Dean and Kat got Sam into a chair in their hotel room and tied him down. As soon as they were done, Kat called both Cas and Sara, who answered quickly. Sara made sure that Kat had a front row seat to what was about to happen. By the time Dean had filled them in, Sam was waking up.

"You're right, he looks terrible," Cas commented. "Kat did this?" Dean just nodded.

"Cas?" Sam groaned, blinking hard as he came around. He suddenly realized he was tied to a chair and began to struggle as Cas pulled one of his eyelids up, looking into it with a stern look on his face. "Let me go."

"Has he been feverish?" Sara asked.

"Have you?" Dean said, posing the question to Sam.

"No, why?" Sam asked in reply.

"Is he speaking in tongues?" Cas asked. "Are you speaking in tongues?"

"No, what are you...Are you diagnosing me?" Sam accused.

"You better hope we can," Sara growled. Cas put a hand on her arm as Sam realized that it was the archangel, not Kat.

"You really think this is…?" Sam began, looking to Dean for help.

"What, you think there's a clinic out there for people who just pop out of hell wrong?" Dean snapped. "They ask, you answer, then shut your hole! You got it?" Once Sam looked properly chastised, Sara and Cas continued.

"How much do you sleep?" Cas asked.

"I don't."

"At all?" Sara asked.

"Not since I got back," Sam replied.

"And it never occurred to you that there might be something off about that?" Dean asked furiously.

"Of course it did, Dean. I just...never told you," came the lame reply.

"What?"

"Sam," Cas said, pulling Dean back. "What are you feeling now?"

"Like my nose is broken," Sam scoffed, looking at Sara, who glared back.

"No, that's a physical sensation. How do you feel?" Cas asked again.

"Well, I think -"

"Feel," Cas cut him off.

"I...don't know," Sam finally said, still looking very confused. The angels shared a look of solemn dismay before Cas started taking off his belt and Sara began rolling up her sleeve.

"This will be unpleasant," Cas said, putting the belt in Sam's mouth. "Bite down on this." Dean stood back a little as he realized what was going to be happening. As soon as Sam did, he started struggling a little.

"If there's somewhere that you find soothing, you should go there in your mind," Sara explained before plunging her arm into Sam's chest. He began screaming through the belt as Sara felt around for his soul. Dean looked on, not being able to completely mask the dismay at seeing his brother in pain. He was sure Kat was getting some schadenfreude out of this, and he would be the first to agree that Sam deserved this a bit. After what seemed like forever, Sara pulled her arm out, leaving Sam gasping for air.

"Did you find anything?" Dean asked.

"No," was the short reply. She and Cas shared a look that worried the eldest Winchester.

"So that's good news?"

"I'm afraid not," Sara answered. "Physically, he's perfectly healthy."

"Then what?"

"It's his soul," she said. "It's gone."

"Um..I'm sorry...one more time; like I'm 5. What do you mean? He's got no-" Dean stammered.

"Somehow, when Sam was resurrected, it was without his soul," Cas explained.

"So where is it?" Dean asked after processing.

"My guess is...still in the cage with Michael and Lucifer," Cas said. All three of them gave a small shudder.

"Is it still even Sam?"

"You pose an interesting philosophical question," Sara said.

"Then get it back," Dean said.

"Dean," Cas chided.

"You pulled me out."

"It took several angels to rescue you, and you weren't nearly as well guarded," Sara pointed out. "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," Dean insisted.

"So...are you going to untie me?" Sam asked from his spot.

"No," Dean snapped almost immediately.

"Listen, I'm not gonna…" Sam began.

"Sam, how the hell am I even supposed to let you out of this room?" Dean cried.

"Dean, I'm not some psycho. I didn't want Kat to get hurt. I was just trying to stop the vamps," Sam begged. "I'm sorry. It won't ever happen again. Please let me go."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Well, what are you gonna do? Just keep me locked up here forever?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Dean murmured.

"Okay, fine!" Sam cried. "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?"

"Yes, so let me go," Sam pleaded.

"No way in hell," Dean said, shaking his head.

"I didn't want it to come to this," Sam sighed, pulling the rope loose and standing up. He had managed to untie himself without anyone noticing. "You're not gonna hold me, Dean. 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." Dean looked over at Sara, who was emotionless, but he swore for a moment, he could see Kat's reaction, which was a very resigned sigh.

"I'm gonna be watching every move you make," Dean said finally.

"Fine," Sam replied, a little miffed. "Sounds about right to me."

