[Southern Comfort]

Dean was leaning against the Impala checking his phone. Holly was sitting on the hood. Sam walked up carrying a bag of food and two drinks; Nate carried two more drinks.

"Heads up." Sam said, handing Dean a drink before walking to the passenger side.

Nate handed Holly a drink as Dean said, "H and I caught wind of a case on this police scanner. Sounds like our kind of thing."

Sam frowned. "We weren't even gone ten minutes."

"Okay. That matters why?"

"I don't know, Dean. How about because you and Holly haven't said a word to me since Prentiss Island? And now, what? You want me to shut up and ride shotgun and act like nothing happened?"

"You want to talk about Benny? Fine. Let's talk."

"Okay. How about he's a vampire?"

Holly frowned. "He's also the reason we're topside and not roasting on a spit in Purgatory. Anything else?"

Nate looked between them as Sam replied, "Don't pretend I don't get it. I know you two did what you two had to do down there."

"I highly doubt you get anything about Purgatory." Dean retorted.

"But you two are out now, and Benny's still breathing. Why?"

"He's our friend, Sam."

"And what about my friend, Amy? She was what? Cause you sure as hell didn't have a problem ganking her."

Holly frowned. "Don't put me in that. I didn't do it."

Dean shrugged. "Well, I guess people change, don't they? We let that werewolf Kate go, didn't we?"

"She was different." Sam replied. "She--you think Benny's different? He tell you he's not drinking live blood, or something? And you believe him. Wow. Okay. You know, you're right. People do change."

Holly nodded. "Yeah. We got a vampire buddy, and you turn your phone off for a year and leave Nate alone."

"Don't turn this on me."

Dean pursed his lips. "Look, Benny slips up and some other hunter turns his lights out, so be it."

"But it's not gonna be either of you, right?"

"You coming or not?" Dean asked, getting into the car.

Nate looked between the siblings worriedly. He knew there were some serious issues, and he was worried he might have to play middle man.

Dean drove to a house and an ambulance left the driveway as the Impala pulled up and parked on the street outside the house.

Dean, Sam, and Nate were wearing their FBI suits and Holly was wearing her FBI dress.

"So, guy's old lady comes home while he's working underneath his ride, puts the pedal to the metal, and takes half his head off." Dean said.

Sam frowned. "What, that's it?"

"Yeah, in a nutshell. She says she blacked out, doesn't remember a damn thing."

Nate raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like insanity."

"Maybe."

"So how does that make this our kind of thing?" Sam asked.

Holly met her brother's eyes. "Because, Sam, Kevin's in the wind. Nate's coasting. And you're sulking around like a eunuch in a whorehouse, and Dean and I can't help but ask ourselves, when is decapitation not our thing?" She and Dean got out of the car, followed by Sam and Nate.

The four of them walked up to a sheriff's line outside the house and held up their badges.

"Whoa, whoa. FBI?" The deputy asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, happened to be the neighborhood."

"First a Texas Ranger, now you guys?"

"Texas Ranger?" Dean and Holly repeated.

"Yes, sir, ma'am. Right over there." He pointed to Garth, who was interviewing a witness. He was wearing a cowboy had and tasseled leather jacket.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me." Dean and Holly said again.

Garth took off his hat and fanned himself. Dean, Sam, Holly, and Nate walked over to Garth.

"Hey, Chuck Norris." Dean called.

"Sam? Nate? Dean! Holly!" Garth cried.

"Shh." Sam instructed as Garth hugged him. "Forgot he was a hugger."

"Come here!"

"Alright. Okay." Dean said.

Garth hugged Dean, then Nate, then Holly.

"We're still--we're still working here." Dean told Garth.

Garth looked between the siblings. "Uh, you guys have no idea how much I missed you. Pleasure to see you again, Nate."

Holly turned to the witness. "Uh, excuse us, would you?"

Garth nodded. "Yeah, we'll be right back."

Dean, Sam, Garth, Nate, and Holly walked a short distance away from the witness.

Dean frowned. "A Texas Ranger, Garth? Seriously? We're in Missouri."

"What? Come on. I look like a funeral director in one of those." Garth rotested. "Wow. I heard some chatter you three were back in the batter's box, but I didn't believe it til now."

A cell phone played Kris Kross' 'Jump'. Garth opened his jacket to reveal three phones in a row in separate pockets.

"Oh, uh, one sec..." Garth answered one of the phones. "Yo, Earl. What you got? A revenant. Okay, uh, you'll need a casket and some silver spikes. Oh, and don't get bit. No, it won't turn you, but it will hurt like hell. Okay, so, once you got all that, nail that sucker in, bury him, and throw away the key. Okay? Alright. Hasta."

