TEXHOMA, TEXAS - NIGHT - PARKING LOT - B'S SUGAR BAR
One woman supported her drunk and staggering friend as they walked to the only car in the lot.
"All right, we're almost there," Angela said.
"You're so good to me, Angela," Sally replied.
"Mm-hmm."
"What would I do without you? Hmm? What would I do without my best friend?!"
"Okay, Sally, okay, let's... let's just get you home."
"-Or..."
"Okay?"
"...Ryan said there was an after party at his house."
"No, no, no. No more after parties. No more drinking. No more guys."
Sally held a hand up to her mouth. "Uh-oh."
"Sally?"
Sally ran across the lot and was sick in the bushes while Angela got in the car to wait for her.
"Great. Purge your sins. Then we'll get you home."
While Sally was sick, Angela struggled against someone inside her car, and was overpowered. When Sally turned back around a few moments later, Angela and the car were both gone.
"Angela? Angela?!" Sally called.
DIMLY LIT BASEMENT
Angela was tied to a chair and an IV tube ran from her arm to a heavy door with a grated window, behind which something stirred.
"Hello?" Angela asked.
Angela struggled to get free, and whatever was behind the door growled and paced as her blood dripped into its cage. The monster grabbed the bars and growled at her, and Angela screamed.
BUNKER - DEAN'S ROOM
Dean sat in bed searching for something to hunt on his phone, scrolling through positive news stories with nothing out of the ordinary. "Anything? Crop circles? Body without a heart? Anything? Come on, Internet."
Dean stopped scrolling on a story headlined, "My Friend Was Raptured While I Was Drunk," below a photo of Angela, from the cold open. "Oh, hello. Yeah."
BUNKER - KITCHEN
Dean came in to find Sam and Eileen cheerfully preparing a massive breakfast. Seylah was sitting at the table.
"It's never enough food," Sam said.
"Hey," Dean greeted.
"Ho-ho!"
"Hey," Eileen said.
"Look who's alive," Sam commented.
"Yeah, mostly," Dean replied.
"You hungry? We have, uh, eggs, pancakes, bacon."
"That real bacon? 'Cause, you know, you..." Dean looked at Eileen, and she gave him a knowing smile. "Are you two hungover?"
"We might've gotten just a little carried away with the margaritas last night," Eileen admitted.
Seylah nodded. "You two were loud."
Dean grinned. "Ho-ho! I knew I liked you."
"Sit. Eat," Eileen instructed.
"No, no. Uh, nah, I can't."
"W-W-Wait, wait. Wait. You're turning down bacon?" Sam asked.
"Mm, yes, yeah, I'm actually... I'm gonna head out."
"Okay, fine. Just give us a second to wrap this up, - and we'll come with you."
"No, no, no. No. I'm... I'm... I'm good. You guys stay, eat. It smells terrific."
Dean left the room, and Sam and Seylah, concerned, followed him out into the hall.
"Hey, Dean. Dean, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Just hold on. Slow down," Sam said.
"No, I'm good. I'm good," Dean replied.
"You're good? W-What does that mean you're..."
"It means I got to... I got to get out of here, okay? I just... I got to... I'm gonna take a drive, clear my head."
"Alone?"
"Yeah, you know, you and Eileen, you guys are having fun. Sey's still obviously grieving Jack. I think some time to herself would be good. I don't want to spoil that, you know?"
"Yeah, go, go. Clear your head. Eileen and I have stuff to do."
"Yeah, I'll bet you do. Yeah? Hmm?"
"It's not like that. I-I-I meant looking for Chuck and Lilith and..."
"Sure. Got it. Um, okay, but if, uh, things go your way, just make sure you put the sock on the door so I know."
"Call us if you need us."
"Always do."
Sam returned to the kitchen. Jayci walked to her room and turned on The Clone Wars.
"Is he okay?" Eileen asked.
"I think. It's funny. After everything with Chuck, uh, Dean was so... down I-I-I thought he wouldn't get back up again, but... but now, him leaving? That's progress. Right?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, it is."
