Larissa is tossing and turning in her bed.
"Sam!" She hears Dean shout.
"Dean?" Sam rushes out of his bedroom. Larissa runs out of her room with her gun and goes to Athena's room. The toddler is sitting in her bed and whining.
"Hey. Hey, baby, I got you." Larissa rushes over. She picks Athena up, holding her on her hip. "I got you, baby." She goes to leave the room, jumping when Sam runs in, almost crashing into her.
"Oh, good. You have her." Sam sighs in relief.
"Yeah. Yeah, she's fine." Larissa says. "Why are the lights flickering?"
"Why do you think?" Sam asks, leaving the room.
"Okay, well, this is, like, a super old building, dipshit. Also isn't it like ultra protected? Against, you know, demons, witches, blah, blah, but, you know, ghosts." Larissa says.
"Dean?" Sam calls. The two get into the main room and see a chair spinning by itself. Athena reaches out to the chair, bouncing excitedly in her mom's arms.
"Yeah, I don't think so, honey." Larissa says, tightening her hold on her daughter. Athena whines, wanting to spin around. Sam grabs an iron sword and stands in front of Larissa and Athena.
They turn at the sound of a gunshot and see Dean there, his shotgun smoking.
"So..." Sam says.
"Yep. Bunker's haunted." Dean says.
~ ~ ~
"How is this possible? I thought you said this was the safest place on the planet." Dean says.
"Look, I know nothing got in. I mean, the bunker is warded and sigiled from top to bottom. There's no way something came in from the outside." Sam says.
"Okay, so whoever's haunting us died here." Dean says.
"What, dead man of letters?" Sam asks.
"No, that doesn't track. I mean, we're the first people to occupy this place in 50 years. Why would a ghost wait so long to get its spook on?"
"Must have been a more recent death."
"No."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because Rissa and I burned his body ourselves, okay? It's not him."
"Haven't we learned that that doesn't exactly always work." Larissa comments, bouncing Athena to get her back to sleep.
"Yeah, we cremated Bobby too, and he came back." Sam says.
"Sam, I'm telling you -- this ghost, it's not Kevin." Dean says.
The coffeemaker starts going crazy, lights flashing on and off as the clock speeds through the numbers.
"Kevin?" Sam asks the coffeemaker.
"Yeah, I'm sure he's in it." Larissa remarks making Sam give her a bitch face.
A coffee mug explodes.
~ ~ ~
"Anything?" Dean asks.
"Eh, a couple of dings. A little EMF activity, but mostly... silence." Sam says.
"So, he's back in the veil." Dean says.
"I guess so. Fumbling to break through. I mean, you got to figure it took Bobby months to make contact." Sam says.
"Kevin's only... he's new at this." Dean says.
"Right. All right, you're up." Sam says, getting up to leave. "Rissa?" He turns to her asleep with her head on an empty plate that she had made toast on. "Okay." He mumbles.
Sam goes over and gently shakes her.
"Hmm? What? Get off." Larissa wildly looks around, realizing she's safe.
"C'mon." Sam gently pulls her to her feet. He grimaces at the toast crumbs on her face and he carefully brushes them off. He puts his hands on her shoulders, guiding her out.
Halfway to her room, the lights flicker. Sam immediately races to the kitchen. Larissa groans, knowing she probably has to follow, so she does.
"Hey, did you see that? The-- the lights were..." Sam stops as he sees Kevin's ghost appear on the other side of the room. Larissa gets into the kitchen, freezing at the sight of Kevin pacing and muttering to himself.
"No, this is not happening. Didn't spend months struggling to break through the veil just to get stuck listening to Dean Winchester having a self pity session. Didn't hear enough of those when I was alive."
"Kevin?" Dean asks.
"You can see me?" Kevin asks.
"Hey, take it easy, Kevin. You might not hold this form for long, okay? I-It takes a while." Sam says.
"Then we should talk fast." Kevin says.
"Wait, wait, wait. Why aren't you in Heaven? I mean, if anybody deserves an express pass to paradise--"
"I couldn't. I can't. No one can. Heaven's closed for business. Everyone who's died since the angels fell are just stuck inside the veil, waiting. And it's bad in here. Like DMV line times infinity bad."