Dean narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"My job, hombre."

"Your job?" Holly repeated.

"Yeah."

"And since when is giving advice your job?" Dean asked.

Sam frowned. "Hold up. Are you the new Bobby?"

"You shut your mouth."

"Yes." Garth replied.

"You shut your mouth! What?"

"Bobby was gone. You three were MIA. Nate had no interest. It was a weird time. Somebody had to step in and take up the slack. Alright. Let's just get back to work, and we'll talk about this later, alright?" Garth said, walking away.

Dean's brow furrowed. "Did Garth just tell us what to do?"

Holly glared, not liking being told what to do by Garth.

After a moment, the four of them followed Garth, who had returned to the witness.

Garth said to the witness, "Uh, Scott Lew. These gentlemen and lady are here with the FBI. Mr. Lew's parents were the individuals involved in this...unfortunate situation."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Holly said.

"Just a few questions, Mr. Lew." Sam stated. "Um, by any chance, were your parents having...marital problems?"

Scott shook his head. "No. Uh, no more than anyone else."

"How about your mother's health?" Nate asked. "Any chance this was a seizure, a stroke, anything that might help explain this?"

"I don't think so. Um, they're checking her out at the, um, hospital right now."

"What about stranger behavior?" Holly wondered.

"Stranger? How?"

Dean gave a tight smile. "Hearing voices, seeing things--your mother mention anything like that?"

"My parents were married for 30 years--high school sweethearts. There's no good explanation for why this happened, no matter where you want to look."

"Okay, well, thank you, Scott." Garth replied. "We'll be in touch."

Sam and Nate walked away while Dean and Holly looked Garth up and down.

Sam then used an EMF meter while on one knee in the covered area where the older Mr. Lew worked on his car. "No EMF. No traces of sulfur anywhere. Like I thought--bust."

"Hold on there, Sam." Garth said. "There's a lot of things to factor in here. Uh, it happened last night, so the readings could be cold by now."

"Good point." Dean and Holly replied.

"And, uh, even if there was any sulfur, Barney Fife and his crew probably contaminated the whole crime scene and any evidence that was here with it."

"Wow. He's on a roll." Nate muttered.

Sam glanced at him. "That's one word for it."

Garth frowned. "Uh, guys, I think I found something." He lifted a foot to see green goo stuck to the bottom of his boot.

Holly stared at it. "Is that gum or is it ectoplasm?"

"Ectoplasm is usually black, right?" Sam remembered.

Garth tasted the green goo. "Mm." Sam, Dean, Nate, and Holly grimaced. "Definitely ectoplasm." Sam, Dean, Holly, and Nate looked at each other. "So, what are we thinking--uh, some kind of ghost, right?"

Dean snapped his fingers as one of Garth's phones rang, playing Kool Moe Dee's 'Wild Wild West' and he answered. "Uh, Ranger McCrae here."

Dean frowned. "One of those rings Hammer, I'm throwing down."

Holly nodded. "Agreed."

"Oh, great." Garth spoke into the phone. "Okay. Okay." He wrote on his palm. "Thanks, Doc." He hung up. "Asked the coroner to drop me a line in case the autopsy turned up anything...unusual. And guess what. Our dead guy had the word 'Alcott'," he showed Sam, Dean, Nate, and Holly his palm where he'd written the word, "carved into his chest."

"With what?" Nate and Sam asked.

"Coroner's best guess? His wife Mary's fingernails."

The five hunters made their way to the hospital, where Mary Lew was. They stood next to Mary Lew's bed, to which she was handcuffed. A sheriff was standing guard outside the room.

"Mrs. Lew, can you tell us what happened?" Sam questioned.

Mrs. Lew looked up at him. "I was at the store getting groceries, and the next thing I know, my son Scott finds me in the driveway. And Chester was..."

"Do you remember anything at all about what happened? Uh...Chester dying?" Nate asked gently.

"Not really. Bits and pieces, I guess."

Garth started giggling. He looked at Sam, Dean, Nate, and Holly and his giggle turned into a cough.

"Such as?" Dean and Holly inquired.

Mary Lew frowned. "I remember his screams...the smell of burning rubber, and...I remember feeling so angry--just uncontrollable rage, like I wasn't myself. And after it was over, all that anger was--just gone."

"Uh, ma'am, does the word 'Alcott' mean anything to you?" Garth wondered.

Mary Lew clenched a fist and tugged against the handcuff. "What does she have to do with anything?"