EXTERIOR - PARKING LOT - TEXHOMA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
"Excuse me, Sheriff," Dean greeted.
"May I help you?" Sheriff Dillon asked.
"Agent Dukes."
"Dukes? Like "put up your dukes"?"
"Exactly."
"Sheriff Dillon."
"Good to meet ya. Listen, I'm looking into the disappearance of Angela Sullivan."
"Disappearance?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Uh, I wouldn't go that far."
"No? Why not?"
"Well, for one, Angela's car is gone. Cars don't usually disappear unless they're being driven somewhere."
"Okay, so you think what?"
"That girl wasn't taken. She left on her own."
"You sure about that?"
"Look, this is a small town. Angela's mom and dad passed a few years ago, but even before they did, she was talking about moving to L.A., trying to get on one of them competition shows, like the one with the "Knight Rider.""
"Right," Dean noted.
"It happens. Kids usually last about a week before they return. I stayed there a whole month. Oh, they don't know what they missed. I could've been the next Denzel. Huh?"
"All right. Uh, why would her friend report her missing?"
"I don't know. For the attention. Sally's got issues."
"What kind of issues?"
"The kind that keep her over at Swayze's Bar just about 24/7."
"Swayze. Sheriff, thank you for your time."
"No problem."
"Okay."
"Oh, Agent Dukes?"
"Yeah?"
"Hollywood ain't that far. You could catch Angela there. While you're at it, you could give show biz a shot for yourself. You've got the look."
"All right."
Dean gave the sheriff an awkward smile and walked to the Impala, turning around to give the sheriff one last disbelieving glance.
Dean pulled the Impala into the Swayze's Bar parking lot that night. Loud music could be heard from inside the bar.
SWAYZE'S BAR
A band performed on stage as Dean made his way through the crowd.
Dean was approached by a woman, Lorna, carrying a basket.
"Hey, there," Lorna greeted.
"Nice place," Dean commented.
"Best beer and wings in the world."
"I'll be the judge of that."
"Sure you will, handsome. But first, hand it over."
She held out the basket, waiting for Dean to drop something inside.
"My gun?" Dean asked.
"This is Texas, sweetheart. You can keep your gun. Cell phone. Ain't a party if everyone's on their phone."
"All right."
He dropped his phone in the basket atop a pile of other phones.
"Looking for someone," Dean said.
"Oh, but I think you found her."
"Yeah. Sally Anderson. Have you seen her?"
"Not yet, but it's "two for Tuesday." She'll show up."
"Thank you."
"Mnh-mnh. Thank you."
"Ooh."
As Lorna left, she slapped Dean's backside, and Dean turned around and noticed the man singing on stage. He had a long moment of shocked recognition as he remembered his old friend.
The song ended. The audience clapped as Lee high-fived his drummer and jumped off the stage, and Dean muttered to himself as he made his way to Lee.
"Huh? Right there," Lee said.
"Lee Webb," Dean called.
"Hey, honey. Hi," a woman said.
Lee hugged the woman in greeting. "Oh, hey. You like that?"
"Son of a bitch," Dean commented.
"Dean frigging Winchester," Lee realized.
Dean and Lee stared each other down for a few tense moments, before they each grinned and clasped hands and Lee pulled them into an enthusiastic hug. "I'll be damned. Man, come in here."
"The hell are you doing here?" Dean asked.
"What am I d... I own this joint, man. What are you doing in here?" Lee wondered.
"Working a case."
"You're still hunting, huh?"
"Well, yeah."
"Dean Winchester. Unbelievable. Hey, uh, Lor... Lorna? Lorna! Lorna! Hey, can we get a co... couple of beers for me and my... and my boy here?" He turned to Dean. "You got time, right?"
"Always."
"All right."
"You own the place?"
"Come on, dude."
Lee threw an arm around Dean's shoulders and laughed as he led Dean to a table.
"You sound good," Dean said.
BUNKER - LIBRARY
Sam, Seylah, who had decided to be social, and Eileen pored over stacks of books in silence.
"My brain is just, like, melting," Eileen said.
"Yeah. Us, too," Sam agreed.
