Lazarus Rising

Summary
In the fourth-season opener, Dean has been freed from Hell and reunites with Sam and Bobby, but the three don't know how he returned.

Full Synopsis
We hear harsh breathing, and then a lighter is lit. Dean is in a pine box. He calls for help, but his throat is dry from no use and his voice is raspy and quiet. He looks around as best as he can, and finally breaks the top of the coffin.

Outside, in front of a wooden cross in the ground
Dean’s hands break through the surface. He pulls himself out of the ground and slowly stands up, looking around. Everything around him is flat, like a bomb has hit the area.

Road
Dean is walking down the road, shirt tied around his waist. He finds a gas station, and calls “Hello?” but no one answers. Finally he breaks the window on the door, and lets himself in. Once inside he grabs a water bottle and drinks it to finally soothe his dry throat. Inside, he finds a newspaper, and finds out that the month is September. He goes to a sink in the back and washes his face, then slowly pulls up his t-shirt to look at his body. He has a flashback of the hellhounds clawing his stomach the night he died, but there is no mark on his skin. Looking confused, he drops his shirt back down and then slowly lifts one of his sleeves – there is a red handprint, like a burn, on his left shoulder.

Store
He goes through the rest of the store, grabbing chocolate bars and water. He also grabs a quick Skin magazine, smiling to himself. While he’s getting money from the cash register, suddenly the TV turns on, but there’s only white noise. He turns it off, and the radio starts playing, then the TV turns on again. Dean quickly grabs a can of salt and begins to spread it on the windowsills, but then he hears a loud ringing sound, and it keeps getting louder until he can’t take it anymore and has to cover his ears. The windows smash in the gas station, and Dean is now on the floor. Just a suddenly, the ringing stops, and Dean slowly stands up.

Phone Booth
Outside in the phone booth he tries to call Sam, but is told the number is not in order. He then tries Bobby, and Bobby picks up. “Yeah?” he says. “Bobby? It’s me,” Dean says. “Who’s me?” Bobby asks. “Dean,” Dean replies, only to have Bobby hang up on him. He calls back, and Bobby says “Who is this?” “Bobby listen to me,” Dean begins, but Bobby cuts in with “This ain’t funny. Call me again and I’ll kill you.” He hangs up. Dean hangs up too, and sees an old car outside. He hotwires it, and drives off.

Bobby’s House
Someone knocks on the door, and Bobby opens it up to see Dean standing outside. “Surprised?” he says. “I don’t…” Bobby begins, backing up. “Yeah, me neither,” Dean replies, coming inside. “But here I am.” Bobby suddenly attacks him with a knife, but Dean fights him off. Bobby then hits him in the face, and Dean is thrown backwards. “Bobby, Bobby it’s me!” he says desperately, putting a chair in between them. “My ass,” Bobby replies, coming at him again. “Wait! Your name is Robert Steven Singer, you became a hunter after your wife got possessed, you’re about the closest thing I have to a father!” Dean says quickly. Bobby pauses. “Bobby… it’s me,” Dean says again. Bobby slowly comes forward and touches him on the shoulder, but then raises the knife again. Dean blocks it and holds his arm. “I’m not a shapeshifter!” he says. “Then you’re a revenant!” Bobby argues, fighting back. Dean shoves him off, and he has the knife now. “Alright, if I was either, could I do this with a silver knife?” Dean asks, and cuts his arm. Bobby stares. “Dean?” he says in shock. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Dean replies. Bobby comes forward and hugs him, and Dean hugs him back. “It’s good to see you, boy,” Bobby says, smiling at him as he pulls back. “Yeah you too,” Dean says. “But… how did you bust out?” Bobby asks. “I dunno,” Dean replies, “I just – I just woke up in a pine box…” He is suddenly splashed in the face with holy water. “I’m not a demon either, you know,” he says. “Sorry,” Bobby replies, lowering his holy water flask. “Can’t be too careful.”

