"I don't like this, Dean," Kat said for the hundredth time that trip.

"I know," Dean replied, looking at a piece of paper in his hand with an address on it, then looking up at the Chinese grocery store they were standing in front of. "You gotta be kidding me," he muttered. The Winchesters looked at each other, sighed, and walked in.

"Hi," Dean greeted the first employee he saw. "I'm looking for…"

"Follow all the way back," the employee said, pointing towards the back of the store. "All the way back." Dean nodded his thanks, and he and Kat went all the way to the back to a flight of stairs. Slowly, they walked up and found themselves in an apartment, greeted by an older, balding man with a gray beard and hair wearing a white jacket, glasses perched halfway down his nose.

"Dean Winchester?" he asked with a knowing smile as he walked out of the room at the top of the stairs.

"You must be Dr. Robert?" Dean asked, a little apprehensive. Dr. Robert laughed and grasped Dean by the shoulders.

"I stitched up your Daddy more times than I can count, let me tell you," he said happily. "It's good to see you," he added, holding Dean's face like a grandparent would their grandchild. "Course, that was ages ago back when I still had my medical license. And this is?" he said, looking at Kat.

"My wife, Kat," Dean said, still a little uncomfortable with what just happened.

"Hi," Kat said. Robert smiled and shook her offered hand with both of his.

"Glad to see the Winchesters still pick a good partner in life," he said. "Right this way." He led the two into the back of the apartment.

"Well, you know, I'm no germ freak, but, heh…" Dean began, looking around at the dingy green walls. Robert turned around and shrugged.

"Rent's cheap," he said simply, and walked into the room. Inside was a skinny pale girl with bone straight brown hair and a serious face. "My assistant, Eva," Robert said, motioning to her. Dean and Kat nodded hello, but she didn't respond, putting down the syringe she was filling. "Hop right up," he said to Dean, patting the padded table.

"Now, you've...done this a lot?" Dean asked before moving.

"Oh many many times," Robert assured him.

"And your success rate?"

"Oh excellent," he replied. "Almost 75 percent!" Dean nodded and looked at Kat, who still wasn't sure about any of this. "So, shall we get the preliminaries out of the way?" Robert asked. Dean pulled an envelope out of his jacket and handed it to the doctor. Robert checked the contents and put it away.

"So, listen," Dean said, taking his coat off. "If something…."

"Goes wrong?"

"Yeah, uh...she can…" he continued, motioning to Kat, who gave a small sigh and nodded.

"Let Sam know as well?" Robert asked.

"If I don't make it back, nothing I say is gonna mean a damn thing to him," Dean said, a little too coldly. Kat picked up Dean's coat and held it close as Eva shoved Dean back on the table and put an IV in his arm. Dean winced and made a noise as she did.

"Don't be a baby," Eva chided him.

"You know, a little bedside manner would be nice," Dean muttered.

"Are we ready?" Robert asked, holding up a massive syringe. Dean paused, then nodded, glancing back at Kat, who was grasping his jacket for dear life. "You've got three minutes." He injected the contents into the IV as Eva started a stopwatch. The EKG started beeping faster and faster...then it flatlined as Dean's eyes rolled back in his head and he went limp.

"No pulse, no sinus rhythm," Eva reported.

"He's dead," Robert confirmed. He stole a glance at Kat, whose eyes were locked on Dean, muttering under her breath. She was praying to whatever deity would listen: Gaia, Sara, Cas, God, Odin, Loki, Thor, Hades, Hera, even Kali….any of them. She knew they all existed, so whatever one would listen would do. Her breathing was shallow as the seconds ticked by. She wanted to go with him, but Dean insisted against it. One of us has to be there to keep an eye on Sam, he told her. A sudden chill came over her, which meant that Dean had made contact. Her praying became more insistent, even slipping into Enochian in hopes that Sara would be on hand should she need her. She pressed Dean's jacket to her face, taking in his scent in an attempt to calm herself down. It only made it worse.

"Three, two, one, now," Eva finally counted down. Robert was already ready with the paddles. He shocked Dean, but the EKG kept flatlining.

"Again," Robert said, charging the paddles and shocking him again...no change.

"Shit," Kat whispered, and began searching her brain for Cas' summoning ritual, which he had taught to her for emergencies. Her panicked state meant it had completely flown from her mind.