"I need a break, and so do you. Why don't we do something fun?"
"Yeah. Um... ideas?"
"I mean, a few."
Seylah looked between them, seeing a flirtatious look and made her exit.
Eileen gave Sam a coy smile, but it took him a moment to figure out what Eileen was suggesting. He eventually took her hand, just as the front door to the bunker opened and closed and Castiel entered.
"Sam. Seylah," Castiel called.
"Cas? Wh... What in the world, man? Where have you been? I-I've been calling you and texting..." Sam stammered.
"I know. I was... Well, it doesn't matter. I'm here now. I'm ready to help."
"Hi," Eileen greeted.
"Yeah, uh, Cas, this is Eileen Leahy. Eileen, this is Cas," Sam said.
Castiel gave her a confused and concerned once over. "I thought you were..."
"Dead? Yeah, I got better," Eileen replied.
"Uh, one-time thing," Sam told him.
"Well, where's Dean?"
"He went for a drive. He needed to clear his head. So we've been looking for signs of Chuck and Lilith."
"Lilith?"
"Yeah, uh, she's back."
"Have you found them?" Castiel asked.
"Not yet," Eileen replied.
"It's because you're looking in the wrong places."
"What do you mean?" Seylah questioned. "Have you heard something on angel radio, or... I mean, I haven't..."
"No, no. It's been silent for months. But your wound... it's still not healed?"
"No," Sam said.
"Good. I've been thinking about that gun, the, uh... the Equalizer? When you shot God, it fired a piece of your soul."
"Okay."
"So there may be some of you inside Chuck."
"Ew," Eileen commented.
Seylah nodded. "Very."
SWAYZE'S BAR
Dean and Lee sat at the bar, drinking.
"Oh, tell me, brother..." Lee began.
"Mm?" Dean hummed.
"...how's the old man?"
"He died. Yeah, 13 years ago. But, hey, he was doing what he loved the most... kicking ass and taking names."
"Yeah. I'm sorry, man."
"I appreciate that."
"I always liked that crusty son of a bitch."
"Yeah."
"You remember that time he caught us wasted on a hunt? Hm? He was so mad, I-I thought he was gonna have an aneurysm."
"Oh, man, but I tell you what. He always liked you. He always liked you. In fact, he said that he'd never seen anybody better in a fight, and that is high praise coming from my old man."
"To John Winchester."
"Hey, thank you."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Man, so I don't think I've seen you since Sammy was in college."
"Right."
"I mean, hell, I-I thought you were..."
"Dead?"
"Well, I mean, that's usually how this ends, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"Hm."
"You remember that cult thing we did in Arizona?"
"Oh, yeah. I remember that."
"Yeah. Well, I did one more case after that, right around here, and... I decided that wasn't the life for me anymore. I scrounged up what I could, and I bought this joint. Living the dream."
"Let me ask you something. You ever regret it, walking away?"
"Not once."
"Yeah."
BUNKER - INFIRMARY
"Cas, are you sure about this?" Sam asked.
"No, but I am sure I can't heal the wound. Maybe I can probe it," Castiel replied.
"Probe it?" Sam and Seylah repeated.
"Study it, see if it can lead us to Chuck."
"Is that dangerous?" Eileen wondered.
"Probably."
"All right. Let's do it," Sam decided.
"Sam..." Eileen warned.
"Papa-" Seylah called.
"I'll be fine," San reassured. "I'm ready."
"This is gonna sting," Castiel told him.
Castiel held out a glowing hand and probed the wound on Sam's shoulder. They both struggled to endure it.
"Sam, are you okay?" Castiel asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just, uh..."
A bright light flashed, and sent Sam flying back against the wall as Castiel reeled. Sam fell back to the bed, unconscious. Castiel, Seylah and Eileen rushed to his aid.
"Sam!" Castiel cried.
"Sam!" Eileen exclaimed.
"Papa!" Seylah shouted.
"Sam!" Castiel called.
"Sam!" Eileen yelled.
"Papa!" Seylah screamed.
BUNKER - LIBRARY
Castiel sat at a table paging through a book while his phone rang. Dean's voicemail recording picked up.
