Dean is driving and Sam sits in the passenger seat with Evie in the back in her car seat. They're back in the Impala after Dean finally fixed it.
"Come on, Sam, I'm begging you. This is stupid." Dean says.
"Why?" Sam asks.
"Going to visit mom's grave? She doesn't even have a graze-- there was no body left after the fire." Dean says.
"She has a headstone." Sam says.
"Yeah, put up by her uncle, a man we've never even met. So you wanna go pay your respects to a slab of granite put up by a stranger? Come on."
"Dean, that's not the point."
"Well then, enlighten me, Sam."
"It's not about a body or a casket. It's about her memory, okay? And after dad, it just... just feels like the right thing to do."
"It's irrational is what it is."
"Look, man. No one asked you to come."
"We did it for my mommy." Evie speaks up. She doesn't remember the whole day, but she remembers a lot of people wearing black and saying sorry to her and Sam. After that day, Sam had taken her to the cemetery a few times before they left and they just sat and talked to the headstone for a little bit.
"Why don't we swing by the roadhouse instead?" Dean asks, changing the subject, not wanting the conversation about death and memory to involve the 2 year old. "I mean, we haven't heard anything on the demon lately. We should be hunting that son of a bitch down."
"That's a good idea, you should. Just drop me off, I'll hitch a ride, and I'll meet you there tomorrow."
"Right. Stuck... stuck with those people, making awkward small talk until you show up. No, thanks."
~ ~ ~
Dean is holding Evie while they're at the graveyard and Sam is at Mary's headstone.
"Is daddy sad?" Evie asks. Dean glances over at Sam.
"Yeah, shortcake, he's sad. You know how you lost your mommy?" Dean asks and Evie nods. "Do you remember how sad you were?"
"Yeah." Evie nods.
"Exactly. Your daddy is very sad about losing his mommy." Dean tells her.
"When did he lose her?" Evie asks.
"When he was younger than you. He doesn't remember our mommy very well." Dean tells her.
"I wanna go to daddy." Evie tells him. Dean lets Evie down and she walks over to Sam. Dean watches her until Sam knows she's there.
Sam stumbles a bit, feeling a weight hit his back. He looks over his shoulder to see Evie practically lying on his back, her arms around his sides as far as they can go.
"What you doing?" Sam asks. He gets out of Evie's attempted backhug and sits down, pulling Evie onto his lap.
"Uncle Deanie said you sad about your mommy. You were there when I was sad about my mommy." Evie says. Sam smiles softly, fighting more tears. He kisses her on the head, wrapping his arms around her.
"You're sweet, you know that." Sam mutters.
"Deanie said you don't remember your mommy." Evie says.
"No, I don't. I only know what she looks like because of pictures. Deanie remembers her better, but he doesn't like to talk about her." Sam tells her.
"What was her name?" Evie asks.
"Mary." Sam answers.
"There was a girl in daycare named Mary. She was mean." Evie says.
"My mommy wasn't mean."
"I don't think she was. You nice so she nice." Evie says and Sam smiles at her.
~ ~ ~
Dean takes a card from a man in a suit while Sam stands nearby, holding Evie. Dean found the dying tree in the middle of the cemetery weird so he wanted to get information on it.
"Angela Mason. She was a student at the local college. Funeral was 3 days ago." Dean says.
"And?" Sam asks as they walk away.
"And? You saw her grave. Everything dead around it in a perfect circle? You don't think that's a little weird?" Dean asks.
"Maybe the groundskeeper went a little too agro with the pesticide." Sam says.
"No. I asked him. No pesticide, no chemicals. Nobody can explain it." Dean says.
"Okay, so what are you thinking?" Sam asks.
"I dunno. Unholy ground, maybe?" Dean suggests.
"Uh--" Sam stops.
"What? If something evil happened there, it could easily poison the ground. Remember the farm outside of Cedar Rapids?" Dean asks.
"Yeah, b--"
"Could be the sign of a demonic presence. Or the Angela girl's spirit if it's powerful enough." Dean says. Sam nods, turning away. "Well, don't get too excited, you might pull something."
"It's just... stumbling onto a hunt? Here, of all places?" Sam asks.
"So?"
"So-- are you sure this is about a hunt and not about something else?"
"What else would it be about?"
"You know, just forget about it." Sam says, starting to put Evie in her car seat.
"You believe what you want, Sam, but I let you drag my ass out here, the least we could do is check this out."
"Yeah. Fine." Sam nods, shutting the back door.
"Girl's dad works in town. He's a professor at the school."
+++
They get to where Angela's dad works and knock on the door, Sam holding Evie. Soon Dr. Mason answers the door.
"Dr. Mason?" Dean asks.
"Yes?" Dr. Mason nods.
