and I went inside to order, Dean waited outside by the Impala. When we walked out, he was leaning against the car, scrolling through his phone.

"Heads up," Sam said as he handed Dean his drink and then walked around to the passenger side door.

"I caught wind of a case on this police scanner," Dean said, "Sounds like our kind of thing."

Sam and I exchanged a look.

Sam shook his head at Dean. "We weren't even gone ten minutes."

"Okay. That matters why?" Dean chuckled.

Sam shrugged. "I don't know, Dean. How about because you haven't said a word to us since Prentiss Island? And now, what? You want us to shut up and ride along and act like nothing happened?"

"I'm sure he'll talk to us about it when he's ready," I said, trying to defuse the situation.

"I'd rather talk about it now," Sam said.

"You want to talk about Benny?" Dean nodded. "Fine. Let's talk."

"Okay. How about he's a vampire?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded. "He's also the reason I'm topside and not roasting on a spit in Purgatory. Anything else?"

"Don't pretend I don't get it," Sam snapped, "I know you had to do what you had to down there."

"I highly doubt you get anything about Purgatory," Dean said.

"But you're out now," Sam continued, "And Benny's still breathing. Why?"

Dean swallowed hard. "He's my friend, Sam."

Sam laughed in annoyance. "And what about my friend, Amy? She was what? 'Cause you sure as hell didn't have a problem ganking her."

"Well, I guess people change, don't they?" Dean asked, "We let that werewolf Kate go, didn't we?"

"She was different. She—" Sam cut himself off. "You think Benny's different?" He chuckled. "He tell you he's not drinking live blood or something?"

Dean shrugged but didn't answer.

Sam scoffed. "And you believe him. Wow. Okay. You know, you're right. People do change."

Dean nodded. "Yeah. I got a vampire buddy, and you turn your phone off for a year."

Sam shook his head. "Don't turn this on me."

"Look, Benny slips up, and some other hunter turns his lights out, so be it," Dean said.

Sam nodded. "But it's not gonna be you, right?"

"You coming or not?" Dean asked and then got into the Impala, and I followed behind.

We pulled up to the victim's house behind an ambulance. We were dressed in our suits.

Dean put the Impala in park and then turned to us. "So, guy's old lady comes home while he's working underneath his ride, puts the pedal to the metal, and takes half his head off."

"What? That's it?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded. "Yeah, in a nutshell. She says she blacked out, doesn't remember a damn thing."

Sam shook his head. "Well, that sounds like insanity."

Dean nodded. "Maybe."

"So, how does that make this our kind of thing?" Sam asked.

Dean sighed in annoyance. "Because, Sam, Kevin's in the wind, okay? You're sulking around like a eunuch in a whorehouse. And I can't help but ask myself, when is decapitation not my thing?" He rolled his eyes and got out of the car.

Sam and I followed behind him up to the house. As we approached the caution tape, an officer came running up to us.

"Whoa, whoa. FBI?" he asked.

We held up our badges to him.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, happened to be in the neighborhood."

The officer nodded. "First the Texas Rangers, now you guys?"

Dean raised his eyebrows. "Texas Rangers?"

"Yes, sir. Right over there." The officer pointed behind him.

Garth and Nate were talking to a witness. Both of them were wearing cowboy hats, and Garth was wearing a tasseled jacket.

A huge smile spread across my face when I saw them.

Dean shook his head. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me."

Garth took off his hat and fanned himself with it. Dean and the officer exchanged looks, and then we walked over to them.

"Hey, Chuck Norris," Dean said, causing them to turn to us.

They both lit up with smiles.

"Maddi? Sam? Dean?!" Garth shouted excitedly.

"Shh…" Sam hushed him.

Garth laughed and pulled him into a hug.

"Forgot he was a hugger," Sam said, slightly annoyed.

Garth let go of Sam and turned to me. "Aw, come here, you!" He pulled me into a hug, which I gladly gave him.

Nate nodded at Sam and Dean. "Hey, guys. Nice to see you after all this time."

I smirked at Nate as Garth pulled away and moved to Dean. He gave me a wink and a smile.

"All right. Okay," Dean said uncomfortably as Garth grasped onto him. "We're still— We're still working here."

Sam smiled at Nate. "Hey, Nate. A lot taller since the last time I saw ya."

Dean smacked Nate on the shoulder when Garth let go. "Yeah, that's what happens when you go missing for two years." He gave Nate an insincere smile, causing him to visibly gulp.

"Dean…" I warned.

He shrugged. "What? I'm just saying."

Garth laughed with a big smile, looking at Sam and Dean in awe. "Uh, you guys have no idea how much I missed you."

Dean nodded at the witness. "Um, excuse us, would you?"

Garth glanced over at him as we turned to walk away. "Yeah, we'll be right back."

As we moved a short distance away from the witness, Dean turned to me and whispered, "You were with him for a year and couldn't get that under control?"

I shrugged. "He is who he is, Dean."

Dean rolled his eyes, and I smirked at him.

"Texas Rangers, guys?" Dean asked as Sam, Garth, and Nate reached us. "Seriously? We're in Missouri."

Nate shrugged. "It was Garth's pick this time."

Dean shook his head disapprovingly. "And you let him pick this?"

"What?" Garth asked in confusion. "Come on. I look like a funeral director in one of those." He gestured to their suits. "Wow. I knew you guys were back, but it didn't hit me until now." He smiled brightly at them.

