Sam groaned in the motel chair, where Dean, Chelsea, and Castiel were watching over him.
"You're right. He looks terrible." Castiel said. Sam groaned again.
"You did this?" Cas asked Dean.
"Cas? What's-" Sam asked, struggling against the ropes tying him down in his chair. "Let me go."
"Has he been feverish?" Cas asked Dean or Chelsea, gripping Sam's face.
"Have you?" Dean asked Sam as he pulled out of Cas' grasp.
"No. Why?" Sam asked.
"Is he speaking in tongues?" Cas asked. "Are you speaking in tongues?" He turned back to Sam.
"No. What are you...are you diagnosing me?"
"You better hope he can." Dean said aggressively.
"You really think that this is-"
"What, you think that there's a clinic out there for people who just pop out of hell wrong? He asks, you answer! Then you shut your hole. You got it?" Chelsea shouted at him as Cas took Sam's pulse.
"How much do you sleep?" Cas asked.
"I don't." Sam said.
"At all?" Dean asked him.
"Not since I got back."
Cas shared a wary look with Dean and Chelsea.
"And it never occurred to you that there might be something off about that?!" Dean shouted.
"Of course it did, Dean. I-I just never told you."
Cas straightened up and looked at Dean.
"What?" Dean asked him, feeling uneasy all of a sudden.
"Sam...what are you feeling now?" Cas asked. Sam scoffed.
"I feel like my nose is broken."
"No, that's a physical sensation. How do you feel?"
"Well, I think-"
"Feel." Cas cut him off.
"I...don't know."
Cas turned back to Chelsea and Dean, and then started to pull his belt away from his waist, obviously coming up with some idea to what might be wrong with Sam.
"What? Uh..." Sam started.
"This will be unpleasant." Cas said, rolling up his sleeve.
"What-" Sam started again.
"Bite down on this. If there's someplace that you find soothing, you should go there. In your mind." Cas shoved a belt in Sam's mouth. Then he shoved his arm into Sam's chest cavity.
Chelsea cringed, turning away from the two and toward Dean, who waved her over to him. Sam's screaming seemed to last forever, before it stopped and was replaced but ragged and heavy breathing as the belt fell from his mouth.
Cas walked away from the other two Winchesters.
"Did you find anything?" Dean asked carefully.
"No." Castiel said.
"So that's good news?" Chelsea asked, hopeful.
"I'm afraid not. Physically, he's perfectly healthy."
"Then what?" Dean asked.
"It's his soul. It's gone." Cas said, meeting Chelsea and Dean's eyes again.
Dean scoffed.
"Um...I'm s- I'm sorry. One more time, like I'm 5. What do you mean, he's got no-"
"Somehow, when Sam was resurrected, it was without his soul." Cas said, closing some of the space between Cas and the two siblings with souls.
"So, where is it?" Chelsea asked.
"My guess is...still in the cage with Michael and Lucifer."
"So, is he even still Sam?" Dean asked Cas, looking at their brother, who was still trying to compose himself in the chair.
"Well, you pose an interesting philosophical question." Cas said, turning to look at the soulless Winchester.
"Well, then, just get it back." Dean said.
"Dean." Cas started.
"Well, you pulled me out." He said.
"It took several angels to rescue you, and you weren't nearly as well guarded. Sam's soul is in Lucifer's cage. There's a difference, a big difference. It's not possible."
"Okay, well, there's got to be a way." Chelsea said. "Is there a way I can get it?" She asked, looking between her brother and her angel. "Being connected to Lucifer's soul?"
Everyone in the room paused. Cas instantly locked eyes with Dean.
"You told her?" He said, anger clouding his voice.
"Listen, Cas, it wasn't like that." Dean said, trying to explain.
"I got Veritas' curse." Chelsea answered for him. "I forced him to tell me, on accident. Wasn't his fault."
Cas continued to glare at Dean.
"So, are you gonna untie me?" Sam asked, breaking some of the tension in the room.
"No." Chelsea and Dean said in unison.
"Listen, I'm not gonna-" Sam started.
"Sam, how the hell are we even supposed to let you out of this room?" Dean asked him.
"Dean, I'm not some psycho. I didn't want you to get hurt. I was just trying to stop the vamps." Sam said, and then he sighed. "I'm sorry. It won't ever happen again. Please let me go."
"You're kidding, right?" Chelsea asked.
