EXT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - NIGHT
A young mother was standing outside her house with a mix of worry and impatience. A car pulled up into the driveway; a girl of about ten years stepped out, as did her father. The girl ran to her mother and hugged her.
"Hey, sweetie," the mom greeted. "Hey."
"Hey," the dad said.
"Thanks for driving her back here."
"It's not like I had a choice. She pitched a fit."
The mom said to the girl, who was hugging her tightly, "Hey, sweetie. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I missed you," the girl replied.
"Okay, but tonight's your dad's night."
"No. I don't like Dad's night. I don't want Dad to have a night anymore."
"Since when? You used to love going to your dad's house. And, you know, he loves you, and he misses you a lot."
"But I hate it there!"
"You don't hate it."
"Yes, I do! He's mean, and there are monsters there. I don't w-want to go back. Please don't let the monsters get me."
The mom hugged her daughter. "Okay, sweetie. Okay."
INT. MAN'S WORKROOM - NIGHT
The little girl's father was in his workroom; there were wood-carved object sitting about, as was one of those circular table saws. He prepared to leave, and as he was shutting off the lights by the door, the table saw turned itself on. Curious, he approached it, crouching down at table-height to shut it off. As he started to leave a second time, the saw turns on again. This time, when he leaned over the saw, a sudden whooshing seemed to rush over him, knocking him on his back and onto the table saw, killing him.
A wooden rocking horse on the table started rocking creakily.
INT. DINER - NIGHT
Sam was sitting at a table in a generic diner, working on his laptop and talking on his phone. Kit was sitting at the table with food. Dean was nowhere to be seen. Sam seemed a bit frantic.
"What do you mean you don't think it will work, Bobby?" Sam said. "It's a demon-dispelling ritual." Dean, who was outside, rapped on the front window and waved a packet of papers. "Well, maybe we got the translation wrong." The door jangled in the background. "Look, we can't just let Dean fry in Hell while we— " He paused to listen to Bobby; his screen showed another translation in process. "...Well, there's got to be something that w—" He saw Dean approaching the table. "Oh, ah, yeah, no, ah, I I gotta go. Uh. Okay. Never mind." Sam hung up the phone quickly.
Dean entered, looking suspiciously at Sam.
"Hey. Who was that?" Dean asked.
Sam replied quickly, "Ah, I was just ordering pizza."
Dean looked around. "Dude, you do realize that you're in a restaurant?"
"Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I... just felt like pizza, you know?" Sam said, smiling tight-lipped and reeked of insincerity.
Dean sat, smiling as Kit cuddled into him. "O-kay, Weirdy Mcweirderton." He cleared his throat. "So, I think I got something."
"Yeah?"
"Cicero, Indiana. Falls on his own power saw."
"And?" Sam pressed. "What, that's it? One power saw?"
"Well... yeah."
"And you think that this is a case?"
"Well, I don't know. Could be."
"I don't know, Dean. I–I–"
"All right, there's something better... better in Cicero than just a case."
"And that is?"
"Lisa Braeden."
Sam sighed. "Should I even ask?"
"Remember that road trip I took, uh... gosh, about eight years ago now? You were in Orlando with Dad wrapping up that banshee thing."
"Yeah. Yeah, the five states, five-day–"
Dean laughed. "Yeah. Well, kind of. Although I spent most of my time in Lisa Braeden's loft."
"So let me get this straight. You want – you want to drive all the way to Cicero just to hook up with some random chick?"
"She was a yoga teacher. It was the bendiest weekend of my life. Come on. Have a heart, huh? It's my dying wish."
"Yeah, well, how many dying wishes are you gonna get?"
"As many as I can squeeze out. Come on. Smile, Sam! God knows I'm gonna be smiling after 24 hours with Gumby girl." He chuckled to himself; Sam laughed too, a little. "Gumby girl." He frowned. "Does that make me Pokey?"
"I go?" Kit asked.
"Sure, kiddo."
Kit clapped her hands and grabbed a handful of mac-and-cheese and happily ate it.
Dean chuckled softly and wiped her face and bands.
EXT. MOTEL - DAY
Pulling up outside a motel, Cicero Pines Motel, in Cicero, Indiana, Dean stopped to let Sam out.
"Don't wait up for us, Sammy," Dean said.