Kris Kross'll make ya

Jump! Jump!

Garth patted his jacket and then opened it to reveal three cell phones in their own separate pockets. "Oh, uh, one sec."

The Mac Dad'll make ya

Jump! Jump!

"Um…" He pulled out the ringing cell and answered, "Yo, Earl. What you got?" (…) "A revenant. Okay, uh, you'll need a casket and some silver spikes. Oh, and don't get bit." (…) "No, it won't turn you, but it will hurt like hell." (…) "Okay, so, once you got all that, nail that sucker in, bury him, and throw away the key. Okay?" (…) "All right. Hasta." He shook his head and hung up with a smile.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked.

Garth furrowed his brow. "My job, hombre."

"Your job?" Dean asked, "And since when is giving advice your job?"

"What, Maddi didn't tell you?" Garth asked.

Dean looked at me. "Tell me what?"

"Hold up. Are you the new Bobby?" Sam asked.

"You shut your mouth," Dean snapped.

"Yes," Garth said sincerely.

Dean pointed at him. "You shut your mouth!"

"He's telling the truth," I said.

"What?" Dean asked, caught off guard.

Garth nodded. "Bobby was gone. You two were MIA. It was a weird time. Somebody had to step in and take up the slack." He shrugged. "Maddi and Nate helped me set up the system I have going now."

Sam and Dean looked at me in surprise.

Garth nodded. "All right. Let's just get back to work, and we'll talk about this later, all right?" Then he and Nate turned and walked away.

"Did Garth just tell us what to do?" Dean asked and then looked at me. "Why didn't you tell us about this?"

I shrugged. "I didn't think there was a need."

"Wasn't a need?" Dean asked.

"What?" I asked. "He's doing a good job. No need to make a big deal out of it," I said and then followed after Garth and Nate, with Dean mocking me under his breath as he followed behind me.

"Uh, Scott Lew," Garth said as he gestured to the witness he had been talking to. "These people here are with the FBI." He looked at us. "Mr. Lew's parents were the individuals involved in this… unfortunate situation."

Dean nodded. "Sorry for your loss."

"Just a few questions, Mr. Lew," Sam said, "Um, by any chance were your parents having… marital problems?"

Scott shook his head. "No. Uh, no more than anyone else."

"What about your mother's health?" Sam asked, "Any chance this was a seizure, a stroke, anything that might help explain this?"

"I don't think so. Um, they're checking her out at the, um, hospital right now," Scott said.

"What about stranger behavior?" Dean asked.

Scott furrowed his brow. "Stranger? How?"

I nodded. "Hearing voices, seeing things…?"

"Your mother mention anything like that?" Dean asked.

Scott scoffed. "My parents were married for thirty years… high school sweethearts. There's no good explanation for why this happened, no matter where you want to look."

Garth nodded. "Okay, well, thank you, Scott. We'll be in touch."

Scott nodded and walked away, giving Dean one last look.

The five of us walked over to Mr. Lew's covered garage area. A huge bloodstain and drag marks were leading out of it. We started to look around the area. Sam pulled out an EMF meter and checked around. Dean and I searched for any trace of sulfur.

Sam sighed. "No EMF. No traces of sulfur anywhere. Like I thought… bust."

Garth shook his head. "Hold on there, Sam. There's a lot of things to factor in here. Uh, it happened last night, so the readings could be cold by now."

"Good point," Dean agreed and then shot Sam a look.

"And, uh, even if there was any sulfur, Barney Fife and his crew probably contaminated the whole crime scene and any evidence that was here with it," Garth said.

Dean smirked. "Wow. He's on a roll."

"That's one word for it," Sam said.

Garth looked down at his boot. "Uh, guys, I think I found something." He picked up his foot and revealed stringy dark-green goo stuck to the bottom of his boot.

"Is that gum, or is that ectoplasm?" Dean asked.

"Ectoplasm is usually black, right?" Sam asked.

Garth scooped some up with his finger and tasted it. "Mmm." He made a disgusted face.

Sam, Dean, and I grimaced at him.

Garth nodded. "Definitely ectoplasm. So, what are we thinking… uh, some kind of ghost, right?"

Dean snapped his finger and pointed at Garth. Then he looked at Sam as if he had proved something to him.

The wild wild west

The wild wild west

Garth pulled out a different phone and answered it, "Uh, Ranger McCrae here."

"One of those things rings Hammer, I'm throwing down," Dean said to us.

"Oh, great," Garth said and then pulled out a marker. "Okay." (…) "Okay." He wrote something down on his palm. "Thanks, Doc." Then he hung up and looked at us. "Asked the coroner to drop me a line in case the autopsy turned up anything… unusual. And guess what? Our dead guy had the word 'Alcott' carved into his chest." He showed us his palm with the word written on it.

"With what?" Sam asked.

"Coroner's best guess?" Garth asked. "His wife Mary's fingernails."

Dean nodded. "Time to talk to the wife."

Garth, Dean, and Sam walked off while Nate and I trailed behind.

"So, how are things?" Nate asked nonchalantly.

I chuckled. "You're gonna make this awkward?"

He furrowed his brow. "Awkward? I just asked a question."

I nodded. "Yeah, a question people ask when they don't have anything else to say."