"Well, what are you gonna do, just keep me locked up in here forever?" He asked.
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Dean said.
"Okay, fine, look, I get it. I get it, Dean. I was wrong. But I'm telling you I-I'm trying to get right. It's still me."
"Is it?" Chelsea asked.
"Yes. So just let me go."
"No way in hell." Dean and Chelsea both said. Sam sighed again.
"I didn't want it to come to this." Sam stood, with the ropes in hand. "You're not gonna hold me, guys -- Not here, not in a panic room, not anywhere. You're stuck with the soulless guy, so you might as well work with me. Let's fix this."
"I'm gonna be watching every move you make." Dean warned, closing some of the space between him and his brother, putting himself in between Sam and Chelsea.
"Fine. Sounds about right to me." Sam said.
"Cas, clean him up."
Cas placed his index and middle finger on Sam's forehead, and Sam groaned as his face was put back together.
"All right, if we're gonna figure out what happened to your soul, then we need to find who yanked you out. You say you don't know?"
"No idea." Sam said.
"Then we start a list. If it's so hard to spring someone out of the box, then who's got that kind of muscle?" Chelsea asked.
"I don't know. You have no memory of your resurrection?" Cas asked Sam. Chelsea vaguely wondered how many angels possessed the power to pull people out of Hell other than Cas.
"I woke up in a field. That's all I got."
"No clues? None?"
Sam thought on it, racking his brain.
"I've got one."
"Cas," Chelsea said to the angel as Dean and Sam hashed a few more things out about this new soulless-ness of his. "Can we talk?"
Cas looked at her warily, but he nodded.
Chelsea led him into a room of the motel they were staying in, out of earshot of her brothers.
Once he was in the room, she turned around to face him, lifting her chin and looking directly into his eyes.
"How come you didn't tell me about Lucifer?" She asked him calmly.
Cas nodded his head gently, as if he'd been expecting this question.
"I'm your guardian angel, Chels. Guardian. Meaning I'm supposed to keep you out of trouble, not tell you about the one thing that's going to bring you trouble for the rest of your life."
"Of course, leaving me to find out about it completely alone." Chelsea took a deep breath. "What does it mean?" She asked instead, and Cas sighed.
"It means that you and Lucifer are destined to be together. You are soulmates. You're bound to his grace, and he's bound to your soul. You shouldn't be able to feel him, though, with him in the Cage. It blocks everything, including the mating connection. When he was out of the Cage, the two of you have a clear line of communication. He could probably hear every single one of your thoughts. That's what gave him a leg up over us in Detroit."
"Is there any way to stop that?" Chelsea asked.
"Doesn't really matter, now." Cas said honestly. "He can't hear a thing in the Cage, and you shouldn't be able to hear him."
Chelsea looked away from Cas.
"I don't love him, though. I don't feel connected to him."
"Again, probably an effect of the Cage. It might take some time for you to love him either way, but it is fated to happen."
"Is there any way to stop it? Any way to break the connection?"
Cas raised his eyebrows, staring at Chelsea with some surprise.
"I've had the angels researching it for awhile now. Most of us have never seen an celestial being mated to a human; their lifespans are too short for us. So far the only thing we've found is simply to destroy the human soul."
Chelsea looked back up at Castiel.
"What're my options then, Cas?"
"For now? It shouldn't cause any problems. Lucifer is untouchable, and you're untouchable for him. The connection is blocked by the Cage. Your biggest worry is going to be demons, monsters, and angels that would love to kill Lucifer's mate. That's why we were keeping this very quiet." Cas said.
Chelsea nodded, and then she wrapped her arms around Castiel. His arms came right around her, holding her tight against his chest, her head tucked underneath his chin.
He held her head protectively against him.
"I'm scared." She whispered gently to him.
"I won't let anything happen to you." Cas promised, tightening his grip on her just as she did the same.
"Gramps throw a barbecue, leave us off the e-vite list?" Dean asked as the three walked in the door of the Campbell compound to see a much larger group of people sharping and cleaning weapons.
"Sam!" Christian laughed, approaching them. "Dean. Chelsea." He greeted the other two, much less enthusiastic.
"Hello, Newman. Where's the man?" Dean asked.
After a second, Christian gestured over his shoulder toward Samuel's office. The three moved across the floor and barged into the room. Samuel cleared his throat, tucking a picture into his desk.
"Come right on in." He said sarcastically.