"Okay, I get it, but part of me feels like these two have never seen the inside of a DMV." Larissa says, pointing between the brothers.
"What can we do?" Sam asks.
"I need a favor -- big one." Kevin says.
"Okay." Sam says.
"Find my mother."
"Kevin."
"Crowley only told you she was alive to mess with you." Dean says.
"I'm not going off his word, all right? I have my own sources. It's crowded in the veil. All of us are stuck near the sites of our deaths. But I've been able to pass messages spirit to spirit. I made contact with another new arrival. She said she saw my mom just a week ago, alive."
"Okay, this-- this spirit that you're playing ghost telephone with, I mean, what do you even know about her?" Dean asks.
"Her name's Candy. Says she's in a forest in Wichita." Kevin says.
"Candy?" Dean questions.
"That's it? That's all you got?" Sam asks.
"Long distance communication within the veil -- it's not ideal. That's why I need you to go there, summon her, see what else she knows. You say you want to make it right? This is how." Kevin flickers until he's gone.
+++
"All right, that's the trestle. Candy said her spirit was stuck nearby." Sam says.
"She died here?" Dean asks.
"Yeah." Sam nods.
"Dude, what got her? A bear?" Dean asks.
"Serial killer... or killer, at least." Larissa shrugs.
"I'm still stuck on the fact that we're trying to summon a ghost named Candy. You know, just cause Kevin said he heard his mom is alive doesn't mean she--"
"Hey, we at least owe it to the kid to try, right?"
"What'd you bring?"
Dean digs in his bag and pulls out a radio, hanging it to a nail that's on a tree.
"Well, she's only been dead for a week, right? So I figured she could use as much help as she can get, so..." Dean pulls the coffeemaker out.
"Really?" Sam asks.
"Whatever works." Dean says.
~ ~ ~
They're still waiting in the cold under the train tracks. Athena is bundled up in her car seat and Larissa is leaning over her, trying to keep as much of the coldness away as she possibly can.
"You feel that? I think I felt a chill." Sam says.
"Yeah. It's cause it's cold." Dean remarks.
"Thought you were the smart one, Samuel." Larissa says, earning an annoyed look from him.
Dean dials a number on his phone and puts it to his ear.
"Crowley, it's Dean. Call me when you get this."
"Really, Dean?" Sam asks.
"What?" Dean asks.
"That's your third unanswered voicemail. You ever think maybe he's just not that into you?" Sam asks.
"Well, he is our last confirmed link to Ms. Tran. Yes, he is a flaming douche, but at least we know he's real, which is more than we can say for this Candy no show." Dean says.
The radio on the tree buzzes to life and a woman's voice comes barely comes through the static. The brothers get up and go to it, Larissa staying with the baby.
"Candy? Are you in there? Is that you, Candy?" Sam asks.
"Hello? Hello?" Candy calls. They try to adjust the radio to be able to hear Candy better.
"There. There. There. Stop, stop, stop. Candy?" Sam asks.
"...in the box. They put me in the box. All of us in boxes, side by side. Me, Jerome, Linda." Candy says.
"Linda's--"
"Ms. Tran." Sam nods. "Candy, these boxes, where were they?" Sam asks.
"I don't know. They were cold. Dark. There-- there was a vent. We could talk to one another." Candy says.
"Okay, and the walls, can you describe them?" Sam asks.
"Bare. Cement. Except for the door. That was... metal, but... like, ridged." Candy says.
"Ridged? You mean like corrugated?" Dean asks.
"Yeah! I tried to life the door, but I couldn't. Locked from the outside." Candy says.
"Like a storage unit?" Dean asks.
"Maybe." Sam shrugs. "Candy, who was holding you there?"
"Two men. It was so dark in the box. When they came, I could barely see. The-- the first guy was British, I think. Kind of short, loved hearing himself talk."
"Crowley. And what do they want?" Sam asks.
"Said I was worth more alive than dead. But he stopped coming. Then it was just the other guy. We thought with just him... we'd try to escape. I ran so hard, so far, but..."
"Candy? Candy, are you there? What about Ms. Tran? Candy?" Sam asks.
"I don't know. Maybe she survived." Candy says.
"Maybe? That's not what you told her son." Dean says.
