[Appointment in Samarra]
EXT. GROCERY STORE
Dean looked at an address on a piece of paper and looked at the awning on the store in front of him before muttering, "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."
INT. GROCERY STORE
"Hi, I'm, uh, looking for..." Dean was cut off.
"Follow all the way back," the employee instructed. "All the way back."
Dean went to the back of the store and took a series of steps up to an apartment.
"Dean Winchester?" Dr. Robert asked.
"You must be Dr. Robert?" Dean guessed.
"Son, I stitched up your daddy more times than I can count, let me tell you. Oh, it's good to see you. 'Course, that was ages ago, back when, uh, I still had my medical license. Right this way."
"Well, you know, I'm, uh, I'm no germ freak, but..."
"Rent's cheap."
Dean and Dr. Robert entered the doctor's "office".
"Eva, my assistant," Dr. Robert introduced.
"Hi," Dean greeted.
Dr. Robert gestured to a bed. "Hop right up."
"N-now, you've -- you've, um, done this a lot?" Dean questioned nervously.
"Oh, many, many times."
"And your... success rate?"
"Oh, excellent -- almost 75%. So, should we get the, uh, preliminaries out of the way?"
"Yeah. Uh, yeah, right." He handed Dr. Robert an envelope of money.
"Ah. Oh."
"Oh. Uh... So... listen, if, uh, something..."
"Goes wrong?"
"Yeah. Uh... Would you mail this for me, please?" He handed Dr. Robert a letter addressed to Michal.
"Sure," Dr. Robert said. "Would've thought you had something for your brother, Sam."
"If I don't make it back, nothing I say is gonna mean a damn thing to him," Dean said.
Eva inserted an IV needle into his arm and Dean cried, "Ahh!"
"Don't be a baby," Eva retorted.
"You know, a little bedside manner would be nice," Dean shot back.
"Are we ready?" Dr. Robert questioned. "Hmm?"
"You've got three minutes."
He flatlined and Eva said, "No pulse, no sinus rhythm."
"He's dead."
Dean walked up and saw his dead body. "Good times." He walked back out to the convenience store.
"This better work," Dean muttered. "Messorum evoco qui me tetigit."
Tessa frowned. "Dean? What the hell?"
"What do you know? It worked."
"I was in Sudan! What's with yanking me ov -- wait, why are you dead?"
"Tessa, I need a favor."
"Oh, you're kidding. You died to ask me-"
"Tell your boss I need to talk to him."
"No."
"Please?"
"Where do you get the nerve?"
"Desperate times."
"He calls us. We don't call him."
"You make an exception!"
"I can't."
"Can't or won't?"
"Both."
Death appeared and said, "All right, Tessa. Thank you very much. Hello, Dean."
INT. GROCERY STORE
"I'm busy, Dean," Death said. "Talk fast."
"I have something of yours," Dean told him.
"You mean my ring? I recall loaning you that temporarily."
"Well, if you want it back-"
"I'm sorry, you assume that I don't know where you've hidden it. Now we've established you have hubris, what is it you want?"
"Lucifer's Cage. I figure you're one of the few people that can actually jailbreak it."
"Do you?"
"Sam's soul is stuck in that box."
"I've heard."
"And my other brother is trapped in there, too. Michael rode him in."
"Dean, quit shuffling and deal."
"I want you to get 'em both out."
"Hmm. Pick one."
"What?!"
"Sam's soul or Adam's."
"But-"
"As a rule, I don't bring people back. I might make an exception once, not twice. So... Pick."
Dean thought for a moment. "Sam. His soul has been in there for a year, and I understand that it's... Damaged."
"Try flayed to the raw nerve."
"Well, is there any way that you could, uh, I don't know, hack the Hell part off?"
Dr. Robert and Eva were trying to revive Dean.
Eva counted down. "Four, three, two... now."
"Again," Dr. Robert instructed.
"Dean, Dean, Dean," Death said. "What do you think the soul is? Some pie you can slice? The soul can be bludgeoned, tortured, but never broken. Not even by me."