He smirked. "Okay, but seriously, how's everything going between those two?" He pointed to Sam and Dean. "I see Dean is still his cheery self."

I laughed. "Yeah, sorry about that. I guess protective big brother mode just never goes away." I sighed and looked up at him and Sam. "They're both still on edge." I shook my head. "Dean's pissed that Sam stopped hunting for a year, and Sam's pissed that Dean can't get over it."

Nate nodded. "Ah, yeah. I can see both sides."

I furrowed my brow at him. "You can?"

"What? You don't?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, I totally agree with Dean."

Nate shrugged. "I don't know. Sam found someone he was really happy with, right?"

I nodded. "I mean, yeah, but—"

"If you told me you were done with this life, I would take you as far away from it as I could," he said.

"I wouldn't do that if I thought I could save Dean," I said.

He shook his head. "But he didn't think that. You guys had no idea where to even start. Purgatory never even crossed your mind until those last few weeks."

I thought for a second. "I mean, yeah…"

Nate nodded. "Exactly, so I can't blame him."

I rolled my eyes. "I hate when you're right."

He chuckled and put his hand in mine. "But I get where Dean's coming from too."

I nodded thoughtfully. "What would you really do if I were to tell you tomorrow, I was done with all this?"

He shrugged. "Like I said, take you somewhere far away. Hide up in the mountains in some other country… take a well-deserved vacation… then start a family and—"

I blushed briefly. "A family, huh?"

He nodded with a small smile. "Yeah, if we weren't bringing kids into this... I would definitely want to have them."

Suddenly, Dean whistled and snapped his fingers. "Come on, love birds. We don't have all day."

I rolled my eyes and looked up at Nate. "This is gonna be fun."

We met each other at the hospital and walked up to Mary Lew's room for questioning. She was handcuffed to her bed with an officer standing guard outside.

"Mrs. Lew, can you tell us what happened?" Sam asked.

She thought for a second and then spoke with a broken voice, "I was at the store getting groceries, and the next thing I know, my son Scott finds me in the driveway. And Chester was—" She started to cry.

"Do you remember anything at all about what happened?" Sam asked. "Um… Chester dying?"

She shook her head. "Not really. Bits and pieces, I guess."

Garth started to giggle quietly and looked at the group, but we all shook our heads. So, he quickly turned his giggle into a cough.

"Such as?" Dean asked.

"I remember his screams…" She cried. "The smell of burned rubber, and… I remember feeling so angry… just uncontrollable rage, like I wasn't myself. And after it was over, all that anger was… just gone."

"Uh, ma'am," Nate cleared his throat. "Does the word 'Alcott' mean anything to you?"

Mary clenched her hand into a fist and tugged at the handcuffs chaining her to the bed. "What does she have to do with anything?"

"It's a she?" Sam asked.

She nodded. "My husband, Chester, and I were going steady in high school for a few years already when we had a big fight."

"What about?" I asked.

She shook her head, ashamed. "Something stupid, I'm sure. It was around prom, and so he took Sara Alcott as his date instead of me."

"So, this Sara Alcott was a rival for your husband's affections?" Garth asked.

"Sara had one night with him, whereas I was with Chester for thirty-seven years," Mary said angrily and then started to cry.

Sam nodded. "Of course, right. Sure. Um, just one more question," he said and cleared his throat. "Um… is… Ms. Alcott still alive?"

"As far as I know, yes," she said, slightly confused.

Dean nodded. "Thank you very much, Mrs. Lew."

Outside of the hospital, we walked toward the Impala.

"Let me get this straight," Dean said, sounding slightly annoyed. "This poor guy goes to prom with some girl over thirty years ago, and because of that, he's now a pancake?"

Sam shrugged. "I mean, if this is a ghost, maybe it's some sort of possession?"

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked. "You heard her. Alcott's alive."

I nodded. "Yeah, but I don't think something that small would trigger her to do something about it now unless something pushed her."

"We're definitely gonna want to talk to Sara," Garth agreed.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan," Dean said as he opened his door. "Did we eat yet?"

We stopped at a bar to get some lunch, and Garth ordered everyone a round of wings.

The waitress brought out another plate for us and set them in the middle of the table. "There you go."

Garth nodded. "Mmm. Thanks. Keep 'em coming."

"All right," she said as she walked away.

"So, Dean, give me the skinny," Garth said with a mouth full of food. "Were you really in Purgatory this past year?"

Dean took a bite of his burger. "Why don't we save what I did on my summer vacation for another time?"

"Aw, come on," Garth said, disappointed, and then nodded encouragingly.

Dean looked at Sam and me. "All right. Yeah, I was in Purgatory."

Garth looked at me. "So you were right." He looked back at Dean. "So, actual Purgatory Purgatory?"

"No, the one in Miami," Dean said sarcastically.

Garth shook his head and pointed at Dean. "Man, that's balls."

Dean shook his head. "That's not how you say 'balls.'"

"So how'd you get out?" Garth asked.

Sam made a show out of looking at Dean. Nate gave me a curious look, and I avoided his eye contact. Then Dean looked around the bar and gestured around the room to all the Confederate flags hanging on the walls.

"What's up with all the, uh, hillbilly hankies?" Dean asked, "These people know the Civil War's over, right?"

Garth nodded. "Mmm. That's a touchy subject around these parts. See, Missouri was a border state. So, half the men were Confederate, the other half were the Union."