"This is Dean's other-other-other-other phone. Leave a message."
"Dean, I need you to call me back. Sam is hurt, and I..." Castiel pulled his phone away from his ear and held it in front of his mouth. "Where are you?"
SWAYZE'S BAR
Dean's phone indicated a new voicemail from Castiel, but it was still in the cell phone basket, while Dean sat at a table with Lee and Lorna, still drinking and sharing stories.
"Okay. One, three bottles of Jaeger is nobody's friend, and "B," they were twins," Dean said.
"Oh, no, no, no, no," Lee replied.
"Oh," Lorna noted.
"Whoa, no, they were not twins. They were triplets, uh, and we split them up fair and square."
"That's right. Triplets. Yeah. Yep," Dean remembered.
They toasted and each drank a shot.
"Mm. Mmm," Lorna hummed.
"Hm."
Lorna made flirty eyes at Dean; he was surprised, but smiled back.
SERGEI'S TRAILER
Sergei's phone rang, and he answered. "Castiel."
"Sergei," Castiel stated.
"I am surprised to hear your voice. After last time, I didn't think we'd ever do business again."
"I, um... I nee... I need your help. Sam Winchester's hurt."
"And you, an angel of the Lord, are unable to heal him?"
"This wound is unusual. It's divine."
"Interesting."
"I figure, after Jack, you owe me."
"And I'd love to pay my debt, but, unfortunately, this weekend, I'm with my niece. She just got a rolling scholarship at USC, and I promised to take her shopping, so..."
"Let me rephrase. If you don't help me tonight, I will find you and burn you alive."
"My, how your negotiation skills have improved."
Castiel disconnected his side of the call.
"Castiel?"
Castiel thought for a moment, then called someone else. "Hello? No. I need a favor."
SWAYZE'S BAR
Dean and Lee were alone at the table, and talk had turned to hunting.
"Ghost sickness," Dean said.
"Ghost sickness?" Lee repeated.
"Ghost sickness. Man, it was no fun. Everything was scary. This cat jumped out at me, had me checking my pants. I'm not joking. It was awful, man. Whew!"
After a moment, Lee said, "You haven't even told me what case you're working on, man."
"Oh. Right. So, a girl went missing. 'Course, the sheriff thinks it's nothing, right?" Dean said.
"Yeah, well, the sheriff in this town couldn't find his ass with a flashlight and a map."
Dean showed Lee the newspaper clipping with Angela's picture. "You recognize her?"
"Mm, no."
"That's Angela, Lee. She's in here all the time," Lorna informed.
"Wait. Is this the girl that doesn't drink that much?"
"That's the one."
"But her friend?"
"Like a fish."
"Is like a fish."
"Huh," Dean noted.
"What are you doing, man?"
"What?"
"You're chasing missing persons, huh? I thought you'd be on to something bigger by now, like the Loch Ness Monster... Bigfoot."
"Trust me, uh, bigger doesn't always equal better. Besides, who's gonna look out after the little guy? God certainly isn't."
"Damn, brother, that's dark."
"Yeah, it's been a rough, uh... it's been a rough decade, Lee."
"Yeah."
"But that's a conversation for a different time, 'cause this, this right here, this is all right."
"Well, I'm glad you approve. This is nothing you can't have, man. You already have some of it."
"Oh, come on. Who's gonna kill the bad guys?"
"Somebody else. Dean, how many lives you think you saved, huh? Hundreds? Thousands? You deserve a break, bro. Hell, you might even deserve two."
Lee got up from the table as the band tuned their instruments. "Remember that old song your dad used to play us before we'd go out on a hunt?"
"Yeah. Yeah, he'd pop it in the tape deck, say, "Listen up, boys. This is real music"," Dean remembered.
"He wasn't wrong."
"Oh, no."
"Oh, yeah." He turned to the band. "G.O.B., boys." He turned to Dean. "Let's go." He was up on stage, at the microphone. "Come on, boy. You can't just sit around lip-synching Eye of the Tiger while no one's watching. Come on. Get up here."