Bobby and Dean are walking through the house. “That don’t make a lick of sense,” Bobby says. “Dean, your chest was ravaged. Your insides were slop. And you’ve been buried four months! Even if you could slip out of Hell and back into your meat suit…” “I know,” Dean interrupts, drying off his face with a towel. “I should look like a Thriller video reject.” Bobby asks him what he remembers, and Dean replies “Not much. I remember I was a hellhound’s chew toy. Then… lights out. Then I come to, six feet under. That’s it.” Bobby sits down. “Sam’s number’s not working, he’s not picking up,” Dean begins. “Ah, he’s alive, as far as I know,” Bobby says. “Good,” Dean says, looking relieved, but then he stops. “What do you mean, as far as you know?” “I haven’t talked to him four months,” Bobby admits. “You’re kidding, you just let him go off by himself?” Dean looks shocked. “He was dead-set on it,” Bobby replies, standing up again. “Bobby, you should’ve been looking after him,” Dean says. “I tried,” Bobby says. “These last months haven’t been exactly easy you know, for him or me. We had to bury you.” “Why did you bury me, anyway?” Dean asks. “I wanted you salted and burned, usual drill,” Bobby begins. “But Sam wouldn’t have it.” “Well I’m glad he won that one,” Dean says. “He said you’d need a body when he got you back home somehow,” Bobby goes on. “That’s about all he said.” “What do you mean?” Dean asks. “He was quiet. Real quiet. Then… he just took off,” Bobby tells him. “Wouldn’t return my calls… I tried to find him, but… he don’t want to be found.” “Aw, dammit, Sammy,” Dean rubs his head, frustrated. “What?” Bobby asks. “Oh, he got me home okay,” Dean replies. “But whatever he did, it is bad mojo.” “What makes you so sure?” “You should’ve seen the gravesite. It was like a nuke went off. And then there was this force, this presence… it blew me past me at a fill-up joint. And then this.” He pulls up his shirt sleeve and shows Bobby the hand print. “What in hell?” Bobby says, shocked. “It looks like a demon just yanked me out. Or rode me out,” Dean says. “But why?” Bobby wonders. “To hold up their end of the bargain,” Dean says, looking upset. “You think Sam made a deal?” Bobby asks. “It’s what I would’ve done,” Dean says quietly.

Later, Dean calls the cellphone company and gets them to turn on the GPS on Sam’s cellphone, then goes to the website. “Hey Bobby?” he says, picking up an empty liquor bottle. “What did you do at the liquor store? Your parents out of town or something?” “Like I said,” Bobby says. “Last few months… ain’t been all that easy.” Dean turns back to the computer, and looks at the screen. “Sam’s in Pontaic, Illinois,” he says. “Right where you were planted!” Bobby realizes. “Right where I popped up – a hell of a coincidence, don’t you think?” Dean says.

Motel, Pontiac, Illinois
Dean and Bobby go to Sam’s door and knock, and it’s opened by a girl. They stare at each other. “So where is it?” she asks. “Where’s what?” Dean asks. “The pizza? That takes two guys to deliver?” she says sarcastically. “I think we got the wrong room,” Dean says, starting to back away, when suddenly Sam appears behind the girl. “Is…” he begins, then stops in shock. The two boys stare at each other. “Heya, Sammy,” Dean says, smiling. He starts forward, only to have Sam attack him with a knife. Bobby yanks Sam off, and Sam yells “Who are you?” “Like you didn’t do this?” Dean yells back. “Do what?” Sam replies. “It’s him, it’s him, Sam,” Bobby says, holding Sam back. “I’ve been through this already, it’s really him.” “What…” Sam begins, staring. “I know,” Dean says with a little smile. “I look fantastic, huh?” Sam suddenly pulls him into a hug, and Dean hugs him back. When they finally pull back, the girl asks, “So are you two like… together?” “What?” Sam says, staring at her. “Oh no… no. He’s my brother.” “Oh… got it, I guess…” she says. “I should… probably go.” “Yeah, yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Sorry,” Sam says.