"Sara, Cas, one of you clean him up." Sara didn't make a move, so Cas did. He walked over to Sam and healed him. Sam let out a painful grunt as the cartilage and bones in his face cracked back into place and healed. "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 answered, still rubbing his wrists.

"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?" Dean asked, looking at the angels.

"Not sure," Sara replied. "You have no memory of your resurrection?" she asked Sam.

"I woke up in a field. That's all I got."

"No clues? None?" Dean added.

"I've got one," Sam said after a minute. The humans piled into the impala, with Dean giving Sara and Cas where they were going and going over a plan. Sara agreed to stick around since she would be able to answer some more questions that Cas couldn't, and since this was a serious matter that could still involve Lucifer, it garnered her full attention.

They headed to Campbell compound, where the rest of the family was already gathered.

"Gramps throw a barbeque and leave us off the e-vite list?" Dean commented as he looked around at the massive amount of cousins.

"Sam!" Christian cried as the younger brother entered, happy to see him. "Ahh...Dean," was the less enthusiastic reply to the other Winchester.

"Hello, Newman," Dean said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Where's the man?" Christian jerked his thumb behind him and they went to Samuel's office, finding him sitting at his desk, reading something...something that he tossed in a drawer quickly.

"Come right on in," he said, greeting his grandsons with a touch of annoyance that they didn't bother to knock.

"Need to ask you a few questions," Dean said, getting right down to business.

"What's wrong?" his grandfather asked.

"The day you got back, what happened?"

"We've been over this," Samuel answered, sounding a little annoyed.

"Well, recap it for our wingmen," Dean said. Sara and Cas appeared, looking pointedly at the Campbell patriarch.

"Kat?" Samuel asked, turning in his chair. When she didn't reply, he nodded in understanding. "Ah, this must be the angel you ride around with."

"One way to put it," Sara said simply.

"And this is Castiel?" Samuel continued, looking at the trenchcoat clad angel, who nodded his reply. "You're scrawnier than I pictured."

"This is a vessel," Cas explained, the jab going right over his head. "My true form is approximately the size of your Chrysler building."

"All right," Dean said, ending the conversation there. "Quit bragging. So, you were dead, and…"

"And pow, I was on Elton ridge," Samuel repeated. "Don't know how, don't know why. I got nothing to hide, guys."

"Well, do you mind if Sara here double checks?" Dean said. Sara stepped forward, sleeves already rolled up, and plunged her arm into Samuel's chest. He screamed in pain. Sara dug around for less than a minute before she pulled out, just in time for Christian to bust down the door, sawed-off shotgun in hand.

"It's okay," Sam said a few times, trying to calm him down.

"What the hell?" Christian cried.

"Angel cavity search," Dean explained, still watching Sara.

"I'm fine, Christian," Samuel managed to get out. "Just give us a minute."

"But-"

"Just give us a minute!" he repeated. Christian nodded and, albeit reluctantly, walked out and closed the door behind him. "What the hell was that about?"

"His soul is intact," Sara reported.

"What? Of course I have a- What's going on, Sam?" Samuel asked, looking to his younger grandson.

"Whatever dragged me out...left a piece behind," Sam explained, almost bracing himself for the backlash. Samuel groaned as he reeled from the pain. "Did you know?" Sam asked when he didn't say anything.

"No, but I...I knew it was something," Samuel admitted. "You're a hell of a hunter, Sam, but...the truth is...sometimes you scare me. So, what's the deal here?" he asked, looking at Dean and the angels. "How do we fix this? How do we get his soul back?"

"We don't know yet," Dean said. "But we have to."

"Well, I'm here to help, of course. What leads you working," Samuel said, jumping right to business.

"A bunch of dead ends and you," Sam replied.

"Well then, we'll just have to dig."

"Sam, Dean, we have to get back," Sara said.

"You're leaving?" Dean asked angrily.

"We're in the middle of a civil war," Sara said.

"You better tear the attic up, find something to help Sam."

"Of course," Cas growled. "Your problems always come first. We'll be in touch." He vanished with a flap of his wings, and Sara ghosted out of Kat's body with a flowing light.

"Would've asked them to stick around for a beer," Samuel quipped.

"So, what's with the book club outside?" Dean said, referring to the abnormally large amount of cars outside the compound.

"Putting together a hunt," Samuel said, putting a metal box and duffel bag on his desk and going through them.

"That's a lot of guys for one hunt," Kat pointed out.