Dean shook his head, finished his drink, and made his way to the stage.
"Yeah! Come on! Whoo!"
"Whoo! Whoo!" the audience cried.
Lee started the song, The Dukes of Hazzard (Good Ol' Boys) by The Impalas' while Dean stood on stage getting his bearings.
The band played a few measures while Dean stared like a deer in the headlights.
"Whoo!" Lee cried.
"Wow! Come on!" the audience cheered.
Dean and Lee continued to sing.
Lee smacked Dean's behind. "Ha! You son of a bitch."
"Whoo. Well, never got a standing ovation before," Dean said.
"Yeah, feels pretty good, don't it?" Lee asked.
Dean and Lee noticed a disturbance breaking out on the other side of the bar. A woman was being harassed by a couple of men and they went to her assistance... it was Angela's friend, Sally.
"Stop it! Hey! Hey! Leave me alone," Sally said.
"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa," the man repeated.
"Back the hell up," Sally demanded.
"Hey," Dean called.
"Stop, stop, stop!"
"Don't be like that," the man said.
"No, no. Stop!"
""Road House" rules?" Dean questioned.
""Road House" rules," Lee repeated.
"Stop! Stop!" Sally cried.
"Hey. Hey! I think you fellas have had enough. Time to leave," Dean told them.
"Nah. I think we'll stay a while," the man decided.
Dean and Lee exchanged a look, and one of the men harassing Sally went crashing through the front window of the bar, while the other went flying out the front door, followed by Dean and Lee, who exchanged a fist bump.
"Still got it," Lee said.
"Bunch of jerks," Lorna commented.
"Yep," Sally agreed.
"You all right, Sally?" Lorna asked.
"Sally? Sally Anderson?" Dean questioned.
"Yeah. Why?" Sally wondered.
BUNKER - WAR ROOM
Castiel opened the door for Sergei.
"Castiel," Sergei greeted.
"Sergei," Castiel answered.
Sergei looked around the place like it was Christmas morning. "Oh, the home of the fabled Men of Letters. So the stories are true. This place... what wonderful things you must have."
"Okay, that's enough. You're here for a reason."
"Aren't we all?"
Castiel led Sergei to the infirmary, where Eileen and Seylah were tending to a still-unconscious Sam.
"Help him. Please," Eileen said.
"'Course, my dear," Sergei replied.
Sergei opened a satchel filled with bottles and magical trinkets, and got out a large crystal. He waved it over Sam's shoulder, and the crystal glowed brightly. "Hmm."
"What?" Castiel asked.
"Small thing."
"What is it?"
A worried look crossed Eileen and Seylah's faces.
SWAYZE'S BAR
Lee covered the shattered window with a sheet of plywood, while Dean talked to Sally at the bar with Lorna.
"She was a good girl, you know? She... she loved Jesus and..." Sally began.
"And... and America, too," Lee finished.
"Sally, just... just tell us what happened," Dean said.
"We left B's around closing. I was pretty hammered, but Angela, she was helping me to her car when I needed... you know, I got sick. And when I was done, she was gone. Angela was raptured, and I was left behind," Sally explained.
"And the car went missing, too, right?"
"Yeah, it got raptured, too, I guess."
"Y-You can't... you can't rapture a car," Lee said.
"It was a good car."
"Dean, can I talk to you for a second, man? Man, come on. Her story, dude. I mean..."
"I know, I know. Look, she's not the most reliable witness, but... but best friends don't just up and leave without saying goodbye," Dean said.
"Unless they deserve it."
"Yeah, but something seems off here."
"I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll lock the joint up. You and I can work the case just like old times."
"Great."
"Yeah."
"All right, well, first things first, where do you, uh... where do you dump a car around here?"
"Um, the lake maybe."
"Or the wrecking yard," Lorna informed. "Look, I don't want to know. I'm just saying, if I had to get rid of something, Merle's is the place I'd do it."
"I mean, that's... I think the lake."
"Look, I'll check the scrapyard, okay? You, you take the lake," Dean said.
"Okay. Oh."
