( ASHES TO ASHES )

SAMUEL COLT'S HOUSE
[ ☼ ]

       Sam opens Samuel's door and peers inside. "Hello?" He asks as Samuel throws holy water on Sam. "Okay, not a demon! Not a demon! Just—just a hunter. Sheesh."

      "You're what?" Asks Samuel.

      "You Samuel Colt? My name is Sam Winchester. I'm—I'm a hunter from the year 2011."

      "Prove it." Samuel says as Sam hands him his blackberry. Samuel looks at it and heads back to his desk. "All right." He places Sam's blackberry behind his desk on the bookshelf.

      "A-all right? That's—uh, that's it?" Sam asks.

      "Well, when you've done this job as long as I have...a giant from the future with some magic brick doesn't exactly give you the vapors."

      "I need your help killing a Phoenix." Says Sam.

      "A Phoenix? They exist?" Samuel asks.

      "Well, you shoot one in about three hours."

       "If you say so." Says Samuel.

       "I don't. You do." Sam hands Samuel Colt's journal to Samuel Colt.

       Samuel Colt looks at his two journals laying on top of each other. "That's...I'm either too drunk or not drunk enough. So what is it I'm about to exactly do?" He asks.

      "Well, the Phoenix is in sunrise, so, uh, if we leave now, you can—" Sam starts.

      "I appreciate your situation, but I'm not gonna be of any help to you. I'm booked."

       "Right, but—but you say right here—" Sam starts.

       "Don't believe everything that you read." Samuel says.

      "But you're a hunter."

       "Retired." Samuel corrects.

       "There's no such thing." Sam says.

       "I'm out."

       "There is no getting out." Sam says. "Look, for what it's worth, in my time, you're a hero."

       "Me?"

       "Yes, sir." Says Sam and Samuel Colt laughs. "Now, look, we—we need to kill this Phoenix. Its ashes are the only thing that can kill the monster I'm hunting. So stow your crap for a few hours, and let's go. We got to go now. So, either you're coming with me, or I need the gun."

       "What gun?" Samuel asks.

       "The gun."

       "Oh, that gun. I lost it in a game of Stud." Says Samuel

       "You're lying."

      "Am I?" Samuel laughs. "Now, that doesn't sound like me."

       "You shot a couple of demons with it less than an hour ago." Sam says.

       "How do you figure?" Samuel asks.

       Sam breathes deeply and points towards the door. "Two pairs of bootprints. Cabin reeks of sulfur." He says.

      Samuel Colt nods. "Not bad." He opens his jacket so Sam can see the colt in his holster. "You don't want it. It's a curse. Believe me."

      "Great. Then let me take it off your hands." Sam says.

       "You go put on a few more miles and come back, and we'll talk."

       "Trust me, I've got plenty of mileage." Says Sam.

      "I'm doing you a favor. Believe me." Samuel says.

      "So, what? You can really just sit there?" Asks Sam.

      "I've given my whole life to this. I'm done."

       "So it doesn't matter what happens." Sam says.

       "No, it doesn't."

       "So everything you did, it all means nothing? Give me the gun." Says Sam.

BOBBY'S HOUSE
[ ☼ ]

       Bobby's timer shows one hour left. Castiel sits up and exhales sharply. "Cas, you—you like you went 12 rounds with truckasaurus. What happened?" Bobby asks.

       "I was, uh...I was betrayed. Rachel, uh...Raphael...He corrupted her. She turned on me." Castiel lies.

       "Sorry. Girl's a real... peach." Says Bobby.

       "She's... dead. I... was wounded. I needed... safety. Thank you." Castiel tries to get up from the couch, coughs and grunts.

       Bobby pushes him back down. "Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey. What's with the finger painting?" He asks

      "It's a warding symbol against angels."

      "How bad's it hurt?" Asks Bobby.

       "I'll heal." Castiel says.

       "Well, good...'Cause we got less than an hour before you pick up the kids at Frontierland." Bobby says.

       "I can't."

       "Come again?" Asks Bobby.

       "This fight...Drained me." Castiel says.

       "Well, if you're up on blocks, then call in another halo who can get the job done."

       "I can't." Says Castiel.

       "Well, there's got to be something that can juice you up. A spell—something." Bobby says.

       "There is one thing that might work, but...It's extremely dangerous."

       "Shocker. So, lay it on me." Bobby says.

       "It's your soul." Castiel says.

       "What do you want me to do? Make another deal? Seal it with a kiss?" Asks Bobby.

       "I need you to let me touch it." Cas says.

       "Touch it?"

       "The human soul—it's pure... energy. If I can siphon some of that off, I-I might be able to bring Sam, Elena and Dean back."

      "And the catch is...?" Bobby asks.

       "Doing this is like...putting your hand in a nuclear reactor. I have to do it very gingerly." Cas says.

       "Or...?" Bobby asks.

       "Or you'll explode." Says Cas.

       "Well. Keep both hands on the wheel. Let's do this."

JAIL
[ ☼ ]

      Dean glances at the clock nervously. "Never been late in your damn life, Sam, and now you're dragging ass." He says.

       "So this is your big plan, huh? Just let me rot in here till Finch comes?" The Deputy asks.

       "Pretty much. Why's he gunning for you, anyway?" Dean asks.