"Well, there's got to be something."
"Maybe. Can't erase Sam's Hell, but I can... put it behind a wall, if you will."
"A "wall.""
"In his mind -- a dam to hold back the tide. Nasty, those memories. You don't want to know what they'll do to him. Believe me."
"Okay, uh, a wall. Sounds good."
"But it's not permanent," Tessa warned.
"Okay, so that's the choice -- Sam with no soul, or Sam with some drywall that if or when it collapses, he's... Done?"
"Yes," Death confirmed.
"Do it."
"I never said I'd do it."
Dean narrowed his eyes. "Well, then what the hell have I been talking about?"
"Your prize. If you win the wager."
"Great. What's the bet?"
"Don't roll your eyes, Dean. It's impolite. Now, when you fetch my ring, put it on."
"What?"
"I want you to be me for one day."
"Are you serious?"
"No, I'm being incredibly sarcastic."
Dr. Robert and Eva were still trying to resurrect Dean.
"Eva, adrenaline!" Dr. Robert ordered.
Death looked at Dean. "Take the ring off before the 24 hours are up, and you lose. No soul for Sam. Clear?"
"Okay," Dean agreed. "Yes. But... But why?"
"Simple, Dean. Because-"
INT. DR. ROBERT'S OFFICE
"Oh, thank Moses," Dr. Roberts said.
Dean glared. "You couldn't have given me five more seconds?"
"Son, you were gone for seven minutes."
"I was?"
"Mm-hmm. I thought for sure death had you by the twins."
INT. BOBBY'S HOUSE
"You what?!" Sam cried.
"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! Michal did too!"
"Death said he can put up a wall."
"A wall?"
"Yeah, yes, a wall -- that -- that, basically, you wouldn't remember Hell."
"Really?"
"Really."
"For good? Like a cure?"
"No, it's not a cure. It... He said it could last a lifetime."
"Great. So, playing pretty fast and loose with my life here, don't you think, Dean?"
"I'm trying to save your life!"
"Exactly, Dean! It's my life! It's my life, it's my soul. And it sure as hell ain't your head that are gonna explode when this whole scheme you have goes sideways!"
"Just curious," Bobby commented. "I presume Death isn't doing this out of the goodness of his heart. So what's your half of the deal?" Dean looked evasive. "I'm sorry. I didn't get that."
"I have to wear the ring for a day," Dean said.
Michal frowned. "Why would he want you to do that?"
"Get his rock off. I don't know. But I'm doing it." Sam moved to leave. "Where are you going?"
Sam looked at him. "Look, I hear you, all right? I get it. I just need a minute to wrap my head around it, all right?"
EXT. BOBBY'S YARD
Sam looked at a small hole in the ground worriedly.
Dean held Death's ring. "Looking for this?"
"Just taking a walk," Sam told him.
"Sam. I'm your brother. I'm not gonna let you get hurt. I know what I'm doing here."
"What if you're wrong?"
"I won't let it go wrong."
"Fine."
"Fine? So, you're-"
"So, I'm trusting you here. Barely."
"You sure?"
"You're the one with the compass, right? Just don't mess it up."
"I won't," Dean replied, turning to Bobby and Francesca. "Watch him."
INT. BOBBY'S HOUSE
"So, is this the part where you two pull a gun on me and lock me in the panic room?" Sam asked.
"Do we have to?" Bobby questioned.
"No. I guess Dean's gotta do what he's gotta do."
"Guess we all do, kid."
EXT. BOBBY'S YARD
"Well, here goes everything," Dean muttered as he put on the ring.
EXT. SMALL TOWN STREET
"Wow," Tessa commented. "They'll just let any slack-jawed haircut be Death these days."
"Well, you're all charm today, aren't you?" Dean shot back.
"Let's be clear so we get through this with a minimum of screw-up. I don't like this and right now, I'm not crazy about you, either."
"This is your boss' idea."
"True. 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?"
"For the next 24 hours, you kill everyone whose number's up."