"You found him, didn't you," Sam said suddenly, actually getting excited.

"Who?" Dean and Kat asked simultaneously.

"He's got a lead on the alpha vamp," Sam explained.

"Do you?" Dean asked his grandfather.

"Maybe, yeah," Samuel said with a chuckle. Sam smirked.

"How'd you track him down?" Kat asked. Samuel pulled out a bowie knife

"We're good," was the simple reply.

"That's all we get? 'We're good'?" Dean snapped.

"When's the run?" Sam asked, ignoring his siblings.

"Dawn."

"You didn't call me? Why?" Sam genuinely seemed put off by this.

"'Cause of me and Kat," Dean answered, smirking. "You don't trust us very much, do you? Especially when it comes to big game like this."

"That's not true," Samuel said, trying to calm Dean down.

"Okay, well then, we're in," Kat said firmly.

"No offense, but -" Samuel began.

"So you don't trust us," Kat said.

"No, I just don't know you. Either of you," he replied. "Not like I know Sam."

"All right. You call the plays, 100%. We're here to listen," Dean said after a second, compromising in a way that surprised Sam and Samuel.

"Since when?" Samuel asked with a laugh.

"Big daddy bloodsucker?" Dean asked, glancing at his wife. "We ain't gonna miss that. But this is your deal, okay? I get it. I'll follow your lead. I trust you."

"I don't trust him. Dude's hiding something," Dean said as soon as they were outside the compound and out of earshot of anyone but Kat and Sam.

"What?" Sam asked.

"I can feel it, and if you weren't Robo-Sam, you'd feel it, too." Sam gave a small chuckle. "What?"

"Just...you. Saying you don't trust family," Sam commented.

"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?" Kat asked.

"I still think he's the only lead we got." Kat agreed with him, but she still wanted to make a few of her own phone calls to see if there was anything they had missed. Despite the war, she knew Sara would at least try to find something whenever she could. Instead, she picked up her phone and dialed one of the few people she knew might be able to help her...if she was in the mood.

"Glad to hear you decided to stay on this plane of existence, Gilda," the condescending voice of High Priestess Olivette said on the other end of the line.

"High Priestess," Kat said. "Yes, I found another way, with the Mothers guidance."

"Yes, I'm sure Ariadne had something to do with it," Olivette said.

"No...THE Mother," Kat corrected her, unable to keep at least a little smugness out of her voice. She knew it would absolutely KILL Olivette if she knew that, along with Sara, she was a vessel for Gaia as well. She also knew that throwing it in her face probably would earn her a stern talking to later, but she was willing to risk it to teach the High Priestess a lesson. There was silence on the other end of the line before Olivette cleared her throat.

"Well...the Mother looks out for all of her children. Anyway, why did you call?" she snipped.

"I have a situation that none of my resources are giving me any information on. I was wondering if you could do some digging for me," Kat said with a small grin. She filled Olivette in on the situation with Sam.

"His soul is missing but his body still works?" the High Priestess asked after Kat was finished.

"Yes. Physically, though he doesn't sleep and barely eats, he is healthy. He is the true definition of a sociopath, though he recognizes it completely," Kat confirmed.

"And you're certain it's really him?"

"Certain."

"Interesting. I've never heard of a body functioning without a soul," Olivette mused, sounding genuinely interested. "I will look through some of the older lore and get back to you."

"Thank you, High Priestess."

"Oh, and Gilda? Please be careful. The fact that he allowed you to almost be turned into a vampire worries me, as it should you." Kat was shocked at how genuine she sounded. "Keep your guard up...around all of those hunters."

"I always do. Thank you."

"Be well," she said, and ended the call. Kat sighed as she put her phone away and looked around. She hated going through channels that Dean didn't know about, but at the same time, she was out of options and the High Priestess had access to knowledge that few did. She would tell Dean, of course, but at least after the hunt, which she saw everyone getting ready for and quickly joined them.

The whole convoy traveled to a house deep in the countryside. Once they were close, they parked, unloaded, Samuel got everyone together and gave orders.

"The house is just over the hill. About a dozen vamps and the alpha. We got one shot at this son of a bitch. Christian, take flank. The rest of you are with me and Sam. Dean, Kat and Gwen...hang back, sweep any stragglers we flush out." Dean looked a little miffed, but didn't say a word, though the look on his face did not escape Samuels notice. "Problem, Dean?"

"No, sir," Dean replied curtly.