"It's a she?" Sam asked.

"My husband, Chester, and I were going steady in high school for a few years already when we had a big fight."

"About what?" Holly questioned.

"Something stupid, I'm sure. It was around prom, and so he took Sara Alcott as his date instead of me."

Garth then asked, "So, this Sara Alcott was a rival for your husband's affections?"

"Sara had one night with him, whereas I was with Chester for 37 years." She started crying.

Sam nodded. "Of course, right. Sure. Um, just one more question. Um...is...Ms. Alcott still alive?"

"As far as I know, yes."

"Thank you very much, Mrs. Lew."

The hunters left their way to the hospital and walked towards the Impala. Dean tried to make sense of the situation. "Let me get this straight. This poor guy goes to prom with some girl over 30 years ago, and because of that, he is now a pancake?"

"I mean, if this is a ghost, maybe it's some sort of possession?" Sam guessed.

Holly's brow furrowed. "What are you on about? You heard her. Alcott's alive."

"Well, we're definitely gonna want to talk to her." Garth announced.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan." Dean agreed. "Did we eat yet?"

Holly shook her head. "Don't think so. I could go for food."

Sam, Dean, Nate, Holly, and Garth made their way to a bar to eat. They sat at a table and eventually a waitress brought another plate. "There you go."

Garth looked up at her. "Mmm. Thanks. Keep 'em coming."

"Alright."

Garth spoke with a full mouth. "So, Dean, Holly, give me the skinny. Where were you two this past year?"

Dean had a burger, Holly had fries and a burger, Sam had a chicken salad, and Nate had a plate of wings.

Dean smiled tightly. "Why don't we save what Holly and I did on our summer vacation for another time?"

"Aw, come on." Garth begged lightly.

"Alright. We were in Purgatory."

"Like the Purgatory Purgatory?"

"No, the one in Miami." Dean and Holly retorted.

"Man, that's balls."

Holly narrowed her eyes as Dean said, "That's not how you say "balls"."

"So how'd you two get out?"

Sam and Nate looked at Dean and Holly curiously. Dean and Holly stared at the Confederate flag on the wall before Dean said, "What's up with all the, uh, hillbilly hankies? These people know the Civil War's over, right?"

"Mm. That's a touchy subject around these parts. See, Missouri was a border state. So, half the men were Confederate, the other half were the Union."

Holly nodded. "As a result, Missouri rejected secession, despite being a southern state. All due to its true border state status."

Sam looked between Garth and Holly. "How do you two know all this? Holly, you struggle to read."

Holly looked at Sam. "There's this really cool invention. Videos. You ever heard of 'em, Samuel?"

Sam rolled his eyes as Garth said, "I went to college."

"You went to college?" Sam asked in surprise.

"Yeah. College, and on to dental school."

Dean's eyes widened slightly. "What, you--you were a dentist?"

Garth nodded. "Yeah, just for, like, a hot minute. Where's you think I got my first case?"

"Let me guess--Tooth Fairy."

Garth set down his fork and looked down at the table. "Yeah. Man, I felt terrible when I ganked that SOB."

Nate frowned. "Um, you killed the Tooth Fairy?"

"Yeah, man. I mean, not my proudest moment, but it happened. Mmm. Man, this is good."

A few minutes later, Holly, frowned. "Sirens. Let's go find out."

The five hunters made their way to the convenience store where Jeff's body was covered with a bloodstained sheet. Dean and Sam, dressed in their FBI suits, and Holly, dressed in her FBI dress, walked over to it. Nate had joined Garth.

Dean thought for a moment. "So, first the mom goes "Natural Born Killer", and now the son? Well, what do we got--a ghost with an Oedipus complex?" Sam and Holly looked at him. "I don't know what that means."

"Check that out." Sam said, pointing to the refrigerated cabinet, where "Sussex" was written in blood."

Holly tilted her head. ""Sussex". What's that, another name?"

"I don't know."

Garth, who was donning his Ranger jacket and a baseball cap, and Nate, who was in his FBI suit, finished talking to a sheriff and turned to the siblings.

"Hey, what'd the cops say?" Sam asked.

"Aw, come on." Garth groaned, realizing he'd stepped in green goo. "Not much. Uh, Scott insisted he wasn't in control of himself. Says all he remembers is a red-hot rage."

"So, what is this, some--some kind of family curse?"

"Is that Bobby's hat?" Dean questioned.

Garth nodded. "Oh, yeah. Sure is. We worked a rougarou case together a few years back. He left it in my car, so I kept it as a..." Holly took the cap from Garth's head, "...memento. What are you doing?"