       "I guess you missed the part where we hung him?"

       "No, I'm thinking to a thing like Finch, that's no big whoop. He would've just blown town, but he came back. That seems personal." Dean says.

      "I'll tell you what—you let me out of here, and we'll talk."

       Dean clicks his tongue. "No can do." He says as Elias Finch enters.

       "Open up that cell." He demands.

       "Open it yourself. You melt people's faces off. I'll bet you got the juice to tear that apart easy, don't you? Unless you can't. Just like you couldn't break those cuffs when they strung you up." Dean throws the iron nail he's holding at Elias, who catches it by reflex.

       "Aah." Elias drops the nail and his hand smolders.

       "Iron shackles...iron bars, iron nail. See a pattern? Don't worry." Elena says. "Most creatures we meet can't get it up for iron. It's a common monster problem."

       "So you guys are hunters."

       "Slash Sheriff." Says Dean.
 
       "You know what this son of a bitch did?" Elias asks.

      "Do tell." Dean says.

       "I was married to a woman. Good woman—human. We lived outside of town, didn't bother anyone."

       "Sure, freak with a heart of gold." Says Dean.

       "You want to call me "monster," fine. But all we did was go into town. I go into the bank for five minutes. I come out, she's gone. And then I heard her scream." Elias exhales sharply. "This... man had her pinned in the alley. I go to stop him, he pulls his gun, shoots me, then her. She died in my arms. 'Course, I don't die. The shots brought the Sheriff. Next thing I know, I'm in iron. That's why I want him just where he is—trapped, scared. I saved the best for last."
 
       Dean turns to the Deputy. "Is that true?" He asks.

       "So tell me—are you really willing to die to protect this piece of filth?" Elias asks.

      "Honestly, I could care less about him. He's a dick and a coward." Dean says.

       "Hey!"
  
      "But this ain't about him. I know what you are." Dean says.

       "Really?" Asks Elias.

       "Yeah. So...I got to kill you."

       "Well, if you know what I am, then you know you can't." Elias grabs the Deputy's gun from where his holster hangs on the wall and shoots the Deputy.

       "Wow, I should've seen that coming." Dean jumps through the window and runs from Elias, who is firing at him. Dean runs and hides from Elias.

       "Dean! Elena!" Sam yells.

       "Sam, come on, come on!" Dean yelled

      "Hey, where's Colt?" Elena asks.

       "He's not coming." Sam says.

       "What?!" Dean asks.

       "But he sent this." Sam hands Dean the colt.

       "Ohh. Hello, beautiful."

       "All right." Sam says.

       "Come on." Dean says.

       "Yeah."

BOBBY'S LIVING ROOM
[ ☼ ]

      The timer shows two minutes left. "Are you sure?" Castiel asks Bobby.

      "Well, we can't just strand those idjits in Deadwood, can we?"

      "The risks..." Says Cas.

       "Just... don't explode me."

ROAD
[ ☼ ]

       Dean walks onto the main road. "Get out here, Finch!" He yells. Sam speaks from nearby, around the corner.

      "What are you doing?!" He asks.

       "Come on! Let's do this!" Dean yells.

      "So, this is how you want to die. Fine." Elias walks to the road and faces Dean.

BOBBY'S LIVING ROOM
[ ☼ ]

       Castiel sticks his arm inside of Bobby and siphons off some energy from Bobby's soul. Bobby screams. There is a minute left on the timer.

ROAD
[ ☼ ]

      Dean and Elias wait for the clock to strike twelve and shoot. Dean hits Elias, and Elias dies, shocked. He bursts into flame and leaves behind a pile of ashes.. "Yippee-ki-yay, mother..." Dean starts. Sam notices the clock shows noon.

      "Dean! The ashes!" Sam, Elena and Dean run towards the ashes.

BOBBY'S LIVING ROOM
[ ☼ ]

      Sam, Elena and Dean appear in Bobby's house, Dean's bottle is empty- he did not gather any ashes.

      "You gotta send us back." Dean says.

      "Dean, look at him. He's fried." Elena says.

      "I never want to do that again." Castiel says.

      "Bobby, you—" Dean starts.

       "I'm still kickin', Annie Oakley. Be back good as new in...A decade or two."

       "And we screwed the pooch. Bobby, I'm sorry." Dean says as there is a knock on the door. Sam goes to answer the door. There is a delivery man from "Western Couriers" holding a package.

      "Is there a Sam Winchester here?"

      "Who's asking?" Sam asks.

       "Look, this is nuts—me and a couple guys made a bet. So... this thing's been laying around the office since...ever!? Uh, with a note on it saying to bring it here today. It's from a-a Samuel Colt?"

      "Yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's—that's mine. Great. Thanks." Sam grabs the ashes and closes the door. "Thanks."

      "Yeah."

      Sam opens the package and reads the letter inside. "'Dear Sam, I got this address and date off your thingamajig, and I thought the enclosed might come in handy. Regards, Samuel Colt'." Sam pulls a bottle full of ashes from the package.

      "Is that what I think it is?" Bobby asks.

      "Ashes of a Phoenix. You know what this means?" Dean asks.

      "Yeah, I didn't get a "soulonoscopy" for nothing." Bobby says.

      "Yes. And... it means we take the fight to her."