"Well, how am I supposed to know who to..."
"Kill?"
"Yeah."
"I have a list."
"Let me see."
"No. You touch them, they die, I reap them. Are we clear?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Remove the ring, you lose. Slack off, you lose. Got it?"
"Yeah."
"Don't mess this up. It's not my job to be your damn babysitter."
INT. ABANDONED WAREHOUSE
Sam performed a summoning spell.
"Sam... Winchester," Balthazar said. "This had better be good."
Balthazar looked at Sam. "Why here's one for the list of dumbest things ever. Summon the angel who wants to kill you."
"Desperate times," Sam replied. "I need your help, Balthazar."
"Interesting... Since last time we met, you wanted to -- what was it? Oh, yes, yes -- fry my wings "extra crispy.""
"Well, that was a misunderstanding."
"Some misunderstanding!"
"I need some advice."
"Advice?"
"Angel advice."
"Well, then go ask your boyfriend."
"Cas can't help me. I need to know if there's a spell or a weapon, anything that can keep a soul out -- forever."
"Ohh. What's going on, Sam?"
"It's for me."
"Well. The plot thickens. Where's your soul, Sam? Good God, no. It's not still... It is."
"My brother found a way to put it back in me. I don't want it."
"No, you don't. No, no, 'cause Michael and Lucy are hate-banging it as we speak."
"Can you help me?"
"Oh, yes. The question is, will I?"
"Set your terms."
"I'll do it for free."
"Free? Why?"
"Well, you seem like a capable young man. I'd love to have you in my debt. And I have to say, I'm not a fan of your brother, so screwing him would delight me. I'm not a huge fan of that friend of yours, either. Anyway, to business. The spell, yes. So, finding the ingredients are easy enough, but, uh, there's one tricky part, however."
"Okay."
"You need to scar your vessel."
"Meaning what?"
"Meaning something that so pollutes it, it renders it uninhabitable. Calls for something very specific."
"Great. What?"
"Patricide. Murdering an innocent."
"My dad's been dead for years and so has my girlfriend."
"To be clear, um, you need the blood of your father and a former, but your father needn't be blood and that lover needn't be your lover. Comprende?"
EXT. SMALL TOWN STREET
"Just so you know, when people die, they might have questions for you," Tessa said. "Well, you know, not you, but Death."
Dean frowned. "You mean like, "how did Betty White outlast me?""
""What's it all mean?" Is popular."
"And am I just gonna magically know?"
"No."
"Then what the hell am I supposed to say? Oh, come on, give me something."
"Suck it up. Comes with the gig."
INT. CONVENIENCE STORE
A robber pointed the gun at the cashier who was standing behind the register with his son. "Come on! Come on! Let's go!"
"They can't hear you," Tessa said. "They can't see you. Just let this play out."
"Well, who am I taking?" Dean asked.
"Wait and see."
"Which one?
"You want me to shoot the kid?!" the robber yelled. "Hurry up! Oh, you think I'm kidding? And don't forget the drawer under the register. Come on, move it! Let's go!"
The cashier pushed a bag off the counter onto the floor, and while the robber bent to pick it up he pulled a gun from the drawer under the register.
"You idiot," the robber said.
The cashier shot the robber, who fell to the ground, dying.
"Hello?" Tessa called. "Tick tock."
"He's in agonizing pain, right?" Dean asked.
"Uh, yes."
A small smirk crossed Dean's face. "Give me a minute."
Dean touched the robber, whose soul appeared behind him.
"Why?" the robber asked.
"Mostly because you're a dick," Dean replied. "Enjoy the ride down, pal. Trust me -- sauna gets hot. That wasn't so hard."
EXT. OUTSIDE CAFÉ
Tessa and Dean approached a man eating pizza.
"Call me crazy, but this smells like a heart attack," Dean commented moments before the man clutched his chest and fell forward. "Lucky guess." Dean touched the man.
"Why?" the man asked.
"You think maybe it was the extra cheese?"
"Yeah. It was good, though."
"Is that a local place?"