"Eva, adrenaline," Robert ordered. They started rushing about with frantic but practiced movements. She handed him a syringe of adrenaline, which he injected into the IV line. Kat stopped trying to find the spell and just held her breath, Sara's name on the tip of her tongue. Suddenly, Dean took a huge gasp of air, and Kat let one out, tears starting to form in her eyes. "You couldn't have given me five more seconds?" he asked weakly.

"Son, you were gone for seven minutes," Robert said. "The missus was ready to start CPR on you had we waited any longer."

"Seven minutes?"

"Mm-hmm," he said. "I thought for sure Death had you by the twins." He and Eva got Dean set up and walked them to the stairs. Kat didn't say anything until they got into the car.

"Please tell me my heart attack was worth it," she said, finally breathing easy.

"Kinda...but you're not gonna like the terms," Dean said wryly.

"It's Death, Dean. I didn't like calling him in the first place. But give it to me...what do you have to do?" Kat sighed.

"I have to be Death for a day," Dean said, opting for the simple approach. Kat sat in silence for several minutes, processing what he had just said.

"You have to be Death?"

"Yeah. I have to put the ring on and collect some souls."

"Okay," he said after another minute of processing.

"Okay?" Dean repeated, a little surprised and scared of how calm she was. "You're just okay with that?"

"Dean, I just watched you die. I don't know what the hell you would want me to say at this point," Kat said. Dean couldn't say anything, but she was right.

Back at Bobby's house, Dean relayed what he had done to Sam, though in more detail. As expected, Sam was not happy.

"You what?!" he shouted.

"Just hear me out," Dean said.

"I heard Cas and Crowley when they said it would either kill me or turn me to jello, Dean! I heard enough!"

"Death said he can put up a wall," Dean explained.

"A wall?"

"Yes, a wall, that basically, you wouldn't remember hell," he continued.

"Really?"

"Really."

"For good? Like a cure?" Sam asked, still seeming unconvinced.

"No, it's not a cure," Dean admitted. "He said it could last a lifetime."

"Great," Sam scoffed. "So, playing pretty fast and loose with my life here, don't you think, Dean?"

"I'm trying to save your life," Dean shouted.

"Exactly, Dean! It's my life!" Sam shouted back. "It's my life, it's my soul. And it sure as hell ain't your head that's gonna explode when this whole scheme of yours goes sideways!"

"Just curious," Bobby said, getting up from his spot on the couch and walking up to Dean. "I presume Death's not doing this out of the goodness of his heart. So what's your half of the deal?" Dean didn't answer right away.

"Tell him or I will," Kat said from next to Bobby's desk, looking pointedly at her husband. Dean's head snapped to her, shocked at how blunt she was being.

"I have to wear the ring for a day," he finally said.

"Why the hell would he want you to do that?" Bobby asked.

"Get his rocks off. I don't know, but I'm doing it," Dean said. Sam sighed and moved to leave. "Where are you going?"

"Look, I hear you, all right?" Sam said, turning back to the three of them. "I just need a minute to wrap my head around it, all right?" He walked away, Dean following him slightly, looking suspicious. They followed him out the junkyard and found him near the spot where Dean had buried the horsemen's rings...the rings he had already dug up.

"Looking for this?" Dean said, holding up Death's ring.

"Just taking a walk," Sam said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Sam, I'm your brother," Dean said, putting the ring in his pocket. "I'm not gonna let you get hurt. I know what I'm doing here."

"What if you're wrong?" Sam asked.

"I won't let it go wrong," Dean assured him. Sam sighed, shrugging.

"Fine." Dean studied his brother for a moment.

"Fine? So you're…"

"So, I'm trusting you here. Barely."

"You sure?"

"You're the one with the compass, right?" Sam said. "Just don't mess it up."

"I won't," Dean promised. He turned and walked away. "Watch him," he said softly as he walked past Bobby. Kat grabbed his arm, her gray eyes sparkling with tears.

"I'm going with you," she said.

"Hell no," Dean said almost immediately.

"Hell yes," she replied. "I almost lost you, Dean. I'm not taking any chances. I taught Bobby the spell that Pamela used on you. It should work just fine." Dean opened his mouth to argue, but the look Kat was giving him shut him up.

Kat, Sam and Bobby went back in the house, and Kat laid down on the couch.

"Be careful, Kat," Bobby warned her, and recited the incantation. She gave it a minute, then sat up. Looking around, Bobby was looking behind her. A quick glance saw her body lying there, still. She heaved a sigh and went outside to see Dean. He was standing there with a female, black haired reaper on what Kat realized was a small-town street.