Dean started to drive off as Sam was still pulling his bag out of the car, teasing him.
"Wait, Dean. Dean, you... Dean!" Sam called.
Dean and Kit drove off. Sam was left standing there.
Dean and Kit drove through a suburban development, past houses being newly constructed and a sign for the "Morning Hill" neighborhood that noted "SOLD OUT!".
EXT. LISA'S HOUSE - DAY
Outside a nicely kept suburban house, with festive balloons, Dean, holding Kit's hand, rang the doorbell.
The door opened to reveal Lisa; late twenties, brunette, very fit. Dean smiled awkwardly and Kit hid behind her father; Lisa stared at him in confusion for a moment, then recognized him.
Lisa, with a big smile, exclaimed, "Dean!"
"Lisa. How's it going?" Dean asked.
"Wow. So, uh, how long has it been?"
"Eight, going on nine years now. Crazy, right?"
"Yeah. So, what are you doing here? Who's the little girl?"
"Oh, I was just – I was passing through, and, uh, I couldn't resist. I remember that you love surprises. This is my daughter Kit."
Lisa chuckled. "Yeah. Dean Winchester. Wow. Just... wow. I'm – I'm sorry. You two kind of came at a bad time. We're having a party."
"A party? Well, I love parties." He hinted, with a smile.
Kit smiled shyly. "Paty?"
The party was in the backyard.
Children were running around in the back yard, which was decorated for a kid's birthday party.
"So, uh, who's the party for?" Dean asked.
"Ben. My son," Lisa said.
"Oh. You have a–"
"Yep." She gestured across the yard to a young boy wearing a black jacket and jeans. He was opening presents. "That's him."
A young kid, Ben, was opening a gift to reveal a CD. "Yes! AC/DC rules!"
"How old–" Dean began.
"Eight," Lisa answered, seeing the mom from the teaser enter the yard. "Oh, Dean, Kit, could you excuse me a minute?"
Dean, stunned, said, "Yeah, sure. Don't mind us." He turned back to watch Ben, who was eating a sandwich with gusto.
Lisa walked over to the other mom and they embraced.
Dean was looking at the birthday cake, which had a race car theme. Two women were sitting in lawn chairs, watching Dean and Kit from behind. They were whispering to each in gossiping tones.
Woman one said, "Did you hear Lisa call him "Dean"?"
"Yeah. Why?" woman two asked.
"You don't know about Dean? The Dean. Best-night-of-my-life Dean?"
"No! Tell me."
"Oh, my god, so, they had this crazy, semi-illegal–" She cut off as she saw Dean and Kit approach; woman two gasped.
Dean, seeing them staring at him, said, "Hi." Kit grabbed her father's hand, looking around warily.
The women continued to stare at him with a certain lascivious intensity.
"Hi," woman one replied.
"Hello," woman two said as she crunched a piece of celery, loudly and somehow suggestively.
Dean looked uncomfortable, smiled nervously, and fled, followed by Kit. The women looked at each other.
Dean and Kit found Ben watching a bounce-house and eating a piece of cake. Kit ran towards the bounce-house, took off her shoes, and climbed in.
"What's up?" Ben said.
"What's up with you?" Dean asked.
A woman and her little girl walked by; in unison, Dean checked out the woman as Ben checked out the girl. Then they both took a bite of cake.
"So, it's your birthday," Dean stated.
"Guilty," Ben replied.
"It's a cool party."
"Dude, it's so freakin' sweet. And this moon bounce – it's epic."
Dean, slightly weirded out, agreed, "Yeah. It's pretty awesome."
"You know who else thinks they're awesome? Chicks. It's like hot-chick city out there." Ben smacked on the chest.
Dean watched bemusedly as Ben set his cake down and followed a girl into the moon bounce.
"Look out ladies, here comes trouble!" Ben cried.
Dean watched him, rolled his eyes up in his head as he did mental math, then darted inside the house, knocking things over as he went.
INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Lisa was talking to the mom, who was looking very frazzled.
"So... how you holding up?" Lisa asked.
"Fine," the mom replied.
"Really?"
Th mom shrugged and sighed. "Well, you know. ...I just... never mind."
"What?"
"It's just... I'm worried, about Katie. I think there might be something... wrong with her."