She walks out of the room – “So call me,” she says, turning back. “Yeah… yeah,” Sam says, leaning on the door. “Sure thing, Kathy.” “Chrissy,” she says, looking crushed. “Right,” Sam says, looking awkward. She walks away. Sam goes back into the room and sits on the bed. “So tell me, what did it cost?” Dean asks, as he and Bobby stare at Sam. “The girl?” Sam says, with a smirk. “I don’t pay, Dean.” “That’s not funny, Sam. To bring me back,” Dean says. “What did it cost? Was it just your soul, or something worse?” “You think I made a deal?” Sam asks. “That’s exactly what we think,” Bobby puts in. “Well I didn’t,” Sam replies. “Don’t lie to me,” Dean says, staring at Sam. “I’m not lying,” Sam says, putting on his shoes. “So what now, I’m off the hook and you’re on? Is that it?” Dean asks, moving closer. “You’re some demon’s bitch boy? I didn’t want to be saved like this.” Sam stands up, looking upset. “Dean I wish I had done it, alright?” Dean grabs the front of his shirt. “There’s no other way this could’ve gone down. Now tell the truth!” “I tried everything, that’s the truth!” Sam says, pushing Dean off of him. “I tried opening the Devil’s Gate, hell I tried to bargain, Dean, but no demon would deal, alright? You were rotting in Hell for months. For months, and I couldn’t stop it. So I’m sorry it wasn’t me, alright? Dean, I’m sorry.” “It’s okay, Sammy,” Dean replies, looking shocked. “You don’t have to apologize, I believe you.” There’s silence for a minute, and then Bobby says “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that Sam’s soul is still intact, but it does raise a sticky question.” “If he didn’t pull me out, then what did?” Dean says, voicing all their thoughts.

Sam hands them all beer bottles as they sit down. “So what were you doing around here, if you weren’t digging me out of my grave?” Dean asks. “Well once I figured out I couldn’t save you, I started hunting down Lillith,” Sam explains. “Trying to get some payback.” “All by yourself,” Bobby says. “Who do you think you are, your old man?” “Uh… I’m sorry Bobby, I should’ve called. I was pretty messed up,” Sam replies. Dean gets up and holds up a girl’s bra. “Oh yeah. I really feel your pain.” “Anyways,” Sam says, looking awkward, “I was checking these demons out in Tennessee, and out of nowhere they took a hard left, booked up here.” “When?” Dean asks. “Yesterday morning,” Sam replies, taking a drink of beer. “When I busted out,” Dean says, looking at Bobby. “You think these demons are ‘cause of you?” Bobby asks. “Why?” Sam wonders. “Well I don’t know, some bad ass demon drags me out, and now this? It’s gotta be connected somehow,” Dean says. “How you feeling, anyway?” Bobby asks, looking at Dean. “I feel a little hungry,” Dean admits. “No, I mean… do you feel like yourself,” Bobby corrects. “Anything strange, or different?” “Or demonic?” Dean says. “Bobby, how many times do I have to prove I’m me?” “Yeah well listen – no demon’s letting you loose out of the goodness of their heart,” Bobby says firmly. “So they gotta have something nasty planned.” “I feel fine,” Dean says. “Look we don’t know what they’re planning. But we’ve got a pile of questions, and no shovel,” Sam puts in. “We need help.” “I know a psychic. Few hours from here,” Bobby says. “Something this big? Maybe she’s heard the other side talking.” “Well yeah it’s worth a shot,” Dean says, looking hopeful. Bobby stands up. “Be right back.” Dean stands up too, but Sam stops him. “Hey wait. You probably want this back.” He removes Dean’s amulet from around his neck and hands it to him. Dean looks at it in his hand for a moment, then says “Thanks.” “Don’t mention it,” Sam says. As Dean puts it on, Sam asks “Hey Dean, what was it like?” “What, Hell?” Dean says. “I dunno. I – I must’ve blacked it out. I don’t remember a damn thing.” Sam smiles. “Thank God for that.” “Yeah,” Dean agrees.

In the bathroom
Dean stares at himself in the mirror, and suddenly gets flashes of Hell again, himself screaming and everything red.

As they leave the motel, Bobby says “She’s about four hours down the interstate. Try to keep up.” He gets in his car. Sam and Dean head for the Impala. “I assume you’ll wanna drive?” Sam says, tossing Dean the keys. “Ohhh I almost forgot! Hey sweetheart, you miss me?” Dean says, stroking the car on his way by. He gets in, looking thrilled, then suddenly stares at something in front of him. An iPod is attached to the radio. “What the hell is that?” he says to Sam. “That’s an iPod jack,” Sam says, smiling a little. “You were supposed to take care of her, not douche her up,” Dean says angrily. “Dean, I thought it was my car,” Sam replies. Dean stares at him, then turns on the car only to hear soft rock music. “Really?” he says, staring at Sam. Sam shrugs awkwardly. Dean yanks the iPod off and throws it in the back seat, looking murderous.