"Need to ask you a few questions." Dean said tightly, straightening up.
"What's wrong?" Samuel asked.
"The day you got back, what happened?" Dean asked.
"We've been over this." Samuel said.
"Well, recap it for our wingman." Chelsea said as Castiel appeared behind Samuel. Samuel turned around slowly, taking Castiel in as he went.
"This Castiel?"
Cas nodded at the man.
"You're scrawnier than I pictured." Samuel said.
"This is a vessel. My true form is approximately the size of your Chrysler building."
"All right, all right, quit bragging. So, you were dead, and..." Dean pressed Samuel.
"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?" Dean asked, and Castiel began rolling up his sleeve.
From outside the room, the folks gathered in the main room, cleaning weapons, could hear Samuel's scream. Christian picked up a gun from a table and headed toward the office, busting in the door.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay." The three Winchester siblings tried to assure Christian as Castiel fixed his sleeve.
"What the hell?" Christian asked.
"Angel cavity search." Dean answered.
"I'm fine, Christian. Just give us a minute." Samuel said.
"But --" Christian started.
"Just give us a minute." Samuel repeated, and Christian slowly eased out of the room and closed the door.
Samuel attempted to catch his breath.
"What the hell was that about?" Samuel asked.
"His soul is intact." Cas told the siblings.
"What? Of course I have a -- What's going on, Sam?" Samuel asked.
"Whatever dragged me out... left a piece behind." Sam said tensely.
Samuel groaned.
"Did you know?" Chelsea asked him.
"No, but I... I knew it was something. I... You're a hell of a hunter, Sam, but... the truth is, sometimes you scare me. So, what's the deal here? How do we fix this? How do we get his soul back?" Samuel asked the group.
"We don't know yet, but we have to." Dean said.
"Well, I'm here to help, of course. What leads you working?"
"A bunch of dead ends and you." Chelsea said.
"Well, then, we'll just have to dig."
"Chelsea, Sam, Dean... I have to get back." Castiel said from the window, where he was looking up at the sky as if someone was talking to him.
"You're leaving?" Dean asked.
"I'm in the middle of a civil war."
"You better tear the attic up, find something to help Sam."
"Dean," Chelsea chided, but Castiel beat her to the comeback.
"Of course. Your problems always come first. I'll be in touch."
The air whooshed, and Cas was gone.
"Would've asked him to stick around for a beer." Samuel said.
"So, what's with the book club outside?" Dean asked. Samuel wouldn't meet the eyes of any of the three Winchester siblings.
"Putting together a hunt."
"That's a lot of guys for one hunt." Chelsea noted.
Sam's eyebrows furrowed.
"You found him, didn't you?" He asked.
"Who?" Dean and Chelsea asked in unison.
"He's got a lead on the alpha vamp." Sam said to Dean and Chelsea, turning to look at them.
"Do you?" Dean asked, and the two other pairs of eyes turned to their grandfather.
"Maybe. Yeah." Samuel chuckled a bit.
"How'd you track him down?" Chelsea asked.
"We're good." Samuel said, far too vague for what he claimed was family.
"That's all we get? 'We're good'?" Dean pressed.
"When's the run?" Sam asked.
"Dawn." Samuel said.
"You didn't call me? Why?" Sam asked, sounding frustrated. Samuel was silent for a minute, and then looked up at Sam.
"'Cause of us." Chelsea said, gestured to her and Dean. Samuel looked up at her. "You don't trust us very much, do you? Especially when it comes to big game like this."
"That's not true." Samuel said.
"Okay, well, then, we're in." Dean said.
"No offense, but-" Samuel started, and Chelsea raised an eyebrow at him.
"So you don't trust us." She said.
"No, I just don't know you. Not like I know Sam."
"All right. You call the plays. 100%. We're here to listen." Chelsea said, and Dean raised an eyebrow at his sister.
"Since when?" Samuel chuckled.
"Big daddy bloodsucker? I ain't gonna miss that. But this is your deal. Okay? We get it. We'll follow your lead. I trust you."
"I don't trust him. Dude's hiding something." Chelsea said to the two of them later on that night, as they were headed back to the Impala.
"She's right." Dean chimed in.
"What?" Sam asked.
"I can feel it. And if you weren't Robo-Sam, you'd feel it, too." Chelsea said.
"Huh." Sam grunted.
"What?" Dean asked, turning to Sam.