"Of course there is. The poor girl just lost her dad. She's devastated."
"No. That – that's not what I'm talking about. There is something really... wrong... with her." She paused while she looked out at her daughter. "I'm not sure that Katie is... Katie."
"What?"
"I'm not sure that's my daughter."
"I know you're grieving, but you can't talk like that. Katie needs you right now."
"No, you don't understand–"
"Seriously. We're gonna get you help. It'll be okay."
The mom shook her head and ran outside to her daughter.
The mom, outside, called, "Katie? Come on, we're leaving."
Dean entered the kitchen.
"Hey," Dean greeted. "So, I, uh... met Ben." Lisa, distracted, looked at him, nodding absent-mindedly. "Cool kid."
"Yeah," Lisa agreed.
"Yeah. ...You know, I couldn't help but notice that, uh, he's turning eight. You and me... you know."
Lisa chuckled as she finally got what Dean was getting at. "You're not... trying to ask me if he's yours?"
"No. Nah, of course not." They both chuckled. There was a beat. "He's not, is he?"
"What?" Startled, she slammed the oven door as Dean raised his eyebrows. "No."
"Right." He paused; watched Ben outside, gesticulating in a mini-Dean fashion. "Yeah..." He cleared his throat.
Outside, Katie's mom was talking to her.
"Katie, sweetheart, we got to go," the mom said. "Okay. Come on." Katie and her mom walked past the kitchen on their way out. "Come on, Katie."
"Something wrong with your friend?" Dean asked.
"She's been through a lot," Lisa replied. "Her ex just died in this horrible accident."
"Oh, yeah. Didn't I just read about that? The, uh, the power saw."
"Yeah. Guess there's been a lot of bad luck in the neighborhood lately."
"What kind of bad luck?"
INT. DINER - DAY
Sam was sitting alone in a diner, with his laptop open, again. A young woman sat across from him: it was Creepy Stalker Girl; Ruby.
"Hello, Sam," Ruby greeted.
"You've been following me since Lincoln," Sam said as she closed his laptop.
"Not much gets by you, huh?" She took one of his fries. "Mmm. These are amazing. It's like deep-fried crack. Try some."
Sam scoffed. "That knife you had. You can kill demons with that thing?"
"Sure comes in handy when I have to swoop in and save the damsel in distress."
"Where'd you get it?"
"Sky Mall." She took a plate and squeezed ketchup onto it.
"Why are you following me?"
"I'm interested in you."
"Why?l
"Because you're tall. I love a tall man. And then there's the whole antichrist thing."
"Excuse me?"
"You know, generation of psychic kids, Yellow-Eyed Demon rounds you up, celebrity death match ensues. You're the sole survivor."
"How do you know about that?"
"I'm a good hunter. So, Yellow Eyes had some pretty big plans for you, Sam."
""Had" being the key word."
"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. Ding-dong, the demon's dead. Good job with that. It doesn't change the fact that you're special... in that Anthony Michael Hall E.S.P. visions kind of way."
Sam said firmly, "No. No, that's stuff's not happening anymore. Not since Yellow-Eyes died."
"Well, I'm thinking you're still a pretty big deal. I mean, after all that business with your mom."
"What about my mom?"
"You know, what happened to her friends." She noticed his attempted poker face. "You... don't know." She paused. "You've got a little bit of catching up to do, my friend. So, why don't you look into your mom's pals..." she wrote a number on his hand, "...and then give me a call and we'll talk again?" She got up to leave. "And, by the way, you do know there's a job in this town, right?" She turned to leave again.
Sam's phone rang. "Hello."
Dean and Kit were in his car outside Lisa's.
"Dude, there is a job here," Dean said.
"Really?"
"Yeah. You know that one freak accident we read about in the paper? Turns out there's four more that never even made the paper, all in this... Morning Hill gated community. People falling off of ladders and drowning in their Jacuzzis all over the neighborhood."
"That is weird."
"Yeah, something's up. Something these nice, big gates can't protect them from."
INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - NIGHT
Katie's mom was dozing, with the book The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, a vampire novel, on the pillow. Katie was watching her.
The mom, stirring, woke and sat up with a gasp. "Katie. What are you doing?"
"Play with me, Mommy."
"Okay. Sure. Yeah let's, um, let's play."