BUNKER - LIBRARY
Sergei paged through one of the books while Eileen, Seylah and Castiel interrogated him.
"What do you mean he's dying?" Castiel asked.
"I imagine you were trying to ascertain the exact nature of the wound before this, yes?" Sergei questioned.
"Yes," Eileen and Seylah replied.
"Ah, well, there you go. Most wounds want to be healed, to be whole. But this, this wound is different. It goes down to his very soul. But also out into the world. From what I can tell, his soul, it's connected to something or someone somewhere. Except, as you probed deeper, you forced the soul to stretch from Sam's body to..."
"Where?"
"I don't know. But now it's like a rubber band. If it is stretched too far, too long, pop, it snaps, and Sam dies."
"Can you fix it?" Eileen wondered.
"Of course I can."
MERLE'S SCRAPYARD
Dean walked among the rows and rows of junked cars looking for Angela's car. He spotted her "Student Parking" permit sticker, and looked in the trunk, where he found Angela's body.
"Oh. Damnit," Dean muttered.
A gun cocked behind Dean, and he froze.
"Couldn't leave well enough alone, could ya?" Lee asked, knocking Dean out.
BUNKER - INFIRMARY
Sergei tabbed at Sam's wound with a small bit of wood. "There. Done."
"And nothing's happening," Castiel said.
"Wait for it."
Sam arched up off the bed and gasped in agony, as he directly experienced flashes of Chuck's memories.
"Sam? Sam. Sam?" Eileen called.
Sam's visions included scenes of Chuck and Amara in 15.02 and Sam shooting Chuck in 14.20.
"You're not complete. You're not at full strength," Amara realized.
"What are you doing?" Castiel asked.
"I made it worse," Sergei replied.
Sam's visions continued of Chuck poking his wound in 15.02, and Sam feeling the pain of it.
"You said he could die," Castiel said.
"Will die," Sergei corrected. "And soon."
"You can't leave this world, not without my help," Amara said.
"No," Eileen said, desperately trying to wipe off whatever Sergei had applied to Sam's wound.
"That won't help. It's already done," Sergei told him. "Unless."
"What?" Castiel asked.
"You give me what I want."
Sam's visions continued, of Chuck typing out his narration from, and Chuck talking to Becky in 15.04.
"I used to be able to see Sam, Seylah and Dean in my head. And now it's just gone."
"Son of a bitch," Seylah muttered. "Heal my papa. Now."
Eileen shoved Sergei up against a wall by his neck. "Fix him, or I kill you."
"You kill me, he dies. Or you give me the Key to Death, and he lives," Sergei told them.
"What?" Seylah asked.
"You really have no idea about the treasures this place holds, do you? The Men of Letters, some time ago, procured a very important item... a black key, handle in the shape of a skeleton. It can open a door to Death's library. You will find it and give it to me, and..."
"No," Castiel interrupted.
"Castiel, please. You can't win this."
"Yes, I can," Castiel answered, holding up his phone, displaying a photo of a young blonde woman... Sergei's niece he'd told Castiel about earlier.
"Anna."
"A friend, Bobby, he's been watching her. And one word from me, and, well, you know what happens. Fix Sam. Now. Now."
In the infirmary, Sergei held his hands over Sam and chanted the spell. "Alnoth, por Cantin Pre Tally Noth."
Sam gasped and sat up.
"Sam? Are you okay?" Eileen asked.
"I think," Sam replied.
"What about your wound?" Castiel wondered.
Sam checked his shoulder.
"It's still there, but he's back. So we good?" Sergei questioned.
"For now," Castiel replied.
"Mm. I like this you, Castiel. It's very... Russian."
BASEMENT
In the basement where Angela had been tied up in earlier, Dean was tied to the chair, and the IV line was hooked from his arm to the monster's door, when he came to.
"Lee?" Dean called.
"You awake, buddy?" Lee asked.
"The hell are you doing, man?" Dean wondered.
"You had to hit the junkyard, didn't you?"
"Look, I don't know what's going on, okay? But this is not you."