"Let's be clear so that we get through this with a minimum of screw-up," she was saying. "I don't like this, and right now, I'm not crazy about you, either." Then, she and Dean caught sight of Kat. "Oh great...I see she's taken the Winchester name literally," the reaper scoffed.

"You must be Tessa," Kat sighed. "I'm not happy about any of this, but rest assured that I'll be the first one to keep Dean from losing this. Sam needs his soul back and I intend to help him see this through." Tessa sighed and started walking up the street.

"This is your boss' idea, not mine," Dean pointed out, taking Kat by the hand and following.

"True," Tessa said, still walking. "But you have a long history of throwing a wrench in everything, so let's just stick to the rules. Deal?"

"And the rules are?" The reaper stopped and turned to face the hunters.

"For the next 24 hours, you kill everyone whose number's up," she explained.

"Well, how am I supposed to know who to…"

"Kill?"

"Yeah."

"I have a list," Tessa said with a smirk.

"Let me see," Dean asked, looking her up and down.

"No. You touch them, they die, I reap them. Are we clear?" she asked, looking at the both of them.

"Yeah, I guess," Dean grunted.

"Remove the ring, you lose. Slack off, you lose. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Don't mess this up," she warned. "It's not my job to be your damn babysitter. And if something happens to wifey, she's on her own."

"Says you," Kat muttered. Tessa frowned at her, and the three of them set off.

"Just so you know, when people die, they might have questions for you," Tessa explained as they walked. "Well, you know, not you, but death."

"You mean like, 'how did Betty White outlast me'?" Dean suggested jokingly.

"'What's it all mean?' is popular," Tessa replied.

"And am I just gonna magically know?"

"No."

"Then what the hell am I supposed to say?" Tessa looked at him blankly. "Oh come on, give me something."

"Suck it up. Comes with the gig," Tessa said, getting annoyed. She led them into a convenience store, where a robber was holding up a shop clerk and his child at gunpoint.

"Come on, come on, let's go!" the robber shouted. Dean went to try and help, but Tessa stopped him.

"They can't hear you, can't see you. Let this play out," she said.

"Well, who am I taking?" Dean asked, looking between the robber, the clerk and the boy.

"Wait and see," Tessa insisted. Kat watched the scene unfold, hoping that it was going to be the robber who died. She was worried that Dean might get cold feet if it was the boy.

"Which one?" Dean said again.

"You want me to shoot the kid?" the robber threatened, pointing the gun at the little one. "Hurry up!" The clerk put his arm around the boy, pulling him closer.

"Oh you think I'm kidding?! And don't forget the drawer under the register," the robber continued. "Come on, move it! Let's go!" The clerk slid the bag across the counter and it fell to the floor. "You idiot," the robber snapped and bent to pick it up. The clerk pulled a snub nose revolver out the drawer and shot the robber in the chest when he stood up. As the robber lay there dying, Tessa looked at Dean, who seemed to take a little longer to walk over to him.

"Hello? Tick tock," Tessa said.

"He's in agonizing pain, right?" Dean asked, not taking his eyes off of his target.

"Uh, yes," she replied.

"Give me a minute," he said coldly. Tessa sighed as the robber continued to groan in pain, blood pouring from his mouth. Finally, Dean bent down and touched him, ending his life and releasing his soul. Kat looked at the soul who was now standing behind Dean.

"Why?" he asked after looking at his body.

"Mostly because you're a dick," Dean replied. "Enjoy the ride down, pal. Sauna gets real hot." Tessa gave Dean a look before taking the soul on to the other side, and most likely Hell. For once, Kat was actually happy that Crowley would have someone to play with. This guy deserved it. "That wasn't so hard," Dean said quietly. Kat smiled. Maybe this was going to be easy for him after all.

They next found themselves outside of a cafe, watching a man eating his lunch on a park bench.

"Call me crazy, but this smells like a heart attack," Dean said. Sure enough, the man grasped his chest and fell to the ground, gasping for air. "Lucky guess," Dean said, and touched his hand. The soul standing next to Tessa had the same question as the robber.

"Why?"

"You think maybe it was the extra cheese?" Dean said, looking at the half-eaten pizza and pop.

"Yeah," the man said. "It was good, though."

"Is that a local place?" Dean asked.

"Dean," Tessa chided him.

"Right, um...Time to go, man. Sorry." Tessa grinned and started to lead the soul away.

"Wait," the man said, turning back to Dean. "Will you tell me what it all means?" Dean glanced at Kat and Tessa, who both just looked back at him. He thought for a moment, then smiled.