"Oh, good." She hugged her mother. "I love you, Mommy."
"I love you too, sweetie."
Katie's mom caught sight of Katie's reflection in a mirror. Her skin was gray, veined and blotchy. She pushed Katie back in alarm, only to find that she looked normal. She looked normal in the mirror now, too.
"I'm hungry, Mommy."
The mom nodded her head, shaken. "Yeah."
Katie watched her blankly as mom turned toward the kitchen.
EXT. ANOTHER SUBURBAN HOUSE - DAY
Sam, dressed in a dark suit and posing as an insurance agent, was speaking to another young mother. "So, once again, I'm very sorry to disturb you. We just really want to expedite that life-insurance policy."
"Of course," the mother replied.
"Okay." She took him around back, where a ladder leaned against the wall.
"This is, um, where he fell."
"I see. Now, how exactly did he–"
"He was just inside changing a light bulb. Must have lost his balance."
"Were you here when this happened?"
"No. I was out. Uh, the only one here was our daughter, Dakota."
Inside, a Creepy Little Girl was looking out at them. Something dark red was smudged on the window and railing.
"Okay." Sam paused while he looked around, from the daughter to the red smear. "Well, uh, I think that's all I need."
"Okay," the mother said.
"I'll get out of your way now."
"Thank you."
She turned and went up the steps with Sam behind her. He saw a strange injury on the back of her neck: it was an oval, with multiple dots around it, like the mark from a sucker or teeth.
INT. KATIE'S HOUSE - DAY
Katie's mom was making a toasted sandwich. She put a hand to the back of her neck, as if in pain. She set the sandwich in front of Katie.
"Thank you, Mommy."
"You eat. Mommy will be right back."
Katie stared balefully at the sandwich, while her mom left the room. Frazzled almost to the point of breaking, her mom entered the bathroom and locked the door. She looked at her neck in the mirror, noticing a red mark, then startled at a sudden banging on the bathroom door.
Katie pounded on the door. "Mommy?"
"Just – just give Mommy a second." She looked in the mirror at the mark.
"Let me in. Mommy! Let me in." She pounded. "Mommy! Let me in!" She continued pounding. "What are you doing?!" More pounding. "Let me in! Let me in! Let me in! Let me in! Let me in! Let me in!" Even more pounding.
"Give Mommy a minute!"
The pounding and rattling continued to build, until it stopped suddenly as the doorbell rang. The mom went out to the front door, where the redheaded woman, aka woman two from the leeching-at-Dean, was holding out a gift basket and speaking to Katie.
"Aren't you just the cutest thing?" the redheaded woman said.
The mom took the basket. "Oh, thank you. Uh, Katie, could you put these in the kitchen, please?"
Katie took the basket and went to the kitchen.
"Katie seems okay, considering—" the redheaded woman was cut off.
"She's fine. Yeah. Um, look, I'm–"
"And you – how are you doing really?"
"I'm fine. Look, we're fine. Um, this isn't a good time."
"I wasn't sure if you were keeping the house or selling. We at Cicero Realty would like—"
"Look, I told you, it's not a good time!"
She shut the door and leaned against it, sighing.
"I want ice cream!" Katie demanded. "Mommy. Ice cream, please."
EXT. PARK - DAY
Dean and Kit were walking back to his car, when they noticed Ben sitting sadly on a park bench.
They went over and sat next to him before Dean said, "Hey, Ben."
"Hey. You were at my party," Ben remembered.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm Dean, " Dean replied, watching as his niece ran off to play. "The little girl is my daughter, Kit." He sat next to Ben. "Everything okay? Something wrong?"
Dean noticed Ben was holding an empty case. He looked out at the field and saw a group of four boys playing with a Gameboy. "Is that your game they're playing with?"
"Ryan Humphrey borrowed it, and now he won't give it back."
"Well, you want me to go–"
"No! Don't go over there! Only bitches send a grown-up."
"You're not wrong."
"And I am not a bitch."
"Is that Humphrey? The one that needs to lay off the burgers?" Ben nodded, smiling slightly. "Hm."
Ben walked across the park to the group of boys. They were all bigger than he. He cleared his throat loudly and looked back at Dean, who gave him a thumbs up. He cleared his throat again.