"Dean," Tessa warned.
"Right. Uh, time to go, man. Sorry."
"Wait," the man called. "Will you or her tell me what it all means?"
"Everything is dust in the wind."
"That's it?! A Kansas song?!"
"Sorry," Tessa apologized. "He's new."
INT. BOBBY'S HOUSE
Sam entered the house.
"Woke up and you were gone," Bobby said. "Where you been?"
"Just driving around," Sam lied. "No biggie."
The three sat with drinks and played poker.
INT. HOSPITAL
"After you, boss," Tessa said.
Dean looked into the hospital room to see a father reading to his sick daughter.
"That's when we went to California," the father told his daughter. "You were six then. God. We should burn that. You were adorable."
"The dad or the kid?" Dean asked.
"Kid," Tessa replied.
"Come on. What is she, 13?"
"She's 12."
"And that's..." Hilary began.
"That's your mom... When she was your age," the girl's father answered.
"This guy have any other family?" Dean wondered.
"No, not really," Tessa said.
"Well, this is awesome."
"What, you thought it was gonna be armed robbers and heart attacks waiting to happen?"
"She's 12!"
"With a serious heart condition."
"Who's next on the list?"
"Dean, you have to take her."
"Says who?"
"Death."
"I'm Death."
"You know what I mean."
"Well, who tells him? Who tells her?"
"I don't know. It just it. It's destiny."
"Gimme a break. I've spent our whole lives fighting that crap. There's no such thing as destiny, just like there was no apocalypse -- just a bunch of stuck-up mooks who didn't want us human slaves asking questions. Well, I say the girl lives."
"Do you know what's amazing? You don't actually buy a word you're saying."
"Yes, I do."
"Oh, really? So, all the times that you've messed with life and death, they just worked out for you? It was just a beach party every time, huh?"
"Well, I know this much -- I'm Death, she's 12, and she's not dying today."
INT. BOBBY'S HOUSE
Sam, Bobby and Michal were playing a tense game of poker.
INT. HOSPITAL
"Medically, I can't explain it," Dr. Owens said.
"So her heart just healed?" the father questioned.
"Couple of times in your career, you see something you just got to call a miracle. All I know is I won't have to operate."
"Thank you. Thank you, doctor." He turned to his daughter. "You did it. You're gonna be okay."
A nurse spoke on the phone. "Hey, hon, guess what? I'm leaving. No, surgery was canceled."
"Come on. We have more work here," Tessa told Dean.
"Okay. See you soon."
INT. BOBBY'S HOUSE
"Pair of aces," Sam said.
Bobby held out an empty beer bottle. "Want another one?"
"Yeah, sure."
Michal went into the kitchen to get something to eat. While Bobby looked in the refrigerator, Sam grabbed a wrench and went to knock out Bobby and Michal, but Bobby grabbed a bat from the fridge and Michal grabbed a shotgun from the cupboard and knocked Sam out first.
"May have been born at night, boy, but it wasn't last night." Bobby and Michal went to get rope, but when they turned back, Sam was gone. "Not good. Let's not do anything hasty here, Sam."
Michal looked around. "Where is he?"
Bobby and Michal hid in Bobby's closet, and Sam began chopping through the closet door with an axe.
"Don't say, "Here's Johnny,"" Bobby and Michal told him.
"I got to do this, Bobby, Michal," Sam said. "I'm sorry. You two shouldn't have cornered yourselves."
"We didn't!" Bobby pushed a button and a trap door opened directly under Sam.
Sam, in the basement, took a crowbar to the door.
"Reinforced steel for, titanium kick plate," Bobby explained. "Get comfy. You want to explain what this is about?"
"I just, uh... I have to do this, Bobby, Frankie."
"Says who?" Bobby and Michal questioned.
"If Dean shoves that soul back into me, think how bad that could really be. I can't let it happen, Bobby, Michal. I mean, it's not like I want to kill you two. You've both been nothing but good to me."
"So... What, demon deal or something?" Bobby asked.
"Spell."
"You're making a mistake, Sam."