"Just...you two. Saying you don't trust family." Chelsea rolled her eyes.
"They aren't family." She said. "Samuel was never part of our lives, most of these guys are third cousins and that barely counts for anything."
"Look, we hang close, we blend in, we see what we can pick up." Dean said.
"You think Samuel's connected to this whole soul thing?" Chelsea asked Dean.
"I still think he's the only lead we got." Dean said.
The three Winchester siblings headed back into the compound where everyone was gathered, sharping and forging weapons, filling syringes with dead man's blood.
Sam sat down, and Chelsea right next to him. Christian looked over Chelsea with a small smile.
Dean headed off into the back, pretending to pour himself a coffee and drink from it before setting the mug down on a shelf. With a glance at Chelsea, he turned and disappeared into the hallway. Dean looked around in the hallway, and made his way to Samuel's office door.
"You lost, Dean?" Christian asked from behind Dean, who was about to enter Samuel's office.
"Had to make a phone call. Just needed some privacy." Dean lied on the spot, letting go of the door handle.
"Oh. Samuel's locked office is pretty private."
"Wasn't locked."
"Who you calling?"
"Your wife. Let her know I'm not gonna make it over tonight." Dean smiled arrogantly.
"You know, I've tried playing nice, Dean, but I think I'm done." Christian said.
"Wait, are you trying to tell me that you're a bigger knob than you've been letting on?" Dean asked with a mock look of astonishment.
"I'm the guy who's been here, doing my job. Who are you? You think we need you here? You walk around like you're playing pro tennis. Only action you seen lately is between your slut girlfriend's legs." Dean grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against the wall. Christian grunted with the impact, and there was a moment where it looked like Dean was trying to keep his composure.
"You sure you want to come with us tomorrow? Accidents happen." Christian threatened.
"Hmm." Dean smiled, and let go of Christian. "Don't worry, man. I got your back." He said.
"The house is just over the hill. About a dozen vamps and the alpha. We got one shot at this son of a bitch." Samuel explained as they arrived. "Christian, take flank. The rest of you are with me and Sam. Dean, Chelsea, and Gwen... hang back, sweep any stragglers we flush out." Dean met Chelsea's eyes in a kind of annoyed look.
"Problem, Dean?" Samuel asked.
"No, sir." Dean replied.
"I'm in the rear with the rejects?" Gwen asked, annoyed.
"Hey!" Chelsea squared her shoulders at Gwen.
"Hey, hey." Dean put an arm out in front of his sister.
"All right, let's go." Samuel said, looking at Chelsea. The group started to wander in the direction of the house.
"Don't worry. It's fine." Sam said as he approached the two siblings.
"No, nothing's fine. You're not fine." Dean pinched the bridge of his nose "Go." he said when Sam wasn't moving. "Go."
Sam headed off after Samuel and his group. Dean turned to look at his younger sister.
A while passed before anything happened. Not one word was spoken between Gwen, Dean, or Chelsea.
"Sorry about the 'reject' thing." Gwen said to the two siblings with an awkward laugh. Dean and Chelsea shared a look.
"Ah, we've been called worse."
"Just, uh, get sick of getting left behind. Think it's probably 'cause I remind him of his daughter or something." Gwen said. Chelsea held back her scoff.
"Well, you just speak your mind." Dean said.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"You should." Chelsea told her. "It's refreshing."
A branch snapped behind the three. Each of them turned and pulled out their machetes. Dean took a few steps toward the sound, but the vamp growled from beside Gwen and tackled her. Dean grabbed him and pressed him against the wall, only to have him throw Dean backwards, and as the vampire was preparing to pounce on him, Chelsea swung her machete like a baseball bat, spraying blood all over herself and her brother.
The vampire's decapitated head fell on the ground. The body fell to the side of Dean, and he pushed it farther away from him, a little taken aback.
"You're welcome." Chelsea said as Gwen and Dean got to their feet. Dean wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve. The three turned toward the sudden sound of gunfire in the direction the group had gone. Both Winchesters took off that way.
"We're supposed to wait here!" Gwen tried, but neither Winchester even slowed.
As Chelsea and Dean approached the gate of the house, more gunfire sounded. The two siblings shared a look, observing the dead bodies littered across the front yard of the house. Dean tried tugging at the gate, but it didn't even budge. Chelsea gestured her hand to her right for Dean, who followed her as the two snuck around the outside of the yard, only to find several more decapitated vampires.