"I'm Sam. This is Dean. This is my daughter, Evie. We were friends of Angela's. We... we wanted to offer our condolences." Sam says.
"Please, come in." Dr. Mason steps aside so they can walk in and shuts the door behind them. He sits down with a photo book and Sam sits next to him, putting Evie on his lap. Dean stays standing by the desk.
"She was beautiful." Sam says.
"Yes, she was." Dr. Mason mutters.
"This is an unusual book." Dean says, holding a book of that has carvings of Greek letters and a triangular symbol on the cover.
"It's ancient Greek. I teach a course." Dr. Mason tells him.
"So a car accident, that-- that's horrible." Dean says.
"Angie was only a mile away from when, uh..." Dr. Mason trails off.
"It's gotta be hard. Losing someone like that. Sometimes it's like they're still around. Almost like you can still sense their presence." Dean says and Sam looks at him concerned. "You ever feel anything like that?"
"I do, as a matter of fact." Dr. Mason says.
"That's perfectly normal, Dr. Mason." Sam says looking Dean. "Especially with what you're going through."
"You know, I still phone her. And the phone's ringing before I remember that, uh... family's everything, you know? Angie was the most important thing in my life. And now I-I-I'm just lost without her." Dr. Mason says.
"We're very sorry." Sam says.
+++
It's the next day and Sam and Evie are at the motel. Dean left last night because him and Sam got into a fight while Evie was asleep.
Sam is watching TV while Evie takes a nap.
"Next, on the Skin channel, Casa Erotica Four. A tale of two Latin beauties..." Sam turns the TV off once Dean opens the door.
"Hey." Sam calls. Dean walks in slowly, looking between Sam and the TV. "What?"
"Awkward. You watch that in front of your sleeping toddler?"
"Where in the hell were you?" Sam asks, changing the subject.
"Working my imaginary case." Dean says.
"Yeah? And?" Sam asks.
"Well, you were right, I didn't find much. Yeah. Except Angela's boyfriend died last night. Slit his own throat. But, you know, that's normal. Uh, let's see, what else? Oh, he was seeing Angela everywhere before he died. But you know, I'm sure that's just me transferring my own feelings."
"Okay, I get it. I'm sorry, maybe there is something going on here."
"Maybe? Sam, I know how to do my job, despite what you might think."
"We should check out the guy's apartment."
"I just came from there. Pile of dead plants, just like the cemetery. Hell, dead goldfish, too."
"So, unholy ground?"
"maybe. I'm still not getting that powerful angry spirit vibe from Angela. I have been reading this, though." Dean takes Angela's diary out of his jacket.
"You stole the girl's diary?" Sam asks.
"Yeah, Sam. And if anything the girl's a little too nice."
"So what do you want to do?"
"Keep digging, talk to more of her friends."
"You get any names?"
"Are you kidding me? I have her bestest friend in the whole wide world."
+++
It's the next day after they tried to burn Angela's body only to find no body in the coffin. They get to Dr. Mason's office and Dean bangs on the door.
"Dean. Take it easy, okay?" Sam tells him, holding his somewhat asleep daughter who cuddles her dog.
Dr. Mason opens the door.
"You're Angie's friends, right?" Dr. Mason asks.
"Dr. Mason..." Sam begins gently, but Dean cuts him off harshly.
"We need to talk."
"Well, then, come in." Dr. Mason says.
"Thanks." Sam says as they walk in.
"You teach Ancient Greek. Tell me..." Dean unwraps some paper. "What are these?" He shows Dr. Mason of the symbols he copied from Angie's grave.
"I don't understand. You said this had something to do with Angela." Dr. Mason says.
"It does. Please, just humor me." Dean says.
"They're part of an Ancient Greek divination ritual." Dr. Mason informs.
"Used for necromancy, right?" Dean asks.
"That's right." Dr. Mason nods.
"See, before we came over here we stopped by the library and did a little homework ourselves. Apparently they used rituals like this one for communicating with the dead. Even bringing corpses back to life. Full on zombie action."
"Yes. I mean, according to the legends. Now, what's all this about?"
"I think you know." Dean says as Sam watches Dr. Mason's face, beginning to doubt he's the culprit. Evie shrinks into her dad a little, Dean starting to scare her as his voice gets louder and angrier.
"Dean." Sam calls.
"Look, I get it, okay? There are people that I would give anything to see again. But what gives you the right?" Dean asks.
"Dean!" Sam shouts.
"What are you talking about?" Dr. Mason asks.
"What's dead should stay dead!" Dean yells.
"What?!" Dr. Mason asks.
"Stop it!" Sam yells, holding Evie close to him recognizing her fear.