"Ryan," Ben called and the kids looked up. "I'd like my game back, please."
Ryan said threateningly, "Fine. Take it back."
The other boys laughed. Ben looked nervously at the other kids, sighed, then turned as if to leave.
"See? Told you guys he was a—" Ryan was cut off as Ben turned back suddenly and kicked him hard between the legs. Ryan crumpled to the ground, and Ben took the game back. Dean looked around, smirking. He ran back to the bench and a grinning Dean.
"Thanks. Dude, that was awesome!" Ben exclaimed.
Lisa, who had seen the end of the exchange, said, "Benjamin. Isaac. Braeden! What's gotten into you?"
"He stole my game."
"So you kick him? Since when is—" She broke off, looking at Dean, who was still grinning. "Did you tell my son to beat up that kid?"
"What? Somebody had to teach him how to kick the bully in the nards," Dean reasoned.
"Who asked you to teach him anything?"
"Just relax."
"What are you even still doing here? We had one weekend together a million years ago. You don't know me. And you have no business with my son." She stalked over to Ben and grabbed him to walk off with him.
"Lisa."
"Just leave us alone."
She and Ben began to leave, but Ben pulled out of her grip and ran back to give Dean an impulsive hug.
"Ben!" Lisa called.
Ben hugged Dean. "Thanks."
He ran back to Lisa and they left. Dean watched them speculatively until he noticed three children with creepy stares watching.
INT. KATIE & MOM'S CAR - NIGHT
The mom was strapping Katie into her car seat, which was made difficult by the fact that Katie kept touching and petting her.
"I love you most in the whole wide world, Mommy," Katie said.
"Um, me too, sweetie," the mom replied. "Come on, hold still."
She checked the mirror and saw a monster with a large sucking mouth in the backseat. She turned around, but Katie looked normal.
"What's wrong, Mommy?"
"Nothing, sweetie. Nothing."
"Are we going for ice cream now?"
"Yeah, we're going for ice cream."
The mom finished strapping Katie in, and got in the driver's seat. She drove the car to the edge of a lake, was crying, put the car in neutral, got out, and watched the car roll in. Katie turned and watched her mom as she went down. The mom watched and cried.
The mom returned home and went inside, slamming and locking the door behind her. She was crying brokenly. In the kitchen, seated over a puddle of water, was Katie. She was dripping wet.
"Hi, Mommy," Katie greeted. "Can I have the ice cream now?" She smiled winsomely. The mom gaped in horror.
INT. MOTEL ROOM - NIGHT
Sam was at his computer, doing research. Dean, holding a Kit who refused to sleep, entered.
"Something's wrong with the kids in this town," Dean said as he put Kit on a bed and tucked her in. "Try to get to sleep, kiddo."
"Yeah. Tell me about it," Sam replied, looking at a website on 'CHANGELING LORE'. "So, what do you know about changelings?"
"Evil monster babies?"
"No, not necessarily babies."
Dean came to a realization. "They're kids. Creepy, "stare at you like you're lunch" kids?"
"Yeah. There's one at every victim's house."
Later, Sam was seated on the bed, as Dean prepared a kerosene torch.
Sam continued. "So, changelings can perfectly mimic children. According to lore, they climb in the window, snatch the kid. Y'know, there were marks on the windowsill at one of the kid's houses. Looked to me like blood."
They continued talking in voice-over.
---
Katie's mom was asleep, with a bottle of pills on the bedside table. Katie stared at her mom and brushed back the hair from her neck to reveal an 'odd bruise'. Her face morphed to look kind of like the Flukeman from X-Files, and she leaned closer to her mom's neck.
---
Dean voiced, "The changeling grabs a kid, assumes its form, joins the happy fam just for kicks?"
"Not quite," Sam replied. "Changelings feed on the mom: synovial fluid. The moms have these odd bruises on the back of their necks. Changelings can drain them for a few weeks before mom finally croaks."
"And then there's dad and the babysitter."
"Yeah. Seems like anyone who gets between the changeling and its food source ends up dead."
Dean held up the torch. "And fire's the only way to waste them?"
Sam nodded. "Yup."
"Great. We'll just bust in, drag the kids out, torch them on the front lawn. That'll play great with the neighbors. What about the real ones? What happens to them?"