On the road
Dean says “There’s still one thing that’s bothering me. The night that I bit it – or got bit – how did you make it out? I thought Lillith was gonna kill you.” “Well she tried. She couldn’t,” Sam replies. “She fired this like… burning light at me, and it didn’t give me a scratch. Like I was immune or something.” “Immune?” Dean repeats. “Yeah. I dunno who was more surprised, her or me,” Sam goes on. “She left pretty fast after that.” “Huh,” Dean says. “What about Ruby? Where’s she?” “Dead, for now,” Sam replies. “So… you been using your freaky ESP stuff?” Dean asks. “No,” Sam says. “Sure about that?” Dean says, looking disbelieving. “Now that you’ve got immunity, whatever the hell that is… just wondering what other weirdo crack you got going on.” “Nothing, Dean you didn’t want me to go down that road, so I didn’t go down that road. I mean it was practically you’re dying wish,” Sam replies firmly. “Well let’s keep it that way,” Dean says.

Pamela’s House
Pamela opens the door, and hugs Bobby, looking very pleased and lifting him right off his feet. “You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Bobby says, grinning. She smiles and looks at the boys. “So, these the boys?” “Sam, Dean, this is Pamela Barnes. Best damn psychic in the state,” Bobby introduces them. She looks them up and down and smiles. “Dean Winchester. Out of the fire and back into the frying pan, huh? Makes you a rare individual.” “If you say so,” Dean says. “Come on in,” she says, letting them walk past her. “So, you hear anything?” Bobby asks. “Well, I ouijied my way through a dozen spirits, no one seems to know who broke your boy out, or why,” she says. “So what’s next?” Bobby asks. “Well, a séance I think,” she replies. “See if we can see who did the deed.” “You’re not gonna summon the damn thing here,” Bobby says. “No, I just wanna get a sneek peek at it. Like a crystal ball without the crystal,” she says, smiling. “I’m game,” Dean says.

As Pamela walks around, setting stuff up, she kneels down and Dean sees a tattoo on her lower back that says “Jesse forever”. He nudges Sam to look, then says “Who’s Jesse?” She laughs. “Well it wasn’t forever.” “His loss,” Dean replies. “Might be your gain,” she says, smiling at him and walking by. Dean looks at Sam happily. “Dude, I am so in,” he says. “Yeah she’ll eat you alive,” Sam says. “Hey, I just got outta jail. Bring it!” Dean whispers. Pamela walks by again. “You’re invited too, grumpy,” she says to Sam. As soon as she’s gone Dean points at Sam. “You are not invited.”

When everything is ready, they sit around the table. “Alright,” Pamela says. “Take each other’s hands… and I need to touch something our mystery monster touched,” she says to Dean. “Whoa!” Dean says, jumping. “It didn’t touch me there!” She laughs. “My mistake.” Dean looks at Bobby and Sam, unsure, and then shrugs out of his shirt on one side and pulls up the sleeve so she can touch the red hand mark. “Okay,” she says, closing her eyes. “I invoke, conjure and command you. Appear unto me before this circle.” She continues to chant it. As she chants, the TV behind her turns on. Suddenly she stops. “Castiel? No, Castiel I don’t scare easy.” “Castiel?”Dean says. “It’s name. It’s whispering to me, warning me to turn back,” Pamela replies without opening her eyes. “I conjure and command you, show me your face,” she goes on, and the table begins to shake. “Maybe we should stop,” Bobby says. “I’ve almost got it,” she says, and continues to chant. Suddenly the candle flames shoot up high, and Pamela begins to scream. Her eyes are a burning white, and blood begins to flow down her face. The light disappers, and she collapses. “Call 911!” Bobby yells, and Sam runs off to do so. Dean crouches down beside Bobby and Pamela. Her eyes are black and bloody. “I can’t see!” she cries. “I can’t see!”