"I'm trying to survive."
"Dean's got a way to make it safe," Michal said.
"Oh, yeah, what, some wall inside my head that maybe stays up? Come on."
"If it works-" Bobby and Michal began.
"Yeah, what if it doesn't? Dean doesn't care about me. He -- he just care about his little brother, Sammy, burning in Hell. He'll kill me to get the other guy back."
"Look, Michal and I... we know how scary it is," Bobby replied. "But you know what's scarier? You right now. You're not in your right head, Sam. You're not giving us much choice here. Sam? Balls!" Bobby and Michal opened the door and headed downstairs. "Ain't nobody killing me and Michal in my own house but me. We don't want to blow your legs out, boy, but we will."
Bobby and Michal saw that Sam had escaped through the vent in the panic room ceiling.
"Come on!" Michal cried.
INT. HOSPITAL
"Oh, what, you gonna give me the silent treatment now?" Dean asked. "Really?"
"Damn it!" Tessa cried. "I knew it!"
"What?"
The EMT wheeled in a gurney. "Code 500, E.R. Code 500, E.R."
"What's going on?" an orderly asked.
"Fractured spine, internal bleeding. Had a heart attack in the ambulance."
"We need Dr. Owens."
"He just left."
"Call Owens. Tell him to turn around."
"Wait, that's..." Dean began.
"You let the girl live. The nurse goes home early, gets in a crash she wouldn't have. And she needs the heart surgeon, and where is he?"
"You knew this would happen?"
"No. Just knew that you knocked over a domino."
"She's in cardiac arrest," doctor one informed.
"Take her," Tessa ordered.
"What?" Dean asked.
"Clear!" doctor two yelled.
"She's not on the list!" Dean argued.
Tessa looked at Dean. "Everything you do has consequences. Do you want to set off another chain reaction?"
"She's got nothing to do with this!"
"Well, too bad, Dean. You put on the ring. Now do your damn job."
"Clear!" Doctor two said again.
"Fine." Dean touched Jolene.
"She's crashing again. We're losing her. Clear!"
Jolene's spirit looked at her body. "Is that... Am I..."
"Yes," Tessa replied. "I'm sorry."
"But I'm..."
"So young."
"Yeah."
"Actually, you were supposed to live for many decades. Have kids, grandkids."
"Then why?"
"Because he screwed up."
Jolene turned to Dean. "You did this to me?"
"Come on, Jolene. It's time."
"Wait. I'm sorry," Dean apologized.
"Where is she?" Jolene's husband asked. "Where's my wife? Where is she? No! No!"
INT. HILARY'S HOSPITAL ROOM
"A real vacation?" Hilary asked.
"Yeah," her father replied. "I can take you to this one café, show you where I met your mom."
Tessa looked at Dean. "You saw what happened to the nurse. Go and kill that girl, Dean. I tried to tell you what you already know. She's disrupting the natural order by being alive. You of all people know what that means. Chaos and sadness will follow her for the rest of her life. We tried it your way."
Dean watched Jolene's husband through the window before he said, "Give me a minute."
"What?"
EXT. BOBBY'S YARD
Bobby and Michal followed a trail of Sam's blood to his shed, where Sam knocked them unconscious and dragged them inside, one after the other.
INT. JOLENE'S HUSBAND'S CAR
"Come on, man, pull the car over," Dean begged. "You're gonna get yourself killed. What are you doing? Pull the damn car over! Stop the car. Come on, stop the car."
"Rout 10 is still shut down..." a voice on the radio said.
"What are you doing?! Stop the car!"
"From an earlier fatal crash. All traffic has to exit..."
"Son of a bitch!" He pulled off the ring and yanked the steering wheel to the side.
"Aah!" Jolene's husband cried.
"Hit the brakes!"
"Aah!"
The car crashed and Jolene's husband slumped forward against the steering wheel.
"Damn it. Tessa!"
"You there?!" Dean asked. "Tessa?! I lost! Sam's screwed! You happy?! Least you can do is zap my ass back home! Hello?! I lost the bet."