"I said she was alive. I don't know what happened after. For her sake, I hope she's dead." Candy says.
+++
"Okay, there are three storage facilities nearby. The closest one is about a mile up the road. Oh, and I, uh-- I dug up some stuff on Candy. Turns out she was the kept woman of a powerful Congressman. Gossip blog said he worshipped the ground she walked on, literally. He, uh-- had a foot fetish."
"So, Crowley was holding the beloved tootsies of a powerful politician?" Dean asks.
"And the beloved mother of a powerful prophet." Sam says.
"Human leverage. But why kill Candy?" Dean asks.
"Well, you heard her. Uh, she tried to make a break for it. Maybe Crowley wanted to make an example." Sam says.
"No. No. The guy left in charge. Crowley wanted the victims alive." Dean says.
"So, what, you want to give him a medal? I mean, Crowley's the one who put them in the cells in the first place." Sam says.
"Yeah, I know. I'm just talking it out. You know, working the case. Businesslike." Dean says.
+++
They get to another storage facility and get out.
"Um... Rissa, you're gonna stay here with Athena." Sam says.
"Yeah, um... no. You're staying with the baby." Larissa argues.
"What?" Sam asks.
"Well, I just figured since, you know... you're the one throwing snarky comments left and right, it wouldn't kill you to have some alone time... with a baby. And it's not the 1950s, I'm not the housewife."
"Besides, you don't trust me anyways, right? You really wanna leave me alone with her? I might sacrifice her because since I made one terrible parenting decision, that she didn't get hurt from, I'm a terrible mother and obviously don't give a shit about her safety."
"So you two have fun. She just dirtied her diaper, by the way, so... Godspeed."
Larissa walks past him, going for the storage unit. Sam gives Dean an incredulous look.
"I'm on her side." Dean points after his sister-in-law.
"Wha--" Sam rolls his eyes as Dean follows Larissa.
"Let me guess -- 5'5", pasty white, black rimmed hipster glasses just like the last place." Dean says.
"5 bucks." Larissa says.
"Deal." Dean rings the bell. A guy, who exactly matches Dean's description, walks out. Dean smirks and Larissa rolls her eyes. She secretly gives him 5 bucks.
"Nailed it." He whispers.
"Shut up." Larissa whispers back.
"Can I help you?" Del asks.
"Yeah, hi. Agents Nicks and Buckingham. Need to take a look at your, uh, rental records." Dean says.
"Uh, my manager's not here. I really don't think I should--"
"Hey! The records, pal." Dean orders.
"Yeah. Barry! Bring out the rental binder!" He calls out. Barry walks into the room with a large binder, also matching Dean's description. He gives Dean the binder.
"There you go, sir." Del says.
Dean looks through the binder and Larissa looks at a map of the storage facility.
"Hey." Larissa drags Dean over. "Corridor Q. Three adjacent units separate from the others. Candy said three hostages, right?" Larissa asks.
"Yeah." Dean nods, finding the records. "Okay. It's all leased by the same guy. A D. Webster."
"D. Webster?" Larissa asks. "Like Daniel Webster?"
"Well, I know a lame Crowley in-joke when I see one." Dean says.
"You guys say D. Webster?" Del asks.
"Yeah. Yeah, you-- you seen him?" Dean asks.
"Uh, no, just... I know his name from the records. He's leasing another unit on the other side of the facility. I could show you." Del says.
"Yeah. That'd be great." Dean says. "All right, why don't you take corridor Q? I'll go with, uh, Del the funky homosapien."
"Just be careful." Larissa tells him.
"I'm offended you think I would be anything but. Careful is my middle name." Dean states. Larissa gives him a bitch face. "Seriously."
"I'm pretty beer is your middle name... or pie." Larissa says.
"Can't argue with you there. I'm always careful, Rissy." He ruffles her hair.
"Mm-hmm." Larissa lets out a disagreeing hum as Dean walks off with Del.
Larissa walks down corridor q and picks the lock on the last unit. She opens the door and sees Ms. Tran shrink away from the light.
"Ms. Tran? Hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Ms. Tran. Hey, it's Larissa. It's Larissa." She says, going over to her.
"Larissa?" Linda asks. "Larissa? We have to get out of here before it comes back. Is Kevin with you?" Larissa freezes.