"I'm in the rear with the reject and the witch?" Gwen moaned. Dean and Kat both looked at her, put off.

"All right, let's go," Samuel said, ignoring Gwen. Sam patted Dean on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, it's fine," he said.

"No, nothings fine," Dean pointed out. "You're not fine." He then sighed. "Go, go." Once everyone was gone, it was eerily quiet.

"Sorry about the 'reject' thing," Gwen said after a while.

"Ah, I've been called worse, and to be fair, Kat is a witch," Dean said. Kat nodded and shrugged her agreement.

"Just...uh...get sick of getting left behind," Gwen continued. "Think it's probably 'cause I remind him of his daughter or something."

"Well you just speak your mind," Dean pointed out.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Gwen said with a grin.

"You should," Dean said, grinning. Suddenly, they heard a twig crack. Everyone pulled out their machetes and looked around. Gwen was then tackled to the ground by a vamp. Another one came at Dean, who pushed him up against a stone ruin they were standing near. A third came at Kat, who dodged out of the way and held out her hand.

"Ignis!" she shouted, and the vamp lit up like a bonfire. As he screamed in pain, she sliced his head off. She turned around just in time to see Gwen behead the vamp that attacked Dean.

"You're welcome," she smirked, helping him up. Suddenly, gunshots started going off in the nest. Acting on instinct, Dean and Kat took off. "We're supposed to wait here!" Gwen cried after them, but they were already on the move. A locked iron gate stood in their way when they got closer. As they looked around, Kat looked up and saw a wind vane. It looked like the same one that she had gotten from the psychic message the alpha had sent the rest of the vampires when she was close to turning. On the other side of the gate were several dead bodies, all beheaded. They circled around the side to find another way in, and found an open garden. One of the cousins, a woman, saw him and called his name, banging on a glass door. They watched as she was pulled away from it, then jumped as blood suddenly spattered the glass and the white curtains attached to them. Then, a sound from the other side of the house caught their attention. Samuel was telling Sam to hold someone. They snuck around to the back of the house and saw Sam and Samuel shoving a hooded figure and chained figure into their van. A makeshift IV of what they guessed was dead mans blood was stuck into the figure. The Winchesters looked at each other, both glad and disappointed that Dean's hunch was right. They ran back to Gwen, who looked pissed and relieved to see both of them.

"Where were you?" she asked just before the others returned.

"Everything alright here?" Samuel asked as he came back in.

"Just, uh, chopped up a runner," Gwen explained after sharing a look with the other two. "No big deal. How'd it go?"

"Rough, but one alpha down," Samuel said with a tired sigh. Dean and Kat looked at each other, silently agreeing to go along with it for now.

"Where is it?" Dean asked. "Want to pay my last respects."

"Well, bring marshmallows. Already on the pyre," Samuel replied. Dean nodded and turned to look at his wife, whose face was normal, but her eyes were on fire. They jumped back into the Impala with Sam and headed back.

"Things go okay back there?" Dean asked his brother once they were on the road.

"Fine," Sam said.

"Nothing weird?" When Sam shook his head no, Dean slammed on the brakes, parked the car, and cut the engine, getting out with frustration.

"We saw you walk that alpha out the door, Sam. Now, call me crazy...but that seems weird," Dean snapped.

"Oh," Sam sighed. Kat understood that Sam was essentially a functioning sociopath without his soul, but she still couldn't help but get angry at the reaction.

"Oh?" Dean repeated, getting angrier by the minute.

"You weren't supposed to know about that," Sam said.

"Know what?" Kat and Dean asked simultaneously.

"It's just something Samuel's been doing," he explained. "Catching things, taking them somewhere, grilling them for info."

"Grill," Kat said, her voice dripping with venom. "Torture right? And not telling us - that was his idea?"

"No, it was mine," Sam answered.

"Why?" Dean growled.

"Honestly? 'Cause you'd mess it up. Dean, you shoot first and ask questions later. Kat, you'd probably panic call Sara or fire off a fireball or something. We needed to ask questions." Kat balled up her fists, some part of her really ready to show him what happens when she 'fires off a fireball', but Dean gave her a warning look and stepped between her and his brother.

"You know, 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 snapped.

"How does that have anything to do -" Sam began.

"Have you been to the place where Samuel takes them?" Dean cut him off, unable to keep the growl out of his voice. "I mean, have you been in on these interrogations?"

"No, but I hear -"

"What does he want? And why? And did it ever occur to you that this is really shady?" Dean continued.

