At the bunker, Dean complains about Sam's beard. Dean then says that Sam doesn't have to say if he's all right. He figures that Michael bailed but doesn't know how or why, and everything since he said "yes" is a blank. They enter the main room and Dean stares at all the other-world refugees. Sam says that there have been some changes made, and one of the refugees stares at Dean. Dean assures him that he's not Michael anymore.
Jack comes over and asks if it's really Dean. Castiel arrives while Jack hugs Dean, and then explains why he wasn't there. Dean assures him that it isn't a problem, and Sam says that Mary and Bobby stayed in Duluth to clean up the situation. As Dean goes to take a shower, he tells Sam that he's still okay. Castiel reports that Nick is gone and left a note saying that he had some personal business to attend to.
Dean goes to his room and look around.
Castiel wonders why Michael would have given up his vessel, and Sam admits that they don't know.
Dean finds a scar on his upper right arm. He shows it to Sam and Castiel, and Dean asks Castiel to drag out the memory of what happened to him. Castiel probes Dean's mind, and the two of them see what Michael did. When Castiel grabs the body, he sees a hooded figure jab a two-pronged sword into Michael's arm.
Sam calls Jody and Dean greets her. They tell her that the thing that killed Kaia in the Bad Place is in their world, and ask Jody if she's noticed anything there. There's been nothing, and Dean explains what he saw. Jody goes to her board with other photos of decapitated corpses with the same marks.
Sam and Dean pack up, and Castiel tells Jack that it's better if he stays at the bunker. Dean tells him that he's not ready, and Jack walks off without a word. Meanwhile, Jules brings in Lora, the only survivor of a witch. Lora shows them her withered hand, and Castiel warns that it might take a while. He tells them to go ahead without him and Dean agrees.
The brothers drive to Sioux Falls, and Dean hit the accelerator. Sam figures that something huge happened and Dean won't talk about it. He says that he needs Dean to talk to him and slow down so he can catch up. Dean just tells him to call Jody and let them know that they're almost there.
The brothers park outside of Sioux Town where Jody is waiting for them. Jody admits that she may be avoiding Claire until she knows what's going on. She shows them where the bodies were found, and figures that they should look between the crime scenes. Dean immediately goes off to search and the others follow.
Jack is packing and leaves, dropping an envelope on the table. He hears Castiel talking to Jules as they work on a spell, and goes in to talk to them. Lora is in a hospital bed and Castiel explains that the magic is too knotted for Castiel to undo so they're working on a reversal spell Rowena directed them. Castiel notices that Jack is packed to leave, but jack says that he isn't going.
In the woods, Dean suggests that they split up. Sam and Jody both refuse, and Dean continues on. He comes to decapitated heads on a pole and calls the others over. The heads belong to vampires, and Jody says that she checked the bodies and there was no indication with Dead Man's Blood that they were vampires. Meanwhile, Dean finds an extinguished campfire and remembers that he's on the spot where the figure attacked Michael.
The figure appears and attacks Dean and then the others. Her hood falls off, revealing that it's Kaia, and she runs off. Dean says that they should find her and ask where she came from.
Jules goes to get some spell ingredients, and Jack sits with Lora. She wakes up and asks if Castiel is his father, and Lora says that her mother probably hates her because she ran away. Lora hated school, their town, and her mother's rules. She thought that she could make it on her own, but then she met the witch and she took us in. The witch was kind at first, but then she locked them up and one of the other two girls started getting sick. The same thing happened to Talli: they withered away to nothing. The witch's hex is now taking Lora faster than the others. Jack assures Lora that Castiel will fix it.
Dean finds Kaia's tracks, and Sam points out that there were bruises on her face. Sam figures that he vampires were hunting Kaia because Michael sent them, and explains what Jody found about how the vampires are immune to Dead Man's Blood. Dean figures that it doesn't change the plan and continues on.