"Everything is dust in the wind," Dean said. Kat barely held back the groan as she shook her head.

"That's it? A Kansas song?" the man cried.

"Sorry, he's new," Tessa said, and led the soul away.

"You're doing well," Kat said as the reaper did her job. "Gotta admit, I was worried."

"It's really not so bad once you get in the swing of things," Dean said with a grin.

Their next stop, however, made Kat want to put her foot in her mouth.

They came to a hospital, walking into the room of a girl of about 12 and her father. Kat's heart went straight to her stomach as she saw the look on Dean's face.

"The dad or the kid," he asked Tessa quietly as the father showed the girl a photo album.

"Kid," Tessa replied. Kat winced.

"Come on, what is she, 13?" Dean said.

"She's 12," the reaper answered, a small amount of sorrow in her voice. Kat could tell that this was probably the least favorite part of Tessa's job, but she would still do it. Kat looked at her husband, seeing the tears starting to come to his eyes as the father mentioned a mother in the past tense.

"This guy have any other family?"

"No, not really," Tessa answered. Dean shook his head and walked back into the hallway. Tessa and Kat followed, the former knowing that this was going to be a hard one for the hunter. All Kat could do was hope and pray that Dean would do the right thing.

"Well, this is just awesome," Dean said sarcastically.

"What, you thought it was all armed robbers and heart attacks waiting to happen?" Tessa asked him.

"She's 12," Dean argued.

"With a serious heart condition," Tessa explained. Dean looked at the girl, then back at Tessa.

"Who's next on the list?" he asked.

"Dean, you have to take her," Tessa insisted.

"Says who?"

"Death."

"I'm Death," Dean pointed out.

"You know what I mean." Kat could see Tessa getting agitated.

"Dean, remember the rules," she said quietly, but he didn't seem to hear her.

"Well who tells him?"

"I don't know, it just is," Tessa answered. "It's destiny."

"Bad choice of words," Kat muttered.

"Oh give me a break," Dean growled. "I've spent my whole life fighting that crap. There's no such thing as destiny, just like there was no Apocalypse. Just a bunch of stuck up mooks who did want us human slaves asking questions. Well, I say the little girl lives."

"Do you know what's amazing? You don't actually buy a word you're saying," Tessa said. Dean faltered slightly, making Kat realize that Tessa was right.

"Yes I do," he said, though not very convincingly.

"Oh really?" she asked, challenging him. "So all the times you messed with life and death, they just worked out for you? It was just a beach party every time, huh?" Dean's mouth curled into a wry grin as he looked down.

"Well, I know this much: I'm Death, she's 12, and she's not dying today," he said with a measure of finality. Kat and Tessa both had the same look on their face: worry and annoyance as the nurse rolled the little girl by.

"Dean, this isn't going to end well," Kat warned.

"You don't know that," he fired back.

"Considering that there is a natural order to things, yes I do," she replied.

"So you'd be okay if that was your kid?" Dean snapped, getting in her face. Kat stepped back a little.

"Of course not," she replied softly. "Anyone who would be okay with that is lying, but I also know that there are certain things in this world that we are never going to escape. Now is not the time to get a God complex." Dean just scoffed and looked at Tessa, who sighed. A doctor came into the girl's room and said she was miraculously healed. The look of relief on the father's face was wonderful, but Kat still wasn't happy. She was ready to take the ring from Dean and wear it herself...if she wasn't a spirit. Her nurse walked by, calling her spouse and telling him that she was coming home early.

"Come on," she said. "We have more work here." Dean gave Kat a look and walked away.

"Oh what, you're gonna give me the silent treatment now?" Dean asked Tessa and Kat as they walked away. Suddenly, they heard the siren and honking of an ambulance and Tessa stopped dead.

"Damn it. I knew it," Tessa cursed.

"What?" Dean asked as they watched nurses and orderlies run around in urgent-but-practiced movements.

"Code 500, E.R. Code 500, E.R." an EMT said, wheeling in a gurney.

"What's going on?" An orderly said, joining the EMT.

"Fractured spine, internal bleeding. Had a heart attack in the ambulance," the EMT said.

"We need Dr. Owens," the orderly said.

"He just left!" another orderly reported.

"Call Owens, tell him to turn around," the first orderly said.

"Wait...that's," Dean said, recognizing the nurse who was in the little girls room earlier.

"You let the girl live," Tessa snapped. "The nurse goes home early, gets in a crash she wouldn't have. And she needs a heart surgeon. And where is he?"

"You knew this would happen?" Dean asked, rounding on the reaper.