"How do you know all this?" Sam asked.

Garth shrugged. "I went to college."

Sam furrowed his brow. "You went to college?"

Garth nodded. "Yeah. College, and on to dental school."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "What, you— you were a dentist?"

"Yeah, just for, like, a hot minute. Where'd you think I got my first case?" Garth asked.

Dean smirked. "Let me guess… Tooth Fairy."

Garth suddenly got really quiet, and his facial expression changed like he remembered something terrible. Then he put down his fork and napkin. "Yeah." He nodded and looked down at the table sadly. "Man, I felt terrible when I ganked that SOB."

We all exchanged looks.

"Uh, you killed the Tooth Fairy?" Sam asked.

Nate shook his head. "You never told me that."

"Yeah, man." Garth shook his head. "I mean, not my proudest moment, but it happened. Mmm." He took another bite of his food. "Man, this is good."

The next day, we got a call that Scott Lew had been involved in a murder at a convenience store.

We stared down at the bloody body that had been covered by a white sheet.

"So, first the mom goes Natural Born Killer, and now the son?" Dean shrugged. "Well, what do we got… a ghost with an Oedipus complex?"

Sam looked at him, surprised, and Dean just stared back.

I furrowed my brow at him. "You don't know what that means, do you?"

Dean looked at me and shook his head. "No. No, I don't."

Something caught Sam's eye. "Check that out." He pointed to a beverage cooler that had the word Sussex in blood on it.

"'Sussex'?" Dean asked.

"Is that another name?" I asked.

Sam shook his head. "I don't know."

Garth and Nate walked over to us when they finished talking with the sheriff. Garth was wearing one of Bobby's hats tilted slightly to the side.

"Hey, what'd the cops say?" Sam asked.

Garth suddenly looked down and examined the bottom of his shoe. He had stepped in more green goo. "Aw, come on."

Nate sighed. "Not much. Uh, Scott insisted he wasn't in control of himself. Says all he remembers is a red-hot rage."

Sam nodded. "So, what is this, some— some kind of family curse?"

"Is that Bobby's hat?" Dean asked, staring at the hat with irritation all over his face.

Garth nodded with a smile. "Oh, yeah. Sure is." He touched the brim of the hat. "We worked a rugaru case together a few years back. He left it in my car, so I kept it as a—"

Dean quickly snatched the hat off Garth's head, messing up his hair in the process. My jaw dropped.

"Memento," Garth finished his sentence even though he was stunned. "What are you doing?" he asked, looking upset.

"That's not how you wear it," Dean snapped.

"Dean, what the hell?" I asked. "Give it back."

"No, I'm not giving it back," he snapped.

We glared at each other for a moment.

"Guys," Sam said in a hushed warning tone. "Don't cause a scene. We're working. Remember?"

"Excuse me," the deputy said as Dean tucked the hat into his jacket. "Surveillance is up… but something is all screwy with it."

Garth looked after Dean sadly as he and Sam turned away to follow the deputy.

I patted Garth on the back sympathetically. He nodded at me sadly, and then he walked over to join Sam and Dean.

"What's up with Dean?" Nate whispered.

I shook my head. "I don't know, but I will personally kick his ass if he keeps acting like that toward Garth." Then I walked away to join the others, with Nate following behind.

The deputy started the footage for us. It showed Scott beating the victim with a shovel, but the whole time his head was obscured by a white line across the screen.

The deputy shrugged. "Must be the camera."

Garth nodded. "Yeah, thank you, there, deputy."

"You guys see the head? Ever seen anything like that before?" Dean asked.

"Like that?" Garth shook his head. "No way."

"So?" Sam asked.

Dean sighed. "So…"

Garth nodded. "So, I'm thinking we need to talk to Sara Alcott. I found her… although these days, she goes by Sara Brown."

Sam nodded. "How about this? We split up. I'll check her out."

"I'll go with you," Nate volunteered, and Sam nodded back.

I shrugged. "All right, then the three of us…" I gestured to myself, Dean, and Garth. "Will see what we can find out about Sussex."

Garth nodded. "Word."

Dean looked at Sam and me, clearly not wanting to work with Garth. "Awesome," he said sarcastically.

Sam nodded at him with a smile, and then he and Nate left the convenience store.

Dean, Garth, and I sat silently at the table while we worked on our Sussex research. Dean was working on his laptop while Garth and I were reading through some books.

Dean took a swig of his beer, and Garth reached forward to grab the unopened beer bottle that sat by Dean's laptop.

Before Garth could pick it up, Dean swiped it. "Easy there, flyweight. Last time you drank a beer, I had to pick you up off the floor."

Garth smiled and chuckled, shaking his head. "You're such an idjit."

Dean hesitated for a second, staring at Garth in disbelief. "Idjit's supposed to be used angrily." He shook his head. "Okay? Not happy. If you're gonna butcher it, don't say it at all."

Garth furrowed his brow at him in surprise.

"Dean…" I warned.

"What?" he snapped.

"You know what." I looked at him with irritation all over my face.

"Whoa, then. Okay," Garth said, "None— None of my business, but… this have anything to do with you and… Sam?

"No, you had it right. It's none of your business," Dean said.

Garth nodded. "Okay. It just seems that you guys are a little tense around each other."

Dean cleared his throat and picked up his beer. "We're fine. Can we get back to work?"