"He's our grandfather," Sam finally got out.

"Yeah. Yeah, a guy who talks a great game," Dean said, sarcasm coloring his voice. "But you can't assume that family means the same thing to him as it does to us. He's not Dad." When Sam didn't say anything, Dean's face fell as he shook his head. "Wow. You don't see it do you?"

"What?"

"You've got no instinct," he scoffed. "I mean, you are seriously messed up."

"Thanks," Sam grumbled.

"Dean's right," Kat said, moving around her husband. "Nobody's forcing you to work with either of us, okay? But if we do this...Dean drives the bus, calls the shots, and you tell us everything, whether you think it's important or not, because trust me, you can't tell the difference." When Sam glared at her, Kat shrugged her shoulders and gave a derisive chuckle. "Or, you know what, go….go with Samuel. See how that goes. It's up to you."

They drove back to the compound and Sam went inside.

"What do we do if Sam doesn't come back?" Kat asked after he'd been gone for a while.

"We go to plan b...you," Dean replied, not looking at her.

"What?"

"We need to get close to Samuel, and you're our next best bet," he said.

"He trusts me about as far as he can throw me," Kat argued. Dean looked at her. "Besides, what if Sam decides to rat me out?"

"Then do what you have to do," Dean said simply. Kat's mouth snapped shut as her eyes went wide. It hadn't been the first time that Dean had had to contemplate killing his brother, but this was definitely the first time that he had seemed so calm in saying it. She was about to reply when a familiar form was returning to the car.

"Hey," Dean said as Sam got back in the car, unable to hide his surprise completely.

"You didn't think I'd come back," Sam observed.

"I figured 60/40," Dean said with a shrug.

"So, Samuel didn't take the bait...so I went with plan b," Sam continued, pulling out his laptop.

"There was another plan b?" Kat asked, leaning over the front seat.

"Fired up the GPS on one of his cellphones," Sam said. "We should be able to track him right to the alpha. And what do you mean 'another plan b'."

"Apparently I was plan b," Kat explained, looking at Dean.

"Huh...I guess that could've worked," Sam mused before sitting back.

"The old man won't notice the GPS turned on?" Dean asked, still a little wary of the plan.

"Trust me," Sam grinned. "He thinks Velcro is big news."

Sure enough, Sams plan worked. They followed the signal to a warehouse not too far away from the compound. They waited until Samuel and Christian went inside, then headed up to the door, only to find it locked. Dean started fishing around for lockpicks when Sam and Kat noticed something smeared on the outside door.

"Dean man's blood," Sam said, touching it and rubbing in between his fingers.

"Smart. Lock the place down with vamp repellent," Dean commented as he went to work. The other two pulled out machetes and kept watch until there was a familiar click and the door opened. They looked around for a few minutes before going down a dimly lit hallway. A few yards later, they went through a plastic paneled divider towards a grated floor when they saw Christian walk out and close a large metal door, carrying a shotgun. They ducked into a nearby room to wait for him to walk by. They heard his footsteps stop, step into the room for a second, then walk away. Kat's adrenaline was pumping. It was right about now that she wished she still had the super hearing from when she was a vampire. Tracking people would have been easy if she could just hear their heartbeats. They quietly snuck out of the room and towards where Christian had just come out. Sure enough, they could hear Samuels voice coming from that room. Dean peeked in for a minute, then leaned back and looked at Kat and Sam.

"Where is it?" they heard Samuel ask. "Answer the question, where is it? How do we find it?" he asked again after a minute. When there was no reply, they heard a switch click and a generator started whirring. Seconds later, another switch clicked and electricity started crackling, but there were no screams of pain.

"Ouch," a very sarcastic male voice said. "Stop. That hurts."

"This? This is club med compared to what we have planned for you," Samuel sneered. "I got...I got all the time in the world."

"Well, that makes two of us," the male voice said. Something in Kat's head screamed that this was the alpha. The psychic message he had sent out when she was temporarily turned still left an imprint on her mind. She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to get the images out. When she opened them, Dean was looking at her with concern.

"You okay?" he mouthed. Kat nodded quickly, but she knew her eyes were betraying her because Dean did his own version of Sams bitch face, but let it go for the time being and focused on the scene on the other side of the door. They heard a door open and close and the alpha vampire laughing. There was another moment of silence, and before the Winchesters could make a move, they heard the alpha call to them.