"According to lore, they stash them underground somewhere. I don't know why, but if it's true, the real kids might be out there."
"We better start looking." He paused a beat. "So, any kid in the neighborhood is vulnerable?"
"Yep."
"We gotta make a stop. I want to check on someone."
"Well Dean, if the real kids are still alive, we don't have time. We—"
"We have to. I'll take Kit."
"Mama," Kit demanded, catching the boys off guard. "Wan' Mama!"
"Kit, honey, Mama's gone."
Kit screamed and Dean picked her up, catching sight of her in the mirror and muttered, "Damn it."
EXT. LISA'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Dean rang the doorbell, and Lisa opened the door looking bewildered.
"Dean? What a—" Lisa was cut off.
Dean broke in. "I was thinking... Ben's birthday. Kit and I didn't even bring him a present."
"That's okay."
"No. No, no, I feel terrible, so, uh..." He handed her a credit card. "Here. Take a long weekend – just the two of you – on me."
"What?"
"Yeah, I hear Six Flags is great this time of year. Go now. Avoid the traffic."
Lisa read reading the name on the card. ""Siegfried Houdini." Whose card is this?"
"Mine." Lisa nodded skeptically. "Never mind. It'll work. I promise."
"You should leave."
"Lisa..."
Ben came down the stairs and asked, "Mommy, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, Ben. It's cool."
Ben said tonelessly, "Make him go away, Mommy."
"You heard him. Get out," Lisa told Dean.
"Lisa... I don't think that's a good idea," Dean said.
"Get out!"
Dean watched Lisa and Ben from outside the house. Lisa was reading a book. Ben was sitting with an open book, staring at his mother. Dean noticed a damp red mark on a couple of window frames. He ran back to Sam, who was in the Impala.
"They took Ben. He's changed."
"What?! Are you sure?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I checked his windowsill."
"Blood?"
"I don't think it is blood, and I think I know where the kids are."
EXT. HOUSE-UNDER-CONSTRUCTION - NIGHT
There was a large mound of dirt outside the semi-finished home, with a 'Cicero Realty For Sale' sign. Sam picked some up and inspected it on his fingers.
"Red dirt," Sam said. "That's what was on the window."
"Ah, you take the front," Dean told him. "I'll go around."
INT. HOUSE-UNDER-CONSTRUCTION - NIGHT
Inside, Dean and Sam wandered about with flashlights. Dean heard a noise in the basement and went to inspect, finding a series of cages, each containing abducted kids. He saw Ben and Kit.
"Ben... Kit... Ben... Kit... it's okay," Dean said. "I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?"
Kit cried and held her hands out to her father.
Suddenly, the redheaded woman, Cicero Real Estate lady, entered and saw Sam.
"What do you think you're doing?" the redheaded woman asked.
Sam saw her monster-like reflection in a pane of glass.
INT. HOUSE-UNDER-CONSTRUCTION - NIGHT
"This is private property," the woman told him. "I'm calling the police."
Dean was moving around the cages. He found the real version of the redheaded Real Estate woman in a cage.
The redheaded woman/monster yelled, "You heard me! Get out!" She advanced slowly towards Sam.
Sam reached for his bag. "Ah, I could — just let me get my bag. I'm going. I, I don't mean to cause any trouble." He reached for his bag and pulled out a flame-thrower which he aimed at her; there was a whooshing noise and she disappeared. Sam looked around.
INT. LISA'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Ben startwd acting like a Creepy Child, standing stiff-armed in the living room.
Lisa was deeply engrossed in her book.
"Mommy?" Ben called.
Lisa startled and said, "Ben..."
"Play with me."
"This isn't funny anymore. I put you to bed three times already."
Ben hugged her. "I don't want to go to bed. I want to be with you, Mommy."
"That's sweet, hon."
INT. HOUSE-UNDER-CONSTRUCTION - NIGHT
Dean was opening Ben's cage. He pulled Ben out of the cage and hugged him.
"Come on. Let's go," Dean said.
Dean set Ben down and ruffled his hair. "All right, come on." He pulled Kit out and she immediately attached herself to her father. "It's gonna be okay, sweetheart."
LISA'S HOUSE
"I'm hungry," Ben told his mom.
"Mini pizzas okay?" Lisa asked. "Deluxe is all we've got."