Diner
The waitress is just leaving from taking Dean’s order, and Sam comes over. “What did Bobby say?” Dean asks. “Pam’s stable,” Sam says. “And out of ICU.” “And blind, because of us,” Dean says. “We still have no clue what we’re dealing with,” Sam says. “That’s not entirely true,” Dean replies. “We’ve got a name, Castiel or whatever – with the right mumbo jumbo we can summon him, bring him back to us.” “You’re crazy, absolutely not,” Sam says. “We’ll work him over, I mean after what he did?” Dean argues. “Pam took a peek at him, and her eyes burned out of her skull. And you wanna have a face to face…” Sam begins. “You got a better idea?” Dean asks. “Yeah, as a matter of fact I do. I followed some demons to town, right? So we go find them. Someone’s gotta know something about something.” The waitress comes back and gives them their food, then she sits down. The boys stare at her. “You angling for a tip?” Dean asks. “I’m sorry,” she says. “Thought you were looking for us.” Her eyes turn black. The other customers stand up, their eyes are black too. A big guy goes over and stands in front of the door so they can’t leave. The waitress looks at Dean. “Dean. To Hell and back. Aren’t you a lucky duck.” “That’s me,” Dean says flatly. “So you get to just stroll out of the pit, huh? Tell me – what makes you so special?” “I like to think it’s because of my perky nipples,” Dean says with a smile. “I don’t know. It wasn’t my doing, I dunno who pulled me out.” “Right. You don’t.” The waitress looks disbelieving. “No, I don’t,” Dean says angrily. “Lying’s a sin, you know,” she says. Dean stares at her. “I’m not lying.” She looks at Sam, and Sam glares at her. “But I’d like to know, so if you wouldn’t mind enlightening me, Flo,” Dean says. “Mind your tongue with me, boy,” she says, looking back at him. “I’ll drag you back to Hell myself.” Sam starts to make a move, but Dean holds up his hand. “No you won’t,” he says. “No?” she says. “No. Cause if you were you’d have done it already,” Dean goes on. “Fact is, you don’t know who cut me loose. And you’re just as spooked as we are. And you’re looking for answers. Maybe it was some turbo-charged spirit. Or… Godzilla. Or some big boss demon. But I’m guessing at your paygrade they don’t tell you squat. Cause whoever it was, they want me out. And they’re a lot stronger than you. So go ahead, send me back. But don’t come crawling to me when they show up on your doorstep with vaseline and a fire hose.” “I’m gonna reach down your throat and rip out your lungs,” she says, glaring at him. Dean leans close to her, and then he slaps her across the face, twice. She just sits there. “That’s what I thought,” Dean says. “Let’s go, Sam.” They stand up, and Dean pulls out a bill and gives it to her. “For the pie,” he says.

As they leave the diner, Dean says “Holy crap that was close!” He says that there’s three of them probably more, and they only have one knife between them. “I’ve been killing a lot more demons than that lately,” Sam says. “Not anymore, the smarter brother’s back in town,” Dean says. “Dean, we’ve gotta take them. They are dangerous,” Sam argues. “They’re scared,” Dean replies. “Okay? Scared of whatever had the juice to yank me out. We’re dealing with a bad mofo here, one job at a time.”

Motel
Dean is asleep on one of the beds with a book in his lap. Sam eases out of the room quietly, and takes the Impala.

Back in the motel, as Dean is sleeping, the television turns on, then the radio. Dean wakes up, and stares around for a second before lunging for his shotgun at the side of the bed. He can’t see anything, but he aims at the door until the ringing starts again, and he’s forced to cover his ears. The windows start to shatter, and as Dean tries to stay out of the way of them the mirror above the bed breaks. Dean is laying on the ground holding his ears, which are bleeding, until suddenly Bobby breaks into the room, yelling his name.

On the road
Bobby is driving, Dean is in the passenger seat. “How you doing, kid?” Bobby asks, as Dean is wiping blood off the side of his neck. “Aside from the church bells ringing in my head,” Dean says. “Just peachy.” He calls Sam’s cellphone.