"That's not how you wear it." Holly retorted.

"Gentlemen, ma'am, surveillance is up..." Holly tucked the cap under her jacket, "...but something is all screwy with it."

They watched the security footage of Scott stabbing Jeff with the shovel. Scott's head was obscured by a white line across the screen.

"Must be the camera." The deputy said.

Garth gave a nod. "Yeah, thank you, there, deputy."

Nate pointed to the screen. "You guys see the head? Ever seen something like that before?"

"Like that? No way."

"So?" Sam asked.

"So..." Dean, Holly, and Nate repeated.

"So, I'm thinking we need to talk to Sara Alcott. I found her--although these days, she goes by Sara Brown."

"How about this?" Sam spoke up. "Nate and I will check her out, and you three see what you can find out about Sussex."

Nate nodded. "Works for me."

"Word." Garth replied.

"Awesome." Dean and Holly said.

A pleased look crossed Sam's face as he left.

Sam and Nate made their way to Sara's house, and sat on the porch in chairs. Sara had given them iced tea.

"Mmm." Sam sounded.

Sara looked between Sam and Nate. "Now, I know you didn't actually come all this way for my sweet tea, agents."

Nate shook his head. "No. We're actually here about, um, Chester Lew."

"Oh, yes. So sad."

"It is." Sam replied. "Is it true you and Chester...dated a ways back?"

Sara frowned. "Well, that is an odd question for the FBI isn't it?"

Nate smiled. "You wouldn't believe the awkward questions we've had to ask people."

Sara laughed. "Yeah. Well, yes. Yes. Me and that old tomcat, Chester, we went to prom together. That's about it."

"And that's all?" Sam questioned, sensing more.

"Well, I wasn't exactly a good girl, if that's what you mean. And after that, I-I thought that Chester and I were gonna be hot and heavy. But it just wasn't meant to be. And, uh, a week later, he eloped with Mary."

"Did you speak much to Mary or Chester again after that?"

"Well, I'd see them about, you know--picnics and such. But...Mary kept Chester on a pretty short leash. Honestly, I'd moved on, but it seems she never did."

"And why do you think that is?" Nate asked.

"Well, I guess in her mind, I was a reminder of Chester's betrayal."

"Huh." Sam noted.

"So, if that's all..."

Sam nodded. "Yes, uh, thank you very much for your help."

Sara went inside and Sam and Nate walked away. Sam paused and looked back at the house, remembering when Amelia told him about her husband's death in Afghanistan.

At the motel, Dean, Garth, and Holly were sitting at the table. Garth was reading a journal, Dean was using the laptop while he drank a beer, and Holly was absentmindedly drawing. Garth reached for a beer that was on the table between him and Dean, but Dean prevented him from taking it and handed it to Holly.

"Easy there, flyweight. Last time you drank a beer, I had to pick you up off the floor."

"You're such an idjit." Garth said.

Dean narrowed his eyes. "Idjit's supposed to be used angrily. Okay? Not happy. If you're gonna butcher it, don't say it at all."

"Whoa, then. Okay. N-none of my business, but...this have anything to do with you two and...Sam?"

Holly looked up slightly, glaring at Garth. "You got it right. It's none of your business."

"Okay. It just seems like you guys are a little tense around each other. There doesn't seem to be tension with Nate."

"Listen. We're fine. Can we just get back to work?"

"Yeah. But you're drawing."

Holly turned her notebook. "I'm making notes about this case, trying to figure out what it is."

"Okay." Dean said.

Garth looked between them. "Alright. Just, uh--just letting you two know that I'm here for you, for anything. I know sometimes Bobby, he would--"

"You're not Bobby!" Dean cried. "You're never gonna be Bobby, so stop!"

"Bobby belonged to all of us, Dean--not just you, Sam, Nate, and Holly. Now, I'm just taking what he showed me and trying to do something with it. That's all!"

Holly snapped her sketchbook shut and made her way to one of the beds and sat looking at the wall, her back to Dean and Garth.

Dean glanced at her before his voice took on a softer tone. "Why don't you see if you can find something in that bourbon-drenched book of his so we can get the hell out of Dixie, alright?"

Garth nodded. "Yeah. I'm on it. Is Holly okay?"

"Yeah, she will be. Hey. "Sussex" is not a who, it's a what. It's a business that went belly-up about a year ago. Look at this. H, come here." Dean turned the laptop towards Garth and Holly walked up and stood behind him. There was an article about the bankruptcy of Scott Lew and Jeff Bult's tire company. "So, the guy that Scott brained? His old business partner--ran