Castiel and Jules cast the aging spell, and Lora ages even faster. The girls call Jody, but she ignores it and says that Claire has been ill-tempered on the subject of Kaia. Sam figure that Dean is working something out on his own, and Jody suggests that maybe Dean needs to do so.
Kaia goes to an old cabin and gets some food and water. She goes back outside and Dean sneaks up on her and knocks her out as Sam and Jody arrive.
After the trio tie Kaia up, they ask her what she is. She says that killing "their" Kaia was an accident, and she was trying to kill Claire. Sam asks how she crossed over but Kaia refuses to say. Kaia says that she's there now because of Michael, and she's scared of the monsters that Michael sent after her.
More vampires arrive, finding their comrades' severed heads, and continue on.
Castiel covers over Lora's corpse, and Jack says that they let her die. He cries and apologizes to the body, saying that he could have saved her if he still had his powers. Jack asks where the witch's body is.
Jody says that they should take Kaia to the station, but Dean wants to break her. Kaia says that Dean wants her weapon.
Jack, Castiel, and Jules go to the morgue where the witch's body is, and confirm that the witch-killing bullet is still in her.
Dean tells Sam and Jody that he'll do whatever it takes to get her spear and kill Michael. When he demands that Kaia tell them where she hid it, she just smiles.
Jack explains that after Jules shot the witch, her hex kept sucking Lora's life force to keep the witch alive. it couldn't work so it consumed more of Lora. He removes the witch's necklace and says that is what was cursed, not Lora.
The vampires move in on the cabin.
Kaia tells Dean that he's just like Michael and always has been.
Jack picks up a reflex hammer and says that Lora's life force is in the necklace. He breaks the necklace with the hammer, and magical energy flows from it to the same necklace on Lora's neck. Lora comes back to life and asks what happened.
Kaia tells Dean that he saw what he did to her counterpart when he got angry, shoving his gun in her face. Sam realizes that the Dark Kaia is a dreamwalker as well, and Kaia says that they were connected. Kaia says that Michael hurt Dean and hurt her as well.
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Earlier, Michael confronts Kaia at her campsite. He explains that he's borrowing Dean's face, and he's sensed Kaia ad he weapon. Michael explains that he's building an army and she can join his side if she gives him the spear. If not, she'll die and he'll get the spear. Kaia attacks him and manages to stab him in the arm.
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Sam figures that Michael sent the monsters to get the spear because it can hurt the archangel. Jody warns from the window that it's too late as the vampires approach the cabin. They burst in and say that they only came for Kaia, and the three Hunters attack them. Dean manages to draw his gun and shoots Kaia's chair. It breaks, releasing her, and she jumps out the window.
As the vampires beat the Hunters, Jody's opponent breaking her arm, Kaia comes back and runs him through with her spear. She decapitates the other two and says that she came back for Sam and Dean. Sam warns her that she'll be a target as long as she has the spear, and Kaia says that she's used to it and walks away.
As the trio get back to their cars, Jody tells Dean that he has nothing to apologize for. She says that she'll tell Claire what happened, and says that she feels like she lost before she ever began.
Jack is lying on his bed when Castiel comes in and says that Julies is taking Lora back home to her mother. The angel apologizes for not being there for Jack, and Jack says that it's okay. What Jack did made him proud, and Jack proved that he has the heart and mind of a Hunter. Castiel says that maybe they could go on a Hunting trip, and Jack agrees and then coughs. He assures Castiel that he's fine and just has a cold.
As Sam and Dean drive back, Dean says that he put them all in danger and Sam was right. He admits that Sam was right about him wanting to get to the end of the story where he gets the weapon and kills Michael. Dean says that he was stupid for agreeing to let Michael take his body. Sam tells him that he did what he had to do, and Dean tells him that felt every second of being possessed by Michael and wasn't strong enough to break free. Now Michael is putting an army of monsters together and it's all on Dean.
Jack sits in his room and continues coughing. He finally coughs up blood into a tissue and throws it into a wastebasket with other similarly stained tissues.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 26, 2018