"Are you three going to hide there all night?" he said. Kat's blood ran cold. "Come on out, boys and girls," he almost commanded. The three of them shared a look of dismay as their stealthy approach was blown, though not surprisingly, and walked in slowly. The alpha vampire, an older black man with very keen eyes, was chained to a chair. A makeshift IV was pumping dead man's blood into his neck, electric nodes were stabbed into his hands and feet, and he was tied and chained to a chair inside of an iron cage. He was regarding all three of them with a pleasant smirk on his face. "How can I help you?"

"Got some questions for you, skippy," Dean said, putting on his usual confident air when approaching a monster. "Since you're going nowhere fast." The alpha chuckled, making Kat pause slightly.

"Don't be so sure." Dean looked around at the confinement apparatus.

"Yeah? Locked down pretty tight," he commented.

"With all that dead blood rushing through your veins," Kat added, doing her best to appear confident, though she knew the vampire could hear her heartbeat. "Not sure you got enough juice to fire up that psychic bat-signal of yours, do you?"

"True," the alpha said, a little miffed. "Not near enough juice for that...Katherine."

"Didn't realize we were on a first-name basis," Kat said after a minute, starting to get a little angry.

"Of course we are," he replied. "After all, you were my child...for a time. Katherine, tell me...did you enjoy it?" Dean almost audibly growled as he walked over to the switch that turned on the electricity.

"I'm the one asking questions here, fright night," he snarled as he pushed the button. More electricity crackled, but the alpha didn't make a single sound. Dean shut the device off, frustrated.

"When your kind first huddled around the fire, I was the thing in the dark!" the alpha snarled. "Now you think you can hurt me? I have all night. 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," Sam said, sounding intrigued as he stepped closer to the cage. "The first of your species."

"The very first," the alpha confirmed.

"But if you're the first, who made you?"

"We all have our mothers. Even me," the alpha said with a grin.

"What does that mean?" Kat asked. The alpha chuckled, but said no more.

"What's with the big surge of vamps, lately?" Dean said, changing the subject. "I mean, it's almost like -"

"Like we're going to war," the alpha finished very matter-of-factly.

"Why?" Sam pressed. "What's going on? Why did Samuel bring you here?" The alpha paused for a moment, but kept regarding the younger Winchester.

"You smell cold," he commented. Sam shifted uncomfortably. "You have no soul. What an oddity. Do you feel how empty you are? What is it like to have no soul?" Everyone was quiet, looking at Sam.

"Answer my question," Sam ordered quietly.

"You first."

"You're the one in the cage," he fired back.

"The thing about souls - if you've got one, of course - is that they're predictable. You die, you go up or down," the alpha explained. "Where do my kind go?'

"All right, enough with the sermon, freak," Dean scoffed.

"I'm trying to answer the question," the alpha insisted. "Now, when we 'freaks' die...where do we go? Not heaven, not hell. So?"

"Legoland?" Dean asked sarcastically.

"Little rusty on our Dante?" the alpha sighed. He then looked at Kat. "I'm sure you've figured it out, Katherine. You are, after all, quite the learned little witch." Kat took a breath, trying to keep her fight or flight down as she met the Vampires eyes.

"Purgatory," she answered. Dean looked at his wife in disbelief.

"Purgatory," he repeated. "Purgatory's real?"

"Oh, stupid cattle," the alpha chuckled. "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, moving even closer to the cage.

"I keep telling him...how would I know such a thing? But he refuses to untie me," the alpha replied with a small shrug.

"You know exactly where," Sam challenged him. "Why does Samuel care about any of this?"

"He doesn't care," the alpha said, his mouth curling into an unsettling grin. "He does as he is told." The Winchesters looked at each other, turning white.

"Well, if he's Kermit," Kat asked. "Whose hand's up his ass?" A gun cocked from the corner of the room, and they turned to see Samuel standing there with Christian and another Campbell flanking him, all holding shotguns.

"Evening, guys," he said. They were taken out into the hallway and disarmed.

"Wow, you know, I have seen some stupid in my time," Dean commented. "But you take the crown. Putting Jaws in a fishbowl? How do you think that's gonna end?" he asked his grandfather. "I don't know what kind of game you're running…"

"What, do you think I'm doing this for kicks?" Samuel fired back.

"I think you've got your whole family convinced that you're John Wayne," Kat spat. "Sow whatever you're doing, whatever you're hiding...it's gonna put you and everyone in the ground." Samuel went to strike Kat, but Dean grabbed his shotgun while Sam tried to disarm Christian. There was the sound of another gun cocking. Gwen was at a farther end of the hallway, pointing a sawed-off shotgun at them.