“Hey,” Sam says, picking up. “What are you doing?” Dean asks. “Couldn’t sleep, went to get a burger,” Sam says. He’s sitting in the Impala. “In my car?” Dean says irritably. “Force of habit, sorry,” Sam says. “What are you doing?” “Well, Bobby’s back,” Dean begins, “and we’re going to grab a beer.” Bobby gives him a look, but Dean holds up his hand. “Alright well, spill some for me, huh?” Sam says. “Done,” Dean replies. “I’ll catch you later.” They hang up. Sam looks out the window, he is sitting in front of the diner they were in earlier.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell him?” Bobby asks. “Cause he’d just try to stop us,” Dean says. “From what?” Bobby asks. “Summoning this thing,” Dean says. “It’s time we face it head on.” “You can’t be serious,” Bobby begins. “As a heart attack,” Dean replies. “That’s how I do it, baby.” “We don’t know what it is! It could be a demon, it could be anything,” Bobby says. “That’s why we gotta be ready for anything,” Dean says, pulling out the knife. “We got the big-time magic knife. You got an arsenal in the trunk.” “This is a bad idea,” Bobby says. “I couldn’t agree more, but what other choice do we have?” Dean asks. “We could choose life,” Bobby replies. “Bobby, whatever this is, whatever it wants, it’s after me, that much we know, right?” Dean says. “I can either get caught with my pants down again, or we can make our stand.” “Dean,” Bobby says, “We could use Sam for this.” “He’s better off where he is,” Dean replies.

Diner
Sam carefully gets into the diner, it’s all dark except for a few light up signs. He goes in a little further and sees a man laying on the ground, and at closer glance he has bloody hands. Sam carefully rolls him over and sees that his eyes are all bloody and black. Suddenly, someone jumps on Sam. They fight for a bit until Sam finally gets the upperhand, and he pushes them off. It’s the female demon from earlier, and her eyes are all bloody. “Your eyes,” Sam says. “I can still smell your soul a mile away,” she says coldly. “He was here,” Sam says. “You saw it.” “I saw it,” she says, nodding. “What was it?” Sam asks. “It’s the end,” she sobs. “We’re dead. We’re all dead.” “What did you see?” Sam asks. “Go to Hell,” she says. “Funny,” Sam says. “I was gonna say the same thing to you.” He holds out his hand, and without saying anything, the demon slowly begins to come out of her mouth – but not like an exorcism, it’s coming out slowly and pooling on the ground at her feet. She falls to the ground, and the demon disappears. Sam walks over to the girl and feels for a pulse, but there isn’t one. “Dammit,” he says quietly. He hears something, and looks up, to see the girl from earlier –Chrissy – walk into the diner. “Getting pretty slick there, Sam. Better all the time,” she says. “What the hell’s going on around here, Ruby?” Sam asks. “I wish I knew,” she says. “We were thinking some high-level demon pulled Dean out?” Sam suggests. “No way,” she says. “Human souls don’t just walk out of Hell and back into their bodies easy. This guy bleeds –the ground quakes – it’s cosmic. No demon can swing that. Not Lillith. Not anybody.” “Then what can?” Sam asks. “Nothing I’ve ever seen before,” she says.

In an old barn
Dean and Bobby are preparing the summoning ritual. “That’s a hell of an art project you got going there,” Dean says, about the symbols Bobby has drawn all over the barn. “Talismans from every faith on the globe,” Bobby replies. “How you doing?” “Stakes, iron, silver, salt, knife,” Dean says, pointing at all the things he has laid out on the table. “We’re pretty much set to kill anything I’ve ever heard of.” “This is still a bad idea,” Bobby says quietly. “Yeah, Bobby, I heard you the first ten times,” Dean says. “Whaddya say we ring the dinner bell?” Bobby begins the ritual, speaking in Latin the summons.

Diner
“So. Million dollar question. You gonna tell Dean about what we’re doing?” Ruby asks as her and Sam sit in a booth in the diner. “Yeah, I just gotta figure out the right way to say it,” Sam replies. “Look, I just need time, that’s all.” “Sam, he’s gonna find out, and if it’s not from you, he’s gonna be pissed,” Ruby says. “Oh, he’s gonna be pissed anyway,” Sam says. “He’s so hard-headed about this psychic stuff he’ll just try and stop me.” “Look. Maybe I’ll just take a step back for a while,” she says. “I mean I’m not exactly in your brother’s fan club. But he is your brother. And I’m not gonna come between you.” “I don’t know if what I’m doing is right,” Sam begins. “Hell, I don’t even know if I trust you.” “Thanks,” she says, angrily. “What I do know is that I’m saving people,” Sam keeps going. “And stopping demons. And that feels good. I wanna keep going.”