Garth nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay." Dean took a swig of his beer.

"All right. Just, uh— Just letting you know that I'm here for you, for anything," Garth said.

Dean nodded.

Garth shrugged. "I know sometimes Bobby… he would—"

Dean slammed his bottle down on the table, causing Garth and me to jump. "You're not Bobby! Okay? You're never gonna be Bobby, so stop!"

We sat there in awkward silence for a moment. Dean and I both were pissed for different reasons, and Garth was clearly hurt.

Garth's lip quivered as he spoke, "Bobby belonged to all of us, Dean… not just you guys. Now, I'm just taking what he showed me and trying to do something with it. That's all!"

They just stared at each other for a moment.

"Dean, can I talk to you?" I glared at him. "Outside, for a minute?"

He sighed and stood up. "Yeah, sure. Come on."

I stood up and followed him outside.

"All right, let me have it," he said after I shut the door behind us.

"Look, I don't know what your deal is, but Garth is not the problem here," I said.

He shook his head. "I just don't want him thinking he's replacing Bobby."

I shrugged and shook my head. "He doesn't think that, and he's not. He's just picking up the huge pieces that Bobby's death left behind."

"He doesn't know what he's doing," he said.

"He does, and Nate and I both helped him get to the point he's at right now. The three of us helped each other figure out something that would work. Bobby's gone, but all the hunters he used to help keep alive are not. Someone needed to pick up the slack, and Garth was the only one who stepped up," I explained. "This past year, Garth and Nate were the only ones there for me when you couldn't be. So, all I'm asking is to please just be nice. Garth doesn't mean anything other than pure respect and love for Bobby when he talks like him or brings him up. He loved him too, Dean." I stared at him for a moment. "And just so we're on the same page about this… Garth's like family to me now, and you know how defensive I can get when it comes to family."

He stared at me for a moment, sighed, and then nodded, clearly considering what I had said, even if he wasn't ready to address it. "All right, let's get back to work."

I opened the door, and we walked back in, joining Garth at the table.

Dean sighed and looked at Garth. "Why don't you see if you can find something in that bourbon-drenched book of Bobby's so we can get the hell out of Dixie, all right?"

Garth nodded. "Yeah. I'm on it."

Dean looked back at his computer, and after a moment of scrolling, he looked up at us. "Hey. Sussex is not a who. It's a what. It's a business that went belly-up about a year ago. Look at this." He turned the laptop so we could see the screen. There was a picture of Scott Lew standing next to the man he had murdered standing outside of a tire company. "So, the guy that Scott brained? His old business partner… ran the company into the ground."

Garth raised his eyebrows. "So, Scott had a beef with Jeff."

Dean nodded. "Looks like."

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Dean answered his phone and set it down in the middle of the table. "Hey, you're on speaker."

"Sara Alcott's clean," Nate said.

"If you look past the fact that she and Chester knocked boots on prom night back in the day," Sam said.

"Okay, so… Mary has a grudge against Sara, and Scott has a grudge against Jeff," Dean said as he rubbed his forehead. "Besides the fact this is making my head hurt… how does this add up to a ghost?"

"Guys!" Garth said excitedly as he pointed to a page in the book he had been reading. "Bobby has it right here. Green goo equals a specter."

"Which equals ghost, right?" Dean asked.

"Mmm, yeah, kind of," Garth said and then started reading. "'A specter is an avenging ghost. It, uh— It possesses you and finds out whatever betrayals you're feeling and forces you to act on them.'"

I nodded. "Wow. Awesome," I said sarcastically.

"Bobby say anything in there about how we hunt these things?" Sam asked.

Garth looked down at the book. "Uh, the last specter he encountered 'rose shortly after someone desecrated a nearby grave.'" He started typing into the laptop. "Which… uh, there was a grave desecrated locally three days ago. It says here…" He hesitated. "Oh. This could get awkward."

"What?" Dean and I asked in unison.

The five of us walked into a cemetery toward a tomb that had uniformed guards standing outside it.

"The unknown soldier?" Dean asked, "You're kidding me, right?"

"Mary Lew steamrolled her husband the day after this place was vandalized," Garth said, "Do the math."

Sam shook his head. "But I thought the unknown soldier was buried in Arlington."

Garth nodded. "Yup, but this is the Confederate tomb of the unknown soldier. See, the idea was, they took a faceless, nameless soldier they couldn't identify, and they buried him here to commemorate all the soldiers who died."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "Did you learn that in college?"

"Nope," Garth said, "Civil War reenactments. Once a year, every year."

We all looked at him, surprised.

He shook his head. "Don't hate."

"Okay, uh, what about the guard?" Sam asked.

"Uh, he's ceremonial. Gone by dusk," Garth said.

"So, then we do this tonight?" Nate asked.

Garth nodded. "Yeah."

"Burn a Confederate soldier's bones in a town full of rednecks?" Sam asked. "Sure."

Later that night, when everyone had left the cemetery, we snuck back in to check out the tomb of the unknown soldier.

"Place doesn't look disturbed to me," Sam said as we shined our flashlights around inside of the tomb. "What's the police report say?"

"Uh, they think it was just some kids messing around," Nate said.

Garth nodded. "They, uh— They found some beer cans, some graffiti. Oh, and the casket was open when they got here, but they closed that back up."