"Hi," she said with an unnaturally cheery tone.

"Gwen," Dean sighed. "And I thought we had something special." Gwen just grinned. Just as everyone calmed back down, there was a scream from the room with the alpha in it. Samuel looked at the Winchesters.

"Grab your stuff." Gwen and Christian followed him towards the sound while Dean, Sam and Kat all re-armed themselves and followed. They ran back into the room where the alpha was caged to find the cage empty and the cousin that was set to guard him dead.

"How much dead man's blood we got left?" Samuel asked Christian after looking at the destroyed machine that was pumping it into the alphas neck. Christian held up two half-full syringes. All of them knew that it wouldn't be nearly enough to even phase him, let alone knock him out so they could imprison him again.

"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," Kat insisted. "Whatever your big plan was, playing catch is not on the table."

"Kat-"

"We take the thing's head off, or it kills us all. You all know that!" she snapped. Dean put a hand on her forearm, giving a gentle squeeze. Kat looked at him and took a breath to calm down. Samuel and the other Campbells didn't say anything, which Dean took as an acceptance.

"Okay, we split up," Dean said, looking around. "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," he added, rounding on his grandfather, "You, me, Sam and Kat are having one hell of a family meeting." Gwen went with Kat and Dean, and Sam, Samuel and Christian took the other direction. No one bothered to say a word while they were moving. They kept their mouths shut, and their eyes and ears open. For her part, Kat also made sure to keep an eye on Gwen, though she was pretty sure she could sense a little bit of reluctance to what Samuel had been doing. She hadn't been as enthusiastic about being the rear guard when they initially captured the alpha, and Kat made a mental note to perhaps use that later on to try and get her on their side if the need arose. They suddenly heard a gunshot go off and ran towards the sound. They rounded the corner just in time to see Christian stab both syringes into the neck of the alpha, who had Sam up against the wall by his throat. What caught everyone off guard...was that Christians eyes were black. Out of nowhere, two more demons appeared, grabbed the alpha, and vanished with Christian, leaving everyone panting and confused. A sound of slow applause cut through the silence.

"Well, that was dramatic," said a gravelly male voice with a British accent. They looked up on a balcony above them and saw Crowley standing there.

"Crowley?"" Sam said, still a little out of breath from being choked by the alpha.

"Hello, boys," Crowley said, coming down the stairs. "What an unexpected treat."

"Bring Christian back now," Samuel demanded.

"I'm sorry?"

"My nephew, the one you just crammed a demon into!"

"Oh, no," Crowley quipped. "I had him possessed ages ago. Samuel, really. I keep an eye on my investments."

"Woah," Dean said, unable to keep the angry confusion out of his voice. "You two know each other?"

"Not in the biblical sense," Crowley explained. "More of a business relationship, I'd say." When Samuel didn't say anything, the air in the room got tense.

"You're Crowley's bitch," Sam growled, rounding on his grandfather.

"It's not what you think," Samuel finally said.

"It's precisely what you think," Crowley said. "That alpha he's caught me is getting him a gold star."

"Since when do you give a crap about vampires?" Kat asked.

"Since, uh….what's today, Friday? Since...let's see….mind you business," Crowley said, smirking as he walked over to her and poked her in the shoulder before going to leave.

"You may as well share with the class, Crowley," Sam sneered. "We know you're looking for purgatory." Crowley turned around and faced them.

"So you heard about that?" he asked.

"Yeah, you wanna tell us why?" Sam asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Location location location." When no one spoke, Crowley continued his explanation. "I'm a developer. Purgatory is vast, underutilized, and hell-adjacent, and I want it."

"What for?" Dean asked.

"Best shut your gob," Crowley said condescendingly. "Employees don't question management."

"We're not your employees," Kat snapped.

"Of course you are!" Crowley exclaimed. "Have been for some time now, thanks to gramps." The younger hunters turned to the patriarch of the clan. "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. And you, Mrs. Winchester, would follow your man absolutely anywhere, and a gifted witch is always handy."

"Yeah, well, the game's over," Dean growled.

"Yeah, well, afraid not," Crowley said. "Not if you want to see Sam's soul ever again." Kat felt her stomach drop. Sara had told her about the deal she had made with Crowley...and how it had been broken by Sara smashing the vial in a rampage. Crowley was the last person that should hold on to any soul, especially since he had almost managed to hold on to Bobby's, which would have been permanent if they hadn't almost destroyed the demon's bones.