"Um... yeah. Yeah, he's good." Larissa lies making Ms. Tran sigh in relief. The door suddenly shuts and Larissa goes to try and open it, but it's locked.
"Fuck." Larissa whispers. "Okay." She goes back to Ms. Tran and takes out a Swiss army knife that Sam got her about a year ago. She gets the shackles off of Ms. Tran. "All right. There we go."
"Oh. There's a-- there's an electrical line, leads to the control panel." Linda informs. Larissa pops the cover open and a mess of wires fall out.
"Um... yeah, we might be here for a while." Larissa says.
"We have to unplug the ground wire first. If this is standard U.S. color coding, it should be the green one." Linda says, taking the knife from Larissa.
"Okay." Larissa nods.
"Helping Kevin with his engineering club assignments, I picked up a thing or two. I'm sure he insisted, but I trust you weren't foolish enough to bring Kevin along on this mission. That you left him someplace safe?"
"Yeah. Yeah, obviously." Larissa quietly says.
"Good. Now all we have to do is get this door open, get the hell out of here, and you will bring me to my son." Linda says. Larissa feels her heart break, not able to imagine the pain Kevin's mom is about to face. But she can't lie to her anymore.
After lying to Sam for months, the last thing Larissa wants to do is lie to anybody else. Plus, she'd want somebody to tell her if anything were to happen to Athena.
"Um... Ms. Tran..." Larissa starts. Linda looks at her and it only takes looking into Larissa's eyes to understand that Kevin is no longer alive. "I'm so sorry."
Linda starts to cry. When Larissa goes to comfort her, she slips her strong facade on, turning her attention back to the wires.
"You will take me to my son. Flashlight." Linda orders as Larissa stares at her in concern. "Flashlight!" Larissa shines the flashlight on the wires.
Larissa gets the door open, finding Dean tied to a post and Del about to kill him. Larissa rushes over, tackling him into a shelf.
Del is sitting on his knees, Dean and Larissa standing in front of him.
"Do it. Kill me." Del says.
"No, we're saving you for someone else." Dean says.
"Crowley." Del says.
"Oh, no. No. No, honey, this is much worse." Larissa assures.
Dean holds the knife out and Linda walks in.
"Do the honors, Ms. Tran." Dean says.
"With pleasure." Linda says.
"Hey, lady. I swear. I was just following ord--" Linda stabs him in the heart. She takes the knife out, turning to the in-laws. "Take me to my son."
+++
"Kevin? You here? Kev?" Dean calls.
"Well?" Kevin appears.
"We got her. She's alive. She's here. But we wanted to give you a moment to... you know, process." Dean says.
"Oh. I, uh... does she know?" Kevin asks.
"Kevin?" He turns to his mom. "Hello, son."
"Hey, mom." Kevin gently greets.
"Oh." Linda cries.
~ ~ ~
"She was held and tortured for a year because of me. Now that I found her, I'm not letting her out of my sight. She's my responsibility." Kevin says.
"And you were ours. And we failed you. I--" Sam says.
"Sam. I know that wasn't you. Go put a blade in that asshat who possessed you and we'll call it square." Kevin says. Sam nods. "Guys. Thank you."
"You can thank us when we get you to Heaven where you belong. Okay, until then, enjoy your time with your mom. The, uh, interrupted, 24/7, no escape quality time." Dean says.
"Dick." Kevin smiles. "Hey, before I go... will you guys promise me something?"
"Yeah." Dean nods.
"Anything." Sam says.
"Of course." Larissa says.
"Can you three... get over it? Dudes, just cause you couldn't see me doesn't mean I couldn't see you. The drama, the fighting... it's stupid. My mom's taking home a ghost. You three -- and Athena... you're all still here."
"Of course. Promise." Sam says.
"Yeah." Dean nods.
"You got it." Larissa says.
"Good." Kevin says.
Kevin and Linda go up the stairs and out of the bunker, the door shutting behind them.
"Well, that was..." Dean turns to see Sam already gone. "Yeah, okay."
"So, uh... more "Sam hates us" drinks?" Larissa asks.
"I'm down." Dean nods. Larissa nods once, both of them walking to the kitchen.