"Yeah, but not before Casper had a chance to make a run for it," Dean said.

"So, what?" Sam asked, "If they never touched this, none of this would be happening?"

Garth nodded. "Yeah, according to Bobby."

Dean sighed. "All right, well, let's get this party started," he said and moved to the stone casket.

Sam bent down and picked something up off the ground.

"Sammy, you want to give us a hand?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded, and then he, Dean, and Nate all grasped the lid.

"And… go," Dean said, and then they lifted the lid and slid it off with a few grunts.

Inside the casket laid a skeleton in a uniform with a sword and gun.

"Whoa. Check out this hardware. Do you guys know how much this is worth?" Garth asked with a huge smile.

I nodded. "Yeah, but why bother coming in and raiding the place if you aren't gonna grab the stuff that's actually worth money?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe the cops showed up, and they had to split fast." He pulled matches, salt, and gas out of his bag and passed them around.

Garth grabbed the salt. "You sure this will work, even on a specter?"

Dean shrugged. "It's a ghost, isn't it? You burn its bones, the ghost disappears."

Garth poured salt on the bones, and Sam poured the lighter fluid while Dean got the matches ready.

"All right," Dean said and moved to light the matches.

Garth puts his hands up quickly. "All right. All right. All right. Uh, I kind of feel like we should say something. Don't you? Just… a little…"

We exchanged looks.

Dean nodded. "Sure. We won," he said with a smirk and then lit the match and dropped it on the skeleton.

The next day, we had gotten a call that a deputy had shot the sheriff at his desk, seemingly out of the blue and in front of everyone else at the station.

We stood there staring at the blood-covered desk as the sheriff's body was getting rolled out on a stretcher.

"Ten bones says Deputy Doug had an ax to grind with his boss," Dean said.

"How can you be so sure?" Garth asked.

Dean pointed to more goo on the sheriff's tape dispenser.

Garth shook his head. "Ah, what the hell?"

"Maybe we torched the wrong redneck," Dean said.

Sam shook his head. "Or maybe not. Maybe an object was removed from the grave, something the specter's attaching itself to."

"Like Bobby's flask?" Dean asked.

"Um, I don't know, guys. You saw what I saw. Those kids didn't take anything," Garth said.

I shrugged. "Or they did."

Dean nodded. "And this specter hitched a ride with it."

"And whoever has the object gets possessed," Sam said.

Nate nodded. "Okay. So, who's got the object, and, more importantly, who do they got a grudge against?"

The five of us were let into a holding cell to speak with Deputy Wallace.

"All right. We need you to focus, Deputy," Sam said, "Other lives depend on it. Tell me what happened after you shot the sheriff."

Deputy Wallace shook his head. "I was on the ground. I think Karl tackled me, and I asked him what happened."

"And?" Dean asked.

The deputy shook his head. "He didn't answer me. He just took my gun and walked away."

We all exchanged worried glances.

"Did he say where he was going?" Dean asked.

Deputy Wallace shrugged. "I guess… I must have hurt him, too. He said he was going to the hospital."

We quickly left the cell.

"You guys find out what you can about the unknown soldier. I got the hospital," Dean said and turned to leave.

"I'll go with him," Nate said and then hurried off after Dean.

We pulled up to the library, got out, and walked toward the entrance.

"Hey, uh, Sam," Garth said, "If you ever need to talk, I just want to let you know that I'm here. About anything… you know, life, uh, Dean, you."

Sam nodded. "I'm okay. Thanks."

Garth shrugged. "I mean, it just seems like you and Dean are talking, but nobody's listening to each other. I had this cousin once… well, he's gone now… but his name was Frank. Frank and I used to build—"

He cut himself off when we realized Sam hadn't walked into the library with us. I turned and opened the door to see Sam standing outside, seemingly daydreaming.

"Hey, you comin'?" Garth asked Sam as he peered out the door.

Sam turned and looked at us, sighed, and then followed us inside. We continued inside and asked a librarian for books they might carry on the unknown soldier.

She nodded and then led us deeper into the library.

"You do know there is a good reason he's called the unknown soldier, right?" she asked, as she turned into a section of books.

Sam nodded. "Right. Uh, we were just hoping maybe a theory or two had been floated around over the years… something local, maybe?"

She looked over the shelf and picked up one of the books. "There is one." She set the book down on the table and flipped to a specific page. "Corporal Collins of the Union shot and killed his brother, Vance, who fought for the Confederacy. Local boys." She pointed to his picture.

"Wait, so two brothers fought on opposite sides of the Civil War?" Sam asked.

I shrugged. "It's not exactly unheard of."

The librarian nodded. "She's actually right. Legend has it that Vance swore vengeance on his brother with his dying breath. Years later… consumed by guilt, no doubt… the corporal dug his brother up where he'd buried him on the battlefield and brought him home."

"Are you suggesting this Vance guy is the unknown soldier?" Garth asked.

She shrugged. "That's one theory, anyway."

"What's that?" Sam asked as he pointed to the photo of Vance. He was wearing a necklace with a round disk pendant.

The librarian took a closer look at the image. "Most of the soldiers were poor farmers, so… the families would give them a penny on a string. It was for good luck, and in case they ever got lost, they always had a penny for food or drink."

Sam scoffed. "A penny." Then he turned and hurried out of the building.

Garth and I hurried off after Sam.

"Sam?" I asked, chasing after him.