"You're bluffing," Sam challenged. Crowley's eyes sparkled in the way only his eyes could.

"Tell them, Samuel," he said. Everyone turned to Samuel, who looked completely defeated.

"He pulled us both back," he began. "Me and Sam."

"What?" Sam asked, getting angry. "You knew?"

"No, Cas says it takes big-time mojo to pull something like that off," Dean pointed out. "And you're nothing but a punk-ass crossroads demon."

"WAS a punk-ass crossroads demon. Now, King of hell." Crowley explained. Just that sentence made Kat's blood run cold. It made sense. Someone had to be in charge of Hell now that Lucifer was back in the box. Presumably, Azazel was the last one in charge since he was coordinating getting Lucifer out of the cage in the first place, so someone had to be in charge now...and Crowley was just ambitious enough to try and make a move. "Believe me, I've got the mojo. I snap my fingers, Sam gets his soul back. Or you can be...you, and I shove Sam right back in the hole. Can't imagine what it's like in there...and I can imagine so many things. So, we clear? Me, Charlie...you, angels," he continued, pointing to the crew. "Job's simple enough: bring me creatures. Aim high on the food chain, please. Everybody wins. It's been a pleasure. See you soon." With that, he vanished.

"It's time to go," Samuel said quietly after everyone had processed what had just been said. "Get the van," he ordered Gwen.

"You're letting a demon call the shots?" Gwen snapped.

"Nothing's changed," Samuel replied. "We hunt. Period. Don't worry about him. I'll take care of it. You trust me or not?" They had a short standoff in silence, but Kat could see the hesitation written all over her face. "Get the van, Gwen," he ordered again. Gwen took a second, and went to do as she was told.

"Working with a demon, huh?" Sam growled as Samuel started to put tools away. "You're not who I thought you were."

"You don't know anything about me, son," Samuel fired back.

"So, what's so important that you're the king of hell's cabana boy, huh?" Dean asked, just as angry as his brother. "What'd he offer you? Girls? Money? Hair?"

"I got my reasons," Samuel answered simply, picking up the bag and moving to leave. Kat stepped right in front of him, white knuckling the handle of her glock. "You gonna make a move, go ahead," he challenged her.

"Or what," Kat sneered.

"Or nothing," he said. "I'm not gonna do anything to you, Kat. You and the boys...you're my family. So the way I see it, you've got two choices: put a bullet in your grandfather in law, or step aside." Though a little taller than him, Kat very easily held his gaze, the fire blazing in her eyes. A gun cocked next to her, and she looked just in time to see Dean pointing Sam's gun down away from their grandfather.

"He sold us out," Sam said.

"I know," Dean replied. "Let it go."

"Why?" The elder Winchester turned to his wife and gently took the gun from her hands, then faced his grandfather.

"Get out of here." Samuel looked like he was going to say something, but took Dean's offer and left. Kat didn't miss the heartbroken look in his eyes, eyes that looked a lot like Sams. Once he was gone, the Winchesters all turned to each other.

"So what now?" Sam asked.

"We can't work for Crowley," Kat insisted.

"Sure about that?"

"I don't think you understand. Demons bone you every time," Dean said.

"Oh no, I get it, believe me," Sam replied. "Just running the math...do we really have another choice?"

"We could stab him in his throat," Dean suggested with no trace of sarcasm.

"And get my soul back how?" Sam asked. "I'm just saying, seems like we got to play ball, at least for the moment." Dean and Kat sighed.

"We have done some stupid things," she said. "But punching a demons clock?"

"Just until we find another way," Sam assured her. Kat cocked an eyebrow at her brother-in-law. Knowing that he was perfectly capable of lying with a straight face didn't fill her with confidence in him saying that he would actively look for another way. Some part of her was hoping that his intense dislike for Crowley would encourage him to actually keep his word...but she wasn't sure.

"And then?" she asked.

"And then we track down Crowley, and give that son of a bitch what's coming to him. You two with me?" Sam said, looking at his siblings. Dean and Kat looked at each other and looked back at him. There was a solid determination in his brown eyes, like was ready to completely stick it to Crowley. It did restore some more confidence from Kat, but having been shafted before by the now-soulless Winchester, she wasn't going to let her guard down any time soon. But, her and Dean agreed. They wouldn't be able to defeat him alone, so they would have to do as Crowley said...as much as it made their skin crawl.