wants to stay with Amelia, but ultimately decides to leave and give her the opportunity to reconnect with Don. In the season premiere "We Need to Talk About Kevin", Sam runs into Dean and learns that Dean had just escaped from Purgatory; upon learning about what Sam had been doing the past year, Dean is upset that Sam had not even tried to save him or continued hunting. They find out that Kevin had managed to escape from Crowley six months ago and left Sam a string of desperate voice messages, begging for help. Sam feels guilty and joins Dean in tracking down Kevin, who reveals that he has discovered a passage in the Word of God that would banish all demons from Earth forever. The spell requires three trials be performed by one person. Although Dean tries to do it himself in order to protect Sam from any possible consequence of the trials, Sam ends up completing the first trial (killing a hellhound and bathing in its blood) in "Trial and Error" to protect Dean; he persuades his brother to let him finish the rest by reasoning that Dean would be all-too-willing to sacrifice himself for the trials whereas Sam would fight so that both of them could live. However, taking on the trials quickly begins "damaging" Sam, which worries Dean. After meeting Benny – the vampire who helped Dean escape from Purgatory in exchange for Dean resurrecting him – at the end of "Blood Brother", Sam immediately distrusts him, and asks Martin (a friend of their father's who had previously appeared in Season 5's "Sam, Interrupted") to monitor Benny. Martin contacts Sam in "Citizen Fang" to tell him that he believes Benny killed somebody, bringing the Winchesters to Carencro, Louisiana to help investigate. However, upon receiving an emergency text from Amelia and being unable to get a hold of her, Sam tears back to Kermit. He finds Amelia happily reunited with Don, and realizes that the text had been a trick by Dean to divert him from Benny. Enraged, Sam initially refuses to continue hunting with Dean in the following episode. Castiel – who has been mysteriously rescued from Purgatory – enlists his help in saving the angel Samandriel from being tortured by Crowley, forcing the brothers to reluctantly work together again. When forced by both Dean and Amelia to choose, Sam decides to rejoin his brother and