Barn
Bobby is sitting down, swinging his foot, waiting. Dean is playing with the knife impatiently. “You sure you did the ritual right?” he asks. Bobby just looks at him. “Sorry,” Dean says. “Touchy touchy, huh?” At that moment, the roof starts to shake, the shingles banging against the rafters. “Wishful thinking, but maybe it’s just the wind,” Dean says. Suddenly the lights shatter, and the barn door blows open. A man slowly walks in. They fire rock salt at him, but he keeps coming. Dropping the gun, Dean picks up the knife and turns around. “Who are you?” he asks. “I’m the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition,” the man answers. “Yeah. Thanks for that,” Dean says, and then stabs the knife into the man’s chest. The man doesn’t even flinch, he just pulls it out and drops it. Bobby comes at him with an iron bar, but he grabs Bobby’s arm, puts his hand over Bobby’s head, and Bobby slowly falls to the ground. “We need to talk, Dean,” he says. “Alone.”

Dean kneels over Bobby’s body, looking scared. “Your friend’s alive,” the man says. “Who are you?” Dean asks. “Castiel,” he replies. “Yeah I figured that much, I mean what are you?” Dean asks, glaring at him. “I’m an angel of the Lord,” Castiel replies, looking at Dean. Dean stands up. “Get the hell outta here. There’s no such thing.” “This is your problem, Dean,” Castiel says, turning to look at him. “You have no faith.” Suddenly light flashes, and Dean can see black wings unfurling from Castiel’s back. But they are only shadows, against the barn wall. When the light is gone, the wings are gone. “Well some angel you are,” Dean says. “You burned out that poor woman’s eyes.” “I warned her not to spy on my true form,” Castiel says, moving forward. “It can be… overwhelming to humans. So can my real voice. You already knew that.” “You mean the gas station and the motel,” Dean realizes. “That was you talking?” Castiel nods, and Dean makes a face. “Buddy, next time lower the volume.” “It was my mistake,” Castiel says. “Certain people – special people – can perceive my true visage, I thought you would be one of them. I was wrong.” “And what visage are you in now?” Dean asks. “What, holy tax accountant?” “This, this is a vessel,” Castiel says, gesturing to his long coat and tie. “You’re possessing some poor bastard?” Dean says incredulously. “He’s a devout man, he actually prayed for this,” Castiel replied. “Look pal, I’m not buying what you’re selling. So who are you really?” Dean asks. “I told you,” he says. “Right. And why would an angel – rescue me from Hell?” Dean asks. “Good things do happen, Dean,” Castiel says, walking closer. “Not in my experience,” Dean says. “What’s the matter?” Castiel says, staring at Dean. “You don’t think you deserve to be saved?” “Why did you do it?” Dean says, ignoring Castiel’s question. “Because God commanded it,” Castiel replies. “Because we have work for you.”

Featured Music

 * "You Shook Me All Night Long" - AC/DC
 * "Fight Song" - The Republic Tigers
 * "Vision" - Jason Manns
 * "Wrapped Around Your Finger" - Martyn Laight
 * "I'm So Blue" - Katie Thompson

Continuity

 * Dean was dead from Season 3's finale, until now.

Goofs, Bloopers & Continuity Errors

 * Ruby tells Sam that no demon could pull a soul out of Hell and put it back in its body, however, the Crossroads Demon in Crossroad Blues offered to do just that by bringing Sam back from the dead in exchange for Dean's soul. There was no indication that the demon had been lying, and the way she threw it in Dean's face after he turned the deal down gave every indication that she could have done it.

Quotes
Bobby: "Your body was shreds, your insides were slop. And you've been buried four months! Even if you could crawl up out of the Pit and back into your meatsuit..."

Dean: "Yeah, I know, I should look like some Thriller video reject."

Demon: "Tell me, what makes you so special?"

Dean: "I like to think it's because of my perky nipples..." (awkward pause) "...I don't know."

Castiel: "I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition."

Dean: "Why'd you do it?"

Castiel: "Because God commanded it. Because we have work for you."