"Okay."
Lisa turned away. "That's funny – I thought we were anti-olives this month."
She looked down and saw Ben's reflection in the glass table; it had the icky Flukeman face. She gasped.
INT. HOUSE-UNDER-CONSTRUCTION - NIGHT
Dean, still holding Kit, broke open cages and he and Ben helped children out.
"It's okay. You're gonna get out of here, all right?" Ben told the kids. "Hurry!"
"Come on, girls!" Dean said. "Come on! Keep moving, keep moving. Okay, everybody back! Everybody back!" He set Kit down, cleared off a windowsill and prepared to smash the glass.
Ben helped to usher the other kids away as he cried, "Cover your eyes!"
He broke the window with a plank of wood, and began to brush the glass off.
Ben took off his jacket. "Here. Use this."
"All right," Dean said. "All right, Ben, Kit. Come on. Come on."
Ben indicated to another kid. "Him first."
Sam ran in and called, "Hey! Dean! There's a mother."
"A mother changeling?" Dean asked.
"Yeah. We got to get these kids out quick."
"Right there, right there. There's one more. You got to break the lock!"
"I guess that's why the changelings are keeping the kids alive – so the mom can snack on them."
Sam freed the real redheaded woman. "There. Come on, I gotcha."
The real Katie screamed as she saw the mother changeling behind her.
INT. LISA'S HOUSE - NIGHT
'Ben' asked, "What's wrong, Mommy?"
"You're not my son," Lisa said.
"Yes, I am."
"Where's Ben?"
"I'm Ben. I love you, Mommy."
Lisa ran out the front door, grabbing her keys along the way. On the front lawn, a line of three Creepy Kids had formed, blocking her exit. They started advancing towards her. She ran back inside and slammed the door, turning around to see 'Ben'.
"They don't want you to leave me, Mommy."
INT. KATIE'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Katie's mom was is in the bathroom again, huddled on the floor, sobbing, as 'Katie' screamed and pounded at the door.
"Mommy? Mommy? Let me in! What are you doing?! Let me in! Let me in! Let me in! Let me in!"
INT. HOUSE-UNDER-CONSTRUCTION - NIGHT
Dean went flying and landed on his back, groaning in pain. The Changeling Mom turned around. Sam had the flamethrower and a lighter. She kicked the lighter out of his hand, then roundhouse kicked him again, then threw a few punches and generally kicked his butt, before throwing him across the room. Dean had gotten to his feet, and he lunged after the Changeling Mom with a 2x4. She punched and knocked Dean down again.
"Ben, get them out of here!" Dean told him. "Kit, go with them!"
Dean, on his knees, grabbed a brick and surged to his feet again to clock the Changeling Mom.
Ben helped the other kids up and out the window, then helped Kit who fought him, and climbed out himself, as Dean fought with the Changeling Mom. Eventually she faced Dean and Sam to see Sam with the torch; Sam burned her to a crisp with Dean's homemade torch.
As she went up in flames, 'Ben', 'Katie', 'Kit', and all the other changeling kids, also disappeared in flames, screaming "Aaaaahhh!" and "Mommy!"
EXT. LISA'S HOUSE - DAY
Dean, Kit and Sam drove Ben back home and he ran out to hug his mom.
"Ben?! Ben! Baby, are you okay?" Lisa asked.
"I'm okay, Mom," Ben replied.
"Oh, my God." She began sobbing. "What the hell just happened?"
"I'll explain everything if you want me to, but, trust me, you probably don't. The important thing is, is that Ben's safe."
"Thank you." She hugged Dean. "Thank you."
"I'm gonna give you guys some time, " Sam told them. "I'll take Kit back to the motel. She looks like she could use some sleep."
Lisa smiled at her son and said, "Come on."
She led the way back into the house and Dean followed.
INT. LISA'S HOUSE - DAY
Ben was sitting at the kitchen table, listening to something on his portable CD player. Dean and Lisa spoke in the hallway.
"Changelings?" Lisa asked.
"You know how I never mentioned my job?" Dean said. "This is my job."
"I so didn't want to know that." She looked at Ben. "Do you think he'll be okay?"
"Yeah. I think he'll be fine." He paused a beat. "Okay, seriously... I mean, you're a hundred percent sure that he is not mine, right?"