"No, just knew that you knocked over a domino," she replied. A couple of doctors and several nurses were trying to revive their colleague.

"She's in cardiac arrest," the first doctor said.

"Take her," Tessa ordered.

"What? She's not on the list!"

"Everything you do has consequences!" Tessa said. "Do you want to set off another chain reaction?"

"She's got nothing to do with this!" Dean insisted.

"Well, too bad, Dean. You put on the ring. Now do your damn job," she snarled. Dean watched the scene and heaved a sigh.

"Fine." He went over to her bloody body and touched her hand. Her soul appeared next to Kat, looking distraught.

"Is that?" she asked, looking at her body. "Am I?" She looked between Dean and Tessa.

"Yes, I'm sorry," Tessa answered here, genuinely sorry.

"But I'm…"

"So young," she agreed.

"Yeah."

"Actually, you were supposed to live for many decades," Tessa added. "Have kids, grandkids."

"Then why?" the nurse asked, confused.

"Because he screwed up." The nurse looked at Dean.

"You did this to me?" Dean was silent. He didn't know what to say.

"Come on, Jolene," Tessa said, guiding her away. "It's time."

"Wait, I'm sorry," Dean managed to get out. Tessa still took Jolene and walked away.

"Where is she? Where's my wife?" a man cried as he ran in. Another nurse stopped him and softly explained what had happened and that he was too late. He started bawling when he got to Jolene's body and realized she was dead. Kat turned and glared at Dean.

"That can be me one day," she snapped. "And Death will definitely not want to play ball after the shit you've pulled. Happy?" She stormed away, leaving Dean standing there.

Kat never had any doubt that Dean would try to bring her back if something happened to her. Hell, she was certain that there would be some divine intervention on her part. However, after seeing what had just happened with messing with Death...she wasn't sure she would ever want to come back, even if she did die young and before Dean. As she sat outside the hospital, pondering and seeing spirits of people who had long since passed wandering about, Tessa joined her.

"Rough watching it, isn't it?" she asked.

"Can't imagine what it's like for you," Kat answered, not looking at her. They sat in silence for a moment before Tessa spoke up again.

"You should know...I was actually rooting for Dean. Sam without a soul is just a disaster waiting to happen, from him or Dean," she said.

"I know," Kat agreed. "Dean acts all hard all the time but deep down...he's softer than most of us. I used to think that was an odd trait for a monster hunter, but after seeing how Sam is? I never want Dean to become like that. But…"

"You want him to have compassion for the right reasons," Tessa finished.

"Yeah." The reaper opened her mouth again to say something, then looked in another direction.

"Shit...Dean took the ring off," she muttered. Kat's heart stopped. Dean had lost. Tessa touched Kat's shoulder and brought her to Dean, who was standing next to a wrecked car with Jolene's husband behind the wheel.

"Sorry about your brother," Tessa said.

"Let's just go," Dean muttered, not able to look at either of them.

"Go where, Dean?" Tessa asked, "We're done." They appeared in the little girl's hospital room. "What are we?" Tessa asked, following Dean.

"Unfinished business," Dean said.

"It's over," Tessa insisted. "You took the ring off. Anyway, I thought you wanted the girl to skate by."

"No one really skates by, do they?" Dean muttered. He walked over and bent down. "You should say your goodbyes, man," he whispered to the sleeping father, then touched the little girl's hand, killing her. The father woke up and looked at her.

"Sorry honey. Must have dozed off," he said. Suddenly, her heart monitor started beeping and flatlining. He called her name, Hilary, and started calling for help when she didn't wake. Next to Kat and Tessa, Hilary's soul was standing there.

"I'm dead?" she asked, looking at Dean.

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

"But what about my dad," she asked, looking at her father.

"He'll be fine," Dean assured her.

"Really?"

"I have no idea," he admitted after a moment.

"I can't just leave him! It's not fair!"

"I know."

"Well, then why?" she asked, looking at Dean.

"Because….there's sort of a natural order to things," he said, kneeling and speaking to her gently.

"Natural order is stupid," the little girl pouted, looking back at the doctors and nurses trying to revive her and her worried, soon-to-be mourning father.

"Well, I agree with you there," Dean said, and looked to Tessa to take the little girl's soul. Once they were done, Dean took the ring off and Tessa zapped him back. Soon after, Kat heard Bobby saying the return incantation in her ear. She blinked and sat up in her body. Bobby looked exhausted, and Dean was holding an unconscious, bloody Sam.