"Sorry about your brother," Tessa said.
"Let's just go."
"Go where, Dean? We're done. What are we-"
INT. HILARY'S ROOM
"Unfinished business," Dean explained.
"It's over," Tessa told him. "You took the ring off. Anyway, thought you wanted the girl to skate by."
"No one really skates by. Do they?" He turned to Hilary's father. "You should say your goodbyes, man."
"Hey, honey," Hilary's father greeted. "I must have dozed off. Hilary? Somebody!"
"I'm dead?" Hilary's spirit asked.
"I'm sorry," Dean replied.
"But what about my dad?"
"He'll be fine."
"Really?"
"I have no idea."
"I-I can't just leave him! It's not fair!"
"I know."
"Well, then why?"
"Because... There's sort of a -- a natural order to things."
"Natural order is stupid."
"Well, I agree with you there."
INT. BOBBY'S SHED
"Listen to me," Bobby said. "You don't want to do this. Sam. I've been like a father to you, boy. Michal's been a friend and is dating your brother. Somewhere inside, you've got to know that."
Sam walked towards Bobby and Michal holding a knife. "Well, that's just it. Sorry."
Sam raised the knife up to stab Bobby and Michal, but Dean intercepted him.
"Hi, Sam," Dean greeted. "I'm back." Dean knocked Sam out.
INT. BOBBY'S BASEMENT
Dean looked at Sam who was cuffed to the panic room cot.
"I can't keep doing this, Bobby, Mika," Dean admitted. "I mean, what are we, 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 and Michal finished.
"What am I supposed to do here?"
"I don't know," Bobby replied.
Michal glanced at him. "We'll figure it out."
Dean headed to Bobby's kitchen. Michal headed to another room.
"Dean," Death called. "Join me. Brought you one-" Death handed Dean a hot dog, "from a little stand in Los Angeles known for their bacon dogs. Sit."
"Boy, what's with you and cheap food?" Dean wondered.
"I could ask you the same thing. Thought I'd have a treat before I put the ring back on. Heavier than it looks, isn't it? Sometimes, you just want the thing off. But you know that. Not hungry?"
"Look... I think you know that I flunked. So there. Oh, and by the way, I, uh... 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? No fuss, no stomping your feet?"
"Knowing what I know now, yeah."
"I'm surprised to hear that. Surprised and glad."
"Yeah, well, don't get excited. I would have saved the nurse, okay? That's it."
"I think it's a little more than that. Today, you got a hard look behind the curtain. Wrecking the natural order's not quite so 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."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I lost. Fine. But at least have the balls to admit that it was rigged from the jump."
"Most people speak to me with more respect."
"I didn't mean-"
"We're done here. But now I'm going to Hell to get your brother's soul."
"Why would you do that for me?"
"I wouldn't do it for you. You and your brother keep coming back. You're an affront to the balance of the universe, and you cause a disruption on a global scale."
"I apologize for that."
"But you have use. Right now, you're digging at something. You and your girlfriend. The intrepid detectives. I want you and Michal to keep digging, Dean."
"Sorry you're just gonna be cryptic, or..."
"It's about the souls. You'll both understand when you need to."
"Wait -- with Sam... Is this wall thing really gonna work?"
"Call it 75%."
"Bobby! Mika!"
INT. BOBBY'S BASEMENT
"Open the door," Dean ordered.
"What happened?" Bobby and Michal asked.
"Now!"
INT. PANIC ROOM
"Get away from me!" Sam yelled. "Don't. Don't!"
"Now, Sam, I'm gonna put up a barrier inside your mind," Death informed.
"No, don't touch me."
"It might feel a little... itchy. Do me a favor -- don't scratch the wall. Trust me -- you're not gonna like what happens."
"Please. Don't do this."
Death took Sam's soul from his bag and went to put it back inside Sam.
"No, no!" Sam cried. "You don't know! You don't know what'll happen to me! Dean, please! No. No. No." Death put Sam's soul back in him. "Aah!"