When Garth and I reached him outside, he was talking on his phone. "Dean, hey. There was a string on the floor of the tomb. It used to hold an old penny. That's the object. We're coming right now."

When we got out of the motel, I realized I had twelve missed calls from Nate and several texts.

NATE: Maddi answer your phone. Please!

NATE: Please pick up

NATE: Where are you?!

NATE: PLEASE ANSWER!

NATE: Maddison!

NATE: Dean is acting crazy! I don't know where he went. I couldn't stop him.

NATE: Please tell me you're safe! I'm on the way to the motel. I can't find him anywhere! We need to regroup and find him.

By the time I finished reading, Sam and Garth had already walked into the room.

"Guys!" I shouted after them and hurried toward the room.

"Maddison!" Nate called to my right.

When I looked, he was running toward me with a split lip and a freshly bruising eye.

"What the hell happened to you?!" I asked as I hurried over to him, grabbing his face to inspect his injuries.

Nate grabbed my hands and looked at me very seriously. "Dean—"

"What?!" I yelled.

"He got into a fight with the officer that arrested that deputy and started acting crazy. He said something about Sam and Purgatory…" He shook his head, out of breath and exasperated. "I— I don't know. I tried to stop him, but…" He gestured to his face.

"You should have looked for me when I was in Purgatory!" Dean shouted from inside the room.

Nate and I looked at each other and hurried inside. When we ran in, Dean was pointing a gun at Sam with green goo dripping from his ear. Dean didn't even flinch or look at us when we hurried in. He was only completely focused on Sam.

"Come on, Dean. I know it's not you in there pulling the strings," Sam said.

"Shut up!" Dean shouted.

Garth moved for his gun.

"Don't!" Dean shouted and pointed his gun at Garth until he relaxed. Then he aimed his gun back at Sam. "You never even wanted this life. Always blamed me for pulling you back into it."

Sam shook his head. "That's not true."

Dean glared at him. "Really? 'Cause, everything you've ever done since you climbed into my ride has been to deceive me."

"What do you want me to say?" Sam asked, "That I've made mistakes? I've made mistakes, Dean."

"That's not Dean, Sam," Nate said.

"Shut up!" Dean shouted, causing everyone to jump slightly. "Mistakes?" he asked Sam. "Well, let's go through some of Sammy's greatest hits." He took a few steps closer to Sam. "Drinking demon blood, check. Being in cahoots with Ruby and pawning Maddison off to Bobby so you could do it? Not telling me that you lost your soul. Or how about running around with Samuel for a whole year, letting me think that you were dead while you're doing all kinds of crazy. Those aren't mistakes, Sam. Those are choices!"

Sam shook his head. "All right. You said it. We've both played a little fast and loose."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, I might have lied, but I never once betrayed you. I never once left you to die. And for what, a girl? You left our sister alone for a girl, again?" He glared at him. "You left me to die for a girl?!"

Sam suddenly put his hand on the gun and punched Dean in the face. Then he pushed Dean into the glass room divider, 'causing glass to shatter everywhere. He punched Dean a few more times until Dean backhanded him and headbutted him. He kicked Sam in the chest and sent him flying back across the room and crashing into the coffee table. Sam pulled himself up, and Dean aimed his gun at him once again.

"Dean! No!" I shouted and started to move toward Dean, but Nate grabbed me and held me back.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Garth yelled and stepped in between Sam and Dean.

"Garth, don't!" Sam shouted.

Garth shook his head, with his hands up, facing Dean. "No, he won't kill me. His beef isn't with me. You're not gonna shoot me, are you, Dean?"

Dean aimed the gun at Garth. "Move."

"Come on, Dean," Garth said, "You do not want to kill your brother. You— You've been protecting him your whole life. Don't stop now."

"He left me to rot in Purgatory!" Dean yelled.

Garth jumped slightly. "All right. All right. Maybe he did. I don't know. I wasn't there. But I'm sure he had his reasons."

"Just like you had your reasons for Benny," Sam said.

"Sam, this really isn't the time," I said, trying to fight Nate off of me.

Garth furrowed his brow. "Who?"

Dean turned his attention to Sam while still aiming the gun at Garth. "Benny has been more of a brother to me this past year than you've ever been! That's right. Cass let me down. Maddi's let me down. You let me down. The only person that hasn't let me down is Benny."

My heart sank, knowing that he still felt that way.

"I know you're angry," Garth said, "But, man, you gotta fight this thing. Do not do this! Just let it go. Come on, Dean."

Dean moved to shove Garth out of the way. "Goodbye, Sam."

"No!" I screamed.

Garth punched Dean in the face. As Dean reeled back, he dropped the coin.

Garth shook his hand. "Ow! God!"

Dean steadied himself, looking slightly dazed but no longer furious. Garth bent down to pick up the coin.

"Garth, don't!" Sam yelled.

"It's cool. It's all good. I'm cool," Garth said, with the penny in his hand.

Dean touched the goo on his ear, and we all stared at each other in shock.

Later that night, Dean and I walked Nate and Garth out to their car to say goodbye.

"It took us forever to melt that penny, but it's finally gone," Garth said as he and Nate loaded their bags into the car.

"How come that penny didn't jack you like everyone else?" Dean asked. "I mean, I can understand why it didn't affect the kid who took it. He's young and innocent. But, uh, everyone at some point in their life feels like they've been screwed."