"Well, not the old me, anyway. I wasn't kidding about Arizona. What that thing did to that family, those kids, it stuck in my head. If evil like that exists in the world, then guys like you and me, we ain't ever gonna win. The best we can do is just have a little fun. The last hunt I did, the one right around here, I found something."
Lee knocked on the monster's door, and it jumped up to the window and growled at him. "It's called a marid. It's a freaky-looking little thing, isn't it?" Lee laughed, and Dean stared at him incredulously. "Ah. As long as you feed it, it gives you money, it gives you health, everything you dreamed of."
Dean narrowed his eyes. "And so, what, it just costs innocent lives?"
"Dean, you and I both know no one's innocent. After everything we've done, aren't... aren't we owed a little happiness, huh? Don't we deserve that much?"
"Listen to yourself. "We're owed." "We deserve." Come on, man. You're not God. Hell, God's not even God."
"Good or bad... the world doesn't care. No one cares, Dean."
"Well, I do."
"Yeah. And that's what got you here. Now, takes a while to drain a man, but listen to me. Don't worry about it, all right? Don't worry because once you lose a couple of pints, you just fall asleep, and then it'll be over." Lee patted Dean on the shoulder.
"Lee," Dean called again.
"This... this is not how I wanted this to go, Dean. When that blonde girl walked in here last night, I should've known, you know, Dean Winchester, the righter of wrongs, you were gonna keep digging, and you were gonna figure me out. And if it's got to be you or me, well, I got to pick me, man."
Lee went upstairs, leaving the marid to feast on Dean's blood.
"Lee. Lee!" Dean yelled.
Dean looked around, and struggled to free himself. He rocked his chair until it fell over and broke, freed his arms, and disconnected the IV. The marid became angry that its meal was interrupted, and broke through the hinges of its door.
SWAYZE'S BAR
Lee tidied up the place, calmly ignoring the marid's growling noises, until it shrieked and something thumped its way up the stairs behind a door marked 'Private, we don't call 911,' with a drawing of a gun. Lee drew his gun and pointed it at the door, which swung open. The marid's head came rolling across the floor, before Dean strolled out.
"Sorry about your friend," Dean said.
Lee aimed and tried to shoot Dean, who dove down behind the bar as bottles shattered where he'd just been standing.
Dean found a shotgun behind the bar, and it was loaded. "Oh, God bless Texas."
Dean cocked the gun and fired blind over the bar. Lee dove for cover, and they alternated shots until they both ran out of rounds. Dean found an empty box of shells. "I'm out. And by my count, so are you."
Lee checked his revolver and emptied the spent casings onto the floor. "You're hardcore, brother."
"No. No, you don't get to pretend like we're still friends. I don't know you."
"You don't, Dean? I am you. I'm just you that woke up and saw that the world was broken."
"Then you fix it. You don't walk away. You fight for it."
"Right. What do you say we act like this never happened, hm? Y-You just walk out that door."
"I can't do that," Dean retorted, standing up.
"You really want to do this?"
"No, I don't. But I kill monsters."
"You want a shot at the title?"
"Don't mind if I do."
Dean and Lee threw down in a wild fight, breaking tables, throwing each other around, until Dean pinned Lee to the wall and stabbed him with the point of a broken cue stick.
"Ohh. All right. I'll be damned. Why do you care so much, Dean?"
"Because someone has to," Dean replied.
"Well, then... I'm glad it was you. Wait, wait." He patted Dean's chest. "Okay, okay."
Dean pulled out the cue stick, and Lee fell to the floor, dead.
BUNKER - WAR ROOM
Dean came in and found Castiel.
"Hey," Dean greeted.
"Dean."
"I got your messages. Sam, is he, uh..."
"He's fine."
They stood across the table from one another in awkward silence for a moment.
"Good. That's good."
"Yeah." Castiel looked down, and turned and walked away.
"Good."
Dean followed after Castiel.
BUNKER - INFIRMARY
"I feel like, uh... I feel like I was in his head," Sam told his brother.
"You were in Chuck's head?" Dean asked.
"I think so. A-And I-I think I-I saw his memories. Dean, Chuck is weak. I think we can beat him. I think we can beat God."