"Dean!" A woman shouted from inside the window, obviously seeing the oldest Winchester. She was violently tugged away from the window, screaming, and a moment later, blood splattered across the windows. Dean ducked out of sight beside Chelsea, and the two shared a look.
Dean and Chelsea approached the window where the girl had screamed for Dean. As they got close, both Winchester's caught sound of Samuel instructing Sam. With Chelsea in lead, the two snuck around the outside of the building, coming closer to the sound of Samuel's voice.
Chelsea stopped abruptly near the edge of a shed. She pointed around the side to Dean, so that he would understand, and the two peered around the side.
Five people, including Sam and Samuel, were leading a figure with a black bag over his head and shackles around his ankles and wrists toward a black van. The vampire struggled for a moment, and Samuel pushed him toward the back of the van.
Dean tapped Chelsea's shoulder, and the two moved back around the shed the way they'd come, wondering just what the hell they'd walked into here.
"Where were you?" Gwen asked the two as they came speed walking back to their post.
"Everything all right here?" Samuel asked, also approaching their post with the entire crowd, minus the few they'd lost.
"Just, uh, chopped up a runner. No big deal. How'd it go?" Gwen asked, thankfully covering for Dean and Chelsea's disappearance.
"Rough, but one alpha down." Samuel said as the other moved to their respective vehicles and started putting their stuff away.
"Where is it?" Dean asked. "Want to pay my last respects."
"Well, bring marshmallows. Already on the pyre." Samuel lied, and Dean looked over his shoulder at his sister, who was looking at their grandfather as if trying to analyze every thought in his head.
On the road back toward the compound, Dean looked over his shoulder at Chelsea, who was looking right at him, and then at Sam.
"Things go okay back there?" He asked.
"Fine." Sam said.
"Nothing weird?" Chelsea asked, raising an eyebrow, and Sam seemed to realize that the two were teaming up on him. Dean revved the engine, squealing up the road before pulling over and stopping, obviously angry.
"We saw you walk that alpha out the door, Sam. Now, call me crazy... But that seems weird." Dean said. Sam sighed.
"Oh."
"'Oh'?" Chelsea asked, appalled.
"You weren't supposed to know about that." Sam said.
"Know what?" Dean asked.
"It's just something Samuel's been doing. Catching things, taking them somewhere, grilling them for info." Sam explained.
"Grill. Torture, right? And not telling us - that was his idea?" Chelsea asked.
"No, it was mine." Sam admitted.
"Why?"
"Honestly? 'Cause you'd mess it up. You both shoot first, ask questions later, and we needed to ask questions."
"You know, I-I don't care if you've got soullessness or the freakin' mumps, man - You know better than this! Do you even want your soul back?" Dean asked him.
"How does that have anything to do-"
"Have you been to the place where Samuel takes them? I mean, have you been in on these interrogations?" Dean interrupted.
"No, but I hear-"
"And why? And did it ever occur to you that this is really shady?" Chelsea interrupted again.
"He's our grandfather." Sam said.
"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. Wow. You don't see it, do you?" Chelsea asked.
"What?"
"You've got no instinct." Dean said with a scoff. "I mean, you are seriously messed up."
"Thanks." Sam said sarcastically.
"I'm not kidding, man. Nobody's forcing you to work with us, okay? But if we do this...Chels and I drive the bus, we call the shots, and you tell us everything, whether you think it's important or not, because - trust me - you can't tell the difference. Or, you know what, go with Samuel. See how that goes. It's up to you." Dean said. Sam stared at his brother.
"Samuel?" Sam asked later that night, entering Samuel's office at the compound where the older man was looking at a picture. Instantly, he shoved it back down in his desk.
"Damn, kid. Learn how to knock. Where's your brother and sister?" Samuel asked, looking over Sam's shoulder.
"Gone." Sam said.
"What do you mean, 'gone'?" Samuel asked.
"I mean they left about an hour ago. We just weren't seeing eye-to-eye anymore, I guess."
"That's too bad." Samuel said.
"I want in." Sam told him.
"In?"
"On the interrogations, on everything. I can help. This family - this is it for me now. Whatever you need, I'll do."
"Yeah, I know you will." Samuel said, a little somber.
"Great." Sam said.
"But until we can figure out this soul business of yours, I need you to keep doing what you're doing." Samuel said.