Garth smiled and shook his head. "Not me, man. I let all that stuff go with the help of my yogi, my Sega Genesis."

Nate nodded and chuckled. "He's not lying."

Garth nodded at Dean. "And you should, too. You can't change the past, amigo. Now, there's something I want to say to you. Stop being an idjit!"

Dean furrowed his brow.

"With Bobby dead, you, Sam, and Maddi are all each other has," Garth said with a chuckle. "And that's not so bad, man. Now, you know what's coming next, right?" He spread his arms for a hug. "Come on."

Dean looked away. "Oh…"

"Come on," Garth chuckled and pulled Dean into a reluctant hug.

Dean nodded and embraced the hug. "Yeah, okay."

Garth pulled away and smiled at Dean and then pulled me into a hug as well. "Stay safe, all right?"

"You too," I said as I rubbed his back and then pulled away.

"Hey, uh…" Dean said as he pulled Bobby's hat out of his back pocket and put it on Garth's head. "Keep on truckin', Garth."

Garth smiled tearfully and touched the brim of his hat. "Thanks."

I smiled at Dean knowingly.

You can't touch this

Break it down!

Stop, Hammer time!

Garth looked into the car. "Oh, got to go." He reached into his car and grabbed his phone, answering it in one swift movement. "Yo, Lamar. What do we got?" (…) "Wendigo?" (…) "You got a flare gun?" he asked as he climbed into the car. (…) "No? What about a flame thrower?" (…) "Then you'd better get some sneakers, buddy." He laughed. "'Cause you're gonna have to run." (…) "All right." He ended the call and tried unsuccessfully to start his car. The car sputtered and he slammed his hands on the wheel. "Balls!"

Dean and I smirked at each other.

"Just give it a sec, buddy," Nate said. "Remember?"

Garth nodded and took a breath, and then started the engine successfully this time. He gave us a thumbs up and a smile.

Nate chuckled. "All right." He turned to me. "I don't want to leave you, but…"

I nodded and smiled at him. "Duty calls. I know how it goes." I winked at him and pulled him into a hug.

He squeezed me and pulled back just enough to put his hand on the back of my neck and kiss me. Dean cleared his throat after a moment. We pulled away from each other and smiled.

"Okay, I'll call you when I can," I said as I pulled my hand away from his and stepped back toward Dean.

"Looking forward to it," he said with a smile and then held his hand out to Dean. "See ya, man."

Dean shook his hand and nodded. "Nice to see ya, kid."

They separated, and then Nate joined Garth in the car. They both waved at us as they drove away.

Then Dean swung his arm around my shoulders as we walked back to the motel.

"So, clearly, the kid isn't scared of me catching him looking at you anymore," Dean said.

I laughed and tucked my arm around his back as we continued walking. "I would say that's accurate."

He nodded. "Well, good. It's about time."

I looked up at him with my brow furrowed. "What?"

Dean nodded. "I mean, if you two are gonna be… whatever you are. I'm glad he doesn't shake like a leaf when I'm in the same room as him anymore. It gives me a little peace of mind that maybe… maybe I can loosen the reins and trust him to keep you safe."

I laughed. "I thought I would never hear you say something like that."

"Well… I've been thinking, and I really could never thank either of them enough for being there for you this past year. It's something I don't want to take for granted," he said and then moved to knock on the room door.

"Hold on," I said and held onto his hand. "I want to talk to you about something." I looked at him very seriously. "I know that coin was making you say things you wouldn't normally say, but those feelings came from somewhere real even if they were exaggerated."

Dean shook his head. "I honestly don't remember what I said, so—"

I nodded. "And that's okay, but I do and I just want you to know that going forward, I will never do anything that I know would let you down again."

I felt myself getting a little choked up. I was so happy that Dean was back, and I really couldn't handle it if he truly thought I would ever intentionally hurt him.

I cleared my throat, trying to calm myself down a bit. "I just hope you know—"

He squeezed my hand and nodded. "I know. Trust me, I know." He pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head. "Okay?"

"Yeah," I said as he pulled away.

"Don't worry, okay?" he asked as he wiped a tear from my cheek with his thumb.

I nodded. "Okay."

He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it with a sincere smile. He turned to the door and knocked loudly on it. "Sammy!"

Sam walked out a moment later with his bags and barely looked at either of us. He walked to the Impala, loaded his stuff, and slammed the trunk.

"For the record, the girl… her name's Amelia," Sam said, "Amelia Richardson. She and I had a place together in Kermit, Texas."

Dean shook his head. "Look, man, I don't even remember what I said, but, uh—"

"But what?" Sam snapped, "But you didn't mean it? Oh, please. We all know you didn't need that penny to say those things."

Dean sighed. "Come on, Sam."

"Own up to your crap, Dean," Sam growled, "I told you from the jump where I was coming from, why I didn't look for you. But you? You had secrets. You had Benny. And you got on your high and mighty, and you've been kicking me ever since you got back. But that's over. So move on, or I will."

Dean nodded. "Okay. I hear you."

"Good," Sam said as he moved toward the passenger seat and then paused. "You know what? Hear this, too. I just might be that hunter that runs into Benny one day and ices him."

"I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, won't we?" Dean asked, straight-faced.

Sam nodded and scoffed. "Yeah. Yeah. You keep saying that."