They took Sam down to the panic room and cuffed him to the cot. Bobby explained that Sam had come across a spell that would keep his soul out of his body and needed to commit patricide to do it. Since John and Mary Winchester had been dead for years, the next closest person was Bobby.

"I can't keep doing this, Bobby," Dean groaned. "I mean, what, am I gonna tie him up every time he tries to kill someone? And that's not gonna hold him. I mean, he's…"

"Capable of anything," Bobby finished, agreeing. Dean looked at Death's ring in his hand and back at the panic room door.

"What am I supposed to do here?"

"I don't know," Bobby admitted. They sighed as he looked at Sam as he woke up and was silent, staring at his brother, then Kat and Dean went upstairs into the kitchen...and saw Death standing there.

"Dean...and Katherine. Join me," he said from the dinner table. He reached into a bag and handed each of them a hot dog wrapped in tin foil. "From a little stand in Los Angeles known for their bacon dogs. Sit."

"What's with you and cheap food?" Kat asked, sitting as she was told.

"I could ask you and him the same thing. Thought I'd have a treat before I put the ring back on," Death answered, looking at Dean. "Heavier than it looks, isn't it? Sometimes, you just want the thing off. But you know that." Dean just looked away. "Not hungry?"

"Look...I think you know I flunked," Dean grumbled, putting the ring on the table next to Death. "So there. Oh, and by the way...I sucked at being you. Really screwed up the whole natural order thing. But I'm sure you knew about that too."

"So, if you could go back, would you simply kill the little girl?" Death asked, staring into Dean's soul. "No fuss, no stomping your feet?"

"Knowing what I know now, yeah," Dean replied.

"I'm surprised to hear that," Death admitted. Kat swore she could see a small smile on his face as well. "Surprised and glad."

"Yeah, well don't get excited," he said. "I would have saved the nurse, okay? That's it."

"I think it's a little more than that," Death said. "Today, you got a hard look behind the curtain. Wrecking the natural order is not quite such fun when you have to mop up the mess, is it? This is hard for you, Dean. You throw away your life because you've come to assume that it'll bounce right back into your lap. But the human soul is not a rubber ball. It's vulnerable, impermanent, but stronger than you know. And more valuable than you can imagine. So... I think you've learned something today."

"Want to know what I think? I think you knew that I wouldn't last a day," Dean said after a minute, studying Death.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Death replied with his usual absence of emotion.

"I lost, fine," Dean growled. "But at least have the balls to admit that it was rigged from the jump." Death narrowed his eyes, glaring at Dean.

"Most people speak to me with more respect," he said quietly. Dean immediately was cowed.

"I didn't mean…"

"We're done here," Death said, getting up. "It's been lovely, but now I'm going to go to Hell to get your brother's soul." Dean and Kat both got up, confused.

"Why would you do that for us?" Kat asked.

"I'm not doing it for either of you, though I'm sure Sarakiel would be more than happy to disagree with me," Death answered. "Dean and Sam keep coming back. They're an affront to the balance of the universe, and I have a feeling that it's only a matter of time before you join the cycle with your divine connections."

"I apologize for that," Dean said, terrified.

"But you have use," he continued. "Right now, you're digging at something. The intrepid Detectives. I want you all to keep digging."

"So, gonna just be cryptic about this?" Kat began asking.

"It's about the souls," Death interrupted, picking up his ring. "You'll understand when you need to." With that, he went to put it on.

"Wait," Dean called. "With Sam...is this wall thing really gonna work?"

"Call it 75%," Death replied, and put the ring on, vanishing. Dean and Kat looked at each other and went to prep Sam.

They went down to the panic room.

"Open the door," Dean said as they got downstairs.

"What happened?" Bobby asked, going for the door.

"Now!" Bobby hurriedly opened the door and they went inside. Sam was already panicking, since Death was already in the room.

"Get away from me! Don't!" he cried. Death opened up his briefcase, revealing the shining substance that was Sam's soul.

"Now Sam," Death said, speaking to Sam like a parent to a child. "I'm gonna put up a barrier inside your mind."

"No, don't touch me," Sam cried, recoiling away from Death.

"It might feel a little itchy," Death continued. "Do me a favor - don't scratch the wall. Trust me, you're not gonna like what happens."

"Please, don't do this!" Sam said, resorting to weak begging. "No, no! You don't know! You don't know what'll happen!" Sam was crying for mercy and looking to his siblings. "Dean, Kat please! No!" His pleas turned into screams Death put his soul back in his body.