"What you brought back isn't even your daughter anymore. These things are vicious, they're violent, they're so nasty they rot the ground around them. I mean, come on, haven't you seen Pet Sematary?" Dean asks.
"You're insane." Dr. Mason says.
"Where is she?" Dean asks.
"Get out of my house." Dr. Mason says. He starts dialing on the phone, but Dean knocks it out of his hand.
"I know you're hiding her somewhere. Where is she?!" Dean yells.
"Dean! Stop, that's enough! Dean, look!" Sam grabs Dean's jacket with his free hand before letting him go to point to a row of plants. "Beautiful, living plants." Sam looks at Dr. Mason. "We're leaving."
"I'm calling the police." Dr. Mason says.
Dean storms for the door, leaving.
"Sir, we're sorry. We won't bother you again." Sam tells him, leaving after his brother.
~ ~ ~
They're walking on the sidewalk, Sam still holding Evie.
"What the hell is the matter with you, Dean?" Sam asks.
"Back off." Dean tells him.
"That man is innocent! He didn't deserve that!" Sam yells.
"Okay, so she's not here, maybe he's keeping her somewhere else." Dean says.
"Stop it! That's enough, okay? Enough!" Sam shouts. Evie cuddles her dog closer, not liking where this is going, already currently scared of Dean somewhat.
"Sam, I know what I'm doing." Dean says.
"No, you don't. At all. Dean, I don't scare easy, but man, you're scaring the crap out of me." Sam says.
"Don't be overdramatic, Sam." Dean rolls his eyes.
"You're lucky this turned out to be a real case. Because if it wasn't you would have just found something else to kill." Sam says.
"Wha--"
"You're on edge, you're erratic-- except for when you're hunting because then you're downright scary. You're tailspinning, man. And you refuse to talk about it and you won't let me help you."
"I can take care of myself, thanks."
"No, you can't. And you know what? You're the only one who thinks you should have to. You don't have to handle this on your own, Dean, no one can."
"Sam, if you bring up dad's death one more time, I swear..."
"Stop. Please, Dean, it's killing you. Please. We've already lost dad. We've lost mom. Evie and I've lost Jessica. And now I'm going to lose you too?"
"We better get out of here before the cops come." Sam frowns at his brother. "I hear you, okay? Yeah, I'm being an ass. And I'm sorry. But right now we've got a friggin' zombie running around and we need to figure out how to kill it. Right?"
"Our lives are weird, man."
"You're telling me. Come on."
+++
They killed Angela last night and now the brothers are fixing her grave.
"Rest in peace." Sam says.
"Yeah. For good this time, okay?" Dean says. They turn away and start to walk for the car, Sam holding Evie's hand. He lifts the shovel over his other shoulder.
"You know, that whole fake ritual thing, luring Angela into the cemetery? Pretty sharp." Sam says.
"Thanks." Dean says.
"But did we have to use me as bait?" Sam asks.
"I figured you were more her type. You know, she had pretty crappy taste in guys." Dean says.
"I think she broke my hand." Sam says.
"You're just too fragile. We'll get it looked at later." Dean says.
"That mean no hug or holding?" Evie asks with puppy eyes and a pout.
"I can still hug and hold you, silly. Just not as well with that hand." Sam tells her ruffling her hair before reholding her hand. Evie nods, relieved.
Sam sees Dean looking at Mary's grave.
"You want to stay for a while?" Sam asks.
"No." Dean answers.
They reach the car and put their stuff in the trunk before Sam puts Evie in her car seat. The brothers get in and Dean drives off.
+++
Dean is driving on the highway and Evie is asleep in the backseat. Dean pulls over and stops the car, getting out. Sam follows after a moment and sits next to him on the hood of the car.
"Dena, what is it?" Sam asks.
"I'm sorry." Dean says after a moment.
"You-- for what?" Sam asks.
"The way I've been acting. And for dad. I mean, he was your dad, too. And it's my fault that he's gone." Dean says.
"What are you talking about?" Sam asks.
"I know you've been thinking it-- so have I. Doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Back at the hospital, I made a full recovery. It was a miracle. Evie suddenly makes it back to us somehow. And five minutes later dad's dead and the Colt's gone."
"Dean."
"You can't tell me there's no connection there. Like a 2 year old could find her way from God knows where to a hospital she didn't even know we were at? I don't know how the demon was involved. I don't know how the whole thing went down exactly. But dad's dead because of me. And that much I do know."
"We don't know that. Not for sure."
"Sam... you, dad, and Evie... you're the most important people in my life. And now... I never should've come back. Sam, it wasn't natural. And now look what's come of it. I was dead. And I should have stayed dead. You wanted to know how I was feeling. Well, that's it. So tell me. What could you possibly say to make that all right?"