AN: First off, I need to apologize for an error in chapter one... the year little Mary Jess was born was 2008, not 2007 - thanks for the catch IritIlan, I appreciate it! Secondly, I need to apologize that this one isn't as long as yesterday's... I just hope you still like it. Take care!

What should have taken twenty four hours took closer to three days because of a late winter storm that had brought enough ice to close parts of the interstate until it passed and allowed for some minor cleanup. The Impala had been left at the rectory with Pastor Jim and both Winchester men were currently in John's truck, both thankful for the four wheeled drive option as they made their way along the road after crossing the Canadian border into Maine. Neither spoke as the weight of what they were walking into sat heavy upon their shoulders. It had taken less than five minutes for Dean to have gone from a dead sleep to alert, dressed, packed, and ready to go after his dad had told him of the striga. John had to admit that he was proud of how serious his son was taking this, and he hoped that this time they could actually stop the creature from escaping.

Dean looked at the information Pastor Jim had given them and was beginning to have it all memorized as often as he'd read it. He was making this case personal, a definite no-no in their line of work, but after what almost happened to his little brother so many years ago, he couldn't help it. Sammy. That was someone he couldn't stop thinking about, especially not knowing what happened to make him disappear like that. What pissed him off still about the whole situation was that it had taken their dad almost a full year to return to Stanford to check on Sammy, only for them to find an impenetrable wall that didn't allow them any information except the knowledge that he was still alive – somewhere.

"We're almost to Greenville, who's the person of contact?" John asked, as he tried to ignore the anxiousness he was feeling. He didn't know if this was the same striga as before, but if he had anything to say about it, it wouldn't matter – it would be dead soon.

Looking at the papers, Dean already knew the name of the doctor, but he didn't want his dad thinking he was getting jumpy. "Dr. Dean Marshall is the person who notified the CDC, hoping to get an idea of what he was dealing with. Jim didn't give us a lot of information, just that there are six kids affected at the moment age range between two and eight."

"Two?" John asked shocked. "That's unusual. Normally a striga will attack school age kids… easier to hide that something besides a normal childhood illness is occurring."

"Yeah, but that's what's listed. A two year old little girl was admitted. Huh… get this… she was being seen for what seemed to be a chest cold before the hospital admitted her. Do you think they were just being cautious, or…"

"…was there another reason? I don't know, but it might be significant. When was she admitted?"

Sighing, Dean already knew the information but it didn't make it easier to say – he really hated when it was kids. "Close to four days ago. Looks like she was the last one that Jim listed here."

Six kids at least had already fallen prey to this abomination, and it didn't set well with either of them.

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Sam sat and watched as each labored breath occurred within his baby girl's body. He was taking each movement as a gift and nothing was going to distract him from it. Ignoring everyone else around him, he concentrated his energy to willing Mary Jess to stay with him, even as he sensed the sympathetic looks turned his way as if he was in denial about her fate. He had been told yesterday that do to her initial health problems to begin with, her prognosis was slipping by the second – the epidemic was running through her body faster than it had the other children before her, leading them to believe that it was only a matter of time before she lost her fight.

"Excuse me, Mr. Winchester… I'm sorry to disturb you, but I need to check on little MJ." An aide stammered quietly as she entered the room. It had become common knowledge that the man before her didn't take too well to interruptions, especially if it wasn't from someone who had news about his daughter.

Glancing up, Sam recognized the young woman as one of the remaining personnel today who was willing to brave him to check up on his little girl. After he growled at the last person who came in with that pitying look, the others took the hint that if they weren't there to help then they needed to stay away. Only Anna made a point to come in occasionally and assess the vital signs before simply leaving quietly – for that he'd be eternally grateful.

Anna looked at the equipment surrounding the little girl and wished that it had better news to tell her. It was obvious that the small child wasn't doing well at all and she could only hope that someone figured out some way of helping all the children soon before another one died. Four more had been admitted in the last couple of days, all with the same symptoms, and all looking as if they would follow three of the previous children. Sighing, she was about to leave the room before she turned towards little Mary's dad.

"Mr. Winchester, I just wanted to let you know that there are a couple of men from the CDC here. They're looking into what's going on and I'm sure they'll be able to figure it out."

Nodding, Sam didn't look over his shoulder, he just continued to watch little Mary Jess' body fight hard to stay alive, and he wasn't going to ignore