Lisa smiled. "You're off the hook. I did a blood test when he was a baby."
"Oh."
"There was this guy – some bar back in a biker joint." She noticed Dean's look. "What? I had a type. Leather jacket, couple of scars, no mailing address? I was there. Guess I was a little wild back then." She paused and looked at Ben. "Before I became a mom." She turned back to Dean. "So yeah. You can relax."
"Good." He looked at Ben a little wistfully.
"I... I swear you look disappointed. You have a beautiful little girl."
"Yeah, I don't know. I do. It's weird, you know your life... I mean, this house and a kid... it's not my life. Never will be. Life on the road is more my thing. Some stuff happened to me recently, and, uh... Anyway, a guy in my situation – you start to think, you know. I'm gonna be gone one day, and what am I leaving behind besides a car and my little girl?"
"I don't know. Ben may not be your kid, but... he wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you. That's a lot if you ask me."
Dean looked back and headed for the door. "You know, just for the record... you got a great kid. I would've been proud to be his dad. I'm sure Kit would love having a big brother."
She moved kissed him. "Look, if, um... if you want to stick around for a while... you're welcome to stay."
Dean, after a wistful pause, replied, "I can't. I got a lot of work to do, and it's not my life."
She smiled at him. He smiled at her and left.
INT. MOTEL ROOM - DAY
Keira was napping. Sam spoke to several different people on the phone, while systematically crossing names off a list. "Hi. I needed to check some facts with your, uh, with your secretary about a fire that occurred on November 24, 2006 in Lawrence, Kansas. Hardecker was his name." ... "Okay. Great." ... "I was just trying to find out the date he died." ... "This is police chief Phil Jones. July 13th." ... Can you check the records for a Robert Campbell?" ... "July 19, 2001." ... "Dead on arrival." ... "What I'm after is, is, is cause of death." ... "Heart condition? Wasn't he a cardiac surgeon? Wouldn't he have known about that?" ... "I'm looking for information on... on Mrs. Wallace's death." ... "Two deaths. Who was the other?" ... "Ed Campbell. "Any survivors?" ... "No, that's all I needed. Thank you very much."
He tossed the phone onto the bed and put his head in his hands. "Oh, my God."
Later, in another room, Sam was talking to Ruby.
"They're dead," Sam said. "All of them. All of my mom's friends. Her doctor, her uncle – everyone who ever knew her, systematically wiped off the map one at a time." He laughed. "Someone went through a hell of a lot of trouble trying to cover their tracks."
"Yep. The Yellow-Eyed Demon," Ruby told him.
"So, what's your deal? You show up wherever I am. You know all about me. You know all about my mom."
"I already told you. I'm–"
"Oh, right, right. Yeah, yeah. Just a hunter. Just some hunter who happens to know more about my own family than I do." He paused. "Just tell me who you are."
"Sam, it–"
"Just... tell me who you are."
Ruby laughed. "It doesn't matter."
Sam shouted, "Just tell me who you are!" He glanced to see Kit still asleep, which he found somewhat surprising, but she could sleep through a lot.
"Fine." She blinked her eyes once and they went demon-black; she blinked again and they became normal. Sam backed up, fumbling in his bag. "Think twice before going for that holy water."
Sam pulled out a flask and held it out. "Just give me one reason I should."
"I'm here to help you, Sam."
"Is this some kind of joke?"
"God's honest truth... or whatever."
"You're a demon."
"Don't be such a racist. I'm here because I want to help you. And I can if... you trust me."
"Trust you?" He held out the flask of holy water.
"Sam, calm down."
"Start talking. All those murders... what was the demon trying to cover up?"
"I don't know."
"What happened to my mother?"
"I honestly don't know. That's what I'm trying to find out. All I know is that it's about you."
"What?"
Ruby laughed. "Don't you get it, Sam? It's all about you. What happened to your mom, what happened to her friends. They're trying to cover up what he did to you. And I want to help you figure it out."
"Why would you want to help me?"
"I have my reasons. Not all demons are the same, Sam. Not all of us want the same thing. Me?" She shrugged. "I want to help you from time to time. That's all. And if you let me, there's something in it for you."
"What could you possibly—"
"I could help you and your niece save your brother."