"But I can-"
"No you can't." Samuel said, and then sighed. "I'm sorry."
"Right." Sam said as he turned and left, closing the door behind him.
"Hey." Dean said as Sam got back in the Impala, having just exited the compound. Both him and Chelsea looked a little surprised
"You didn't think I'd come back." Sam said.
"We figured 60/40." Dean said, looking at Chelsea.
"So, Samuel didn't take the bait. So I went with plan 'b.'"
"We had a plan 'b'?" Chelsea asked.
"Fired up the GPS on one of his cellphones. We should be able to track him right to the alpha."
"The old man won't notice?" Dean asked.
"Trust me. He thinks Velcro is big news." Sam said. He pulled up the GPS on his laptop.
"There. Got him." Sam said. The three shared a look, and then Dean turned over the Impala.
A while later, the three Winchester siblings approached the door of the building they'd tracked Samuel's phone to. Blood covered the door.
"Dead man's blood?" Dean asked.
"Smart. Lock the place down with vamp repellent." Chelsea said as Dean moved to pick the lock on the door, and she and Sam pulled machete's from their sides. Dean cracked the lock, and the three moved inside slowly and silently, following the hallways until they found anything worth stopping for.
Halfway down a hallway filled with cells, the door of a cell opened and Christian stepped out of it.
Sam and Chelsea moved to hide in one cell in the shadowed part of the hallway, while Dean rushed to the other side to hide in the doorway of a different cell.
Christian came down the hallway toward the three Winchester siblings, and stopped directly in from of the door of the cell Dean had hid in.
The oldest Winchester had moved into the room farther to find a decent hiding spot.
Christian did a sweeping look over the room, and then turned to leave, leaving Dean, hiding behind a desk in the middle of the room.
Dean looked across the hall toward his siblings, who nodded at him. The three stood and moved toward the door where Christian had come out of.
"You're seeing now how this shapes up is entirely up to you." They heard Samuel's voice from the cell.
The siblings moved to either side of the door, Sam on one side, Dean and Chelsea on the other, and peered through the spaces between the cell door bars.
Noticing the alpha vampire facing in their direction, the three siblings turned away from the door and leaned against the wall in the shadows, listening.
"Where is it?" Samuel asked. The vampire made no move to answer. "Answer the question. Where is it? How do we find it?" Samuel pressed.
Dean turned to look through the door as a machine fired up inside.
Electricity flowed into the vampire like Samuel was attempting to electrocute him, but the vampire didn't even blink.
"Ouch. Stop. That hurts." The Alpha vamp said, completely sarcastic.
Samuel shut the machine down.
"This - This is club med compared to what we have planned for you. I got all the time in the world.
"Well, that makes two of us." The Alpha vamp said.
Samuel picked up a machete from the side table.
The two stared off for a moment, before Samuel moved forward and out the side door to the left of the cage.
The Alpha vamp chuckled as the door closed.
"Are you three going to hide all night? Come on out." The Alpha vampire called.
Sam, Dean, and Chelsea shared a look.
Dean slowly pulled open the sliding metal door, and the three turned to face the vampire.
"How can I help you?"
"We got some questions for you, skippy, since you're going nowhere fast." Dean said as the three Winchesters continued to slowly approach the cage.
The Alpha chuckled.
"Don't be so sure."
"Yeah? Locked down pretty tight. And with all that dead blood rushing through your veins, not sure you got enough juice to fire up that psychic bat-signal of yours, do you?"
"True. Not near enough juice for that...Dean."
"I didn't realize we were on a first-name basis." Dean said, even as the tension in the room ramped up a notch. Sam's arm slowly extended a bit in Chelsea's direction, maybe recognizing, despite being soulless, what his natural instincts were telling him.
"Of course we are. After all, you were my child...for a time. Dean, tell me...did you enjoy it?"
Dean moved toward the cage, and as Chelsea went to follow him, Sam carefully touched her wrist, a warning not to move.
"I'm asking the questions here, fright night." Dean said to the vamp, and turned on the machine. Carefully, Sam and Chelsea moved forward.
"When your kind first huddled around the fire, I was the thing in the dark! Now you think you can hurt me?" Dean stared at him, and then turned off the machine.
"I have all night. You do not. Anyway, I'm happy to tell you whatever you want to know."
"Why?" Sam asked.
"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." Chelsea said, as her and Sam moved closer to the cage.
"The very first." The vampire said.
"But if you're the first...who made you?" Chelsea asked.
"We all have our mothers. Even me."
"What does that mean?" Sam asked.
The Alpha vampire chuckled in his chair. Chelsea noticed the scrape of one of his nails, or claws, against the material of his chair.
"And what's with the big surge of vamps lately? I mean, it's like-" Dean started.
"Like we're going to war." The vampire cut him off.
"Why? What's going on? Why did Samuel bring you here?" Sam asked. Slowly, the Alpha vampire turned to him and sniffed at the air in Sam's direction.
"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.
"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?"
"All right, enough with the sermon, freak." Dean said.
"I'm trying to answer the question. Now, when we 'freaks' die...where do we go? Not heaven, not hell. So?"
"Legoland?" Dean asked.
The vampire sighed.
"Little rusty on our Dante, are we?"
"Purgatory." Chelsea said.
"Purgatory?" Dean asked, looking at his sister, and then back to the vampire. "Purgatory's real?"
"Oh, stupid cattle." He laughed. "Of course! And it is filled with the soul of every hungry thing like me that ever walked this earth. Now, where is it? That is the mystery. And that is what your kindhearted granddaddy is trying to beat out of me."
"Samuel brought you here...to find out where Purgatory is?" Sam asked.
"I keep telling him - how would I know such a thing? But he refuses to untie me."
"You know exactly where it is. Why does Samuel care about any of this?" Sam pressed.
"He doesn't care. He does as he is told."
"Well, if the old man's Kermit...whose hand's up his ass?" Chelsea asked.
A gun cocked behind them.
The three Winchesters turned to find Samuel, Christian and another man standing there, with a gun cocked and aimed at them.
"Evening, guys."
"Wow, you know, I have seen some stupid in my time, but you take the crown." Dean said as the three disarmed the siblings.
"Putting Jaws in a fishbowl? How do you think that's gonna end? I don't know what kind of game you're running-" Chelsea started.
"What, do you think I'm doing this for kicks?"
"I think you've got the rest of these feebs convinced that you're John Wayne. So whatever you're doing, whatever you're hiding... it's gonna put you and everyone around you in the ground." Chelsea snarled at him, and Samuel moved toward her. Dean, next to her, slammed Samuel into the wall at the same time Sam elbowed his Christian in the face, and Chelsea dropped to the ground, prepared to slide the magazine into Dean's pistol when a gun cocked in front of them, and everyone froze.
"Hi." Gwen said.
"Gwen." Dean sighed, as Chelsea slowly put down the pistol. "And I thought we had something special."
"Are you scared of me? I would be." The Alpha vampire said to the kid with the machete watching him.
The kid approached slowly.
"Go ahead." The vampire said.
The kid turned on the electric machine, and the Alpha vampire ripped his arm free, and slowly the rest of himself before launching out of the cage.
From the hall, the Winchesters, Samuel, Christian, and Gwen could hear him scream.
"Grab your stuff." Samuel told them, and the six moved toward the room they'd been keeping the Alpha in.
The kid was dead on the floor, no sign of the Alpha.
"How long till the alpha's 100%?" Dean asked.
"Hour. Maybe less." Samuel said. "We need to get him dosed up and back in the cage."
"No." Chelsea said.
"What do you mean, 'no'?"
"I mean, I don't know what your big plan was, but playing catch is not on the table." Chelsea said.
"Chelsea-"
"We take the thing's head off, or it kills us all! You know that." Chelsea shouted.
"Okay. We split up. Clear every room. You get a shot, you take it. It's not gonna kill him, but dude will move a lot slower without any kneecaps. And if we make it through this, you, me, Chelsea, and Sam are having one hell of a family meeting." Dean instructed the group.
They left the room in separate directions.
"You think he ran out?" Christian asked.
Samuel and Sam turned around to answer him just as the Alpha appeared behind Christian and twisted his head, killing him.
"No!"
The vampire threw Samuel into the wall with a snarl and pinned Sam to the wall.
"The boy with no soul. I've got big plans for you. It's amazing how that pesky, little soul gets in the way. But not for you. You will be the perfect...animal." The vampire released his fangs, about to bite into Sam's neck when the two syringes of dead man's blood were injected into his neck, and he dropped, releasing Sam.
"Christian?" Sam asked.
Christian's eyes were all black, like that of a demon.
In a whoosh, three more demons appeared, grabbed the Alpha vampire, and in another whoosh, all five of them were gone, leaving Sam, Gwen, Samuel, Dean, and Chelsea standing around them.
Slow clapping came from the balcony.
"Well, that was dramatic." Crowley said as all heads turned to him.
"Crowley?" Sam asked, confused.
"Hello, boys. What an unexpected treat."
"Bring Christian back now." Samuel said as he got to his feet.
"I'm sorry?" Crowley asked, pausing on the stairs.
"My nephew! The one you just crammed a demon into!" Samuel shouted.
"Oh. No. I had him possessed ages ago. Samuel, really. I keep an eye on my investments."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. You two know each other?" Chelsea asked.
"Not in the biblical sense. More of a business relationship, I'd say."
Samuel didn't move. He didn't turn around to face the Winchester siblings, or say a word in rebuttal.
"You're Crowley's bitch." Sam said.
"It's not what you think." Samuel said quickly.
"It's precisely what you think. That alpha he's caught me is getting him a gold star."
"Since when do you give a crap about vampires?" Dean asked Crowley.
"Since, uh... What's today - Friday? Since, let's see - mind your business." Crowley said, approaching Dean.
"You may as well share with the class, Crowley. We know you're looking for Purgatory." Sam said. Crowley paused, and then turned around to face them.
"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?" Chelsea asked.
"Best shut your gob. Employees don't question management."
"We ain't your employees." Dean growled.
"Of course you are! Have been for some time now, thanks to gramps. I don't keep Captain Chromedome 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 said.
"Yeah, well, afraid not, not if you want to see Sam's soul ever again."
Dean and Chelsea shared a look.
"You're bluffing."
"Tell them, Samuel."
The three Winchester siblings turned to their grandfather.
"He pulled us both back, me and Sam."
"What? You knew?" Sam started.
"No, Cas says it takes big-time mojo to pull something like that off, and you're nothing but a punk-ass crossroads demon." Chelsea argued.
"Was a punk-ass crossroads demon. Now? King of hell. Believe me, I've got the mojo. I snap my fingers, Sam gets his soul back. Or you two 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." Crowley said, and then disappeared.
"It's time to go. Get the van." Samuel said to Gwen, who turned to him angrily.
"You're letting a demon call the shots?"
"Nothing's changed. We hunt. Period. Don't worry about him. I'll take care of it. You trust me or not? Get the van, Gwen." She turned, walking down the corridor.
"Working with a demon, huh?" Sam commented. "You're not who I thought you were."
"You don't know anything about me, son." Samuel said.
"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 asked, taking Samuel's attention away from Sam, positioning himself slightly in front of the two younger siblings.
"I got my reasons. You gonna make a move, go ahead." Samuel said, noticing the direction Dean had been moving, and the message behind that movement.
"Or what?" Dean pushed.
"Or nothing. I'm not gonna do anything to you, Dean. You kids..." Samuel looked between the three of them, eyes landing on Chelsea. "You're my family. So the way I see it, you got two choices - put a bullet in your grandfather, or step aside."
Almost instantly, behind Dean, Chelsea's gun cocked and aimed. Just as quickly, Dean pushed her pistol down.
"He sold us out." She said.
"I know." Dean said. "Let it go."
"Why?" She pressed. Instead of answering her, Dean turned back to Samuel.
"Get out of here." Dean said, and Samuel wasted no time turning around and leaving the room. They waited to hear the door close, and then the three siblings turned to one another.
"So, what now?" Sam asked.
"We can't work for Crowley." Dean said.
"Are you sure about that?" Sam asked.
"I don't think you understand. Demons bone you every time."
"Oh, no, I get it. I do, believe me." Sam said, and Chelsea put her pistol away, stepping beside Sam.
"Just running the math...do we really have another choice?" She asked.
The siblings shared a helpless look.
"We could stab him in his throat." Dean suggested.
"And get my soul back how? I'm just saying, seems like we got to play ball, at least for the moment." Sam said, and Dean took a deep inhale, obviously not happy with that decision.
"I have done some stupid things in my time, but punching a demon's clock?" Dean asked, pacing.
"Look, just till we find another way." Sam said.
"And then?" Dean pressed.
Sam looked at Chelsea.
"And then we track Crowley down and give that son of a bitch what's coming to him." Chelsea said, meeting Sam's eyes, who was clearly in agreement. She turned to her oldest brother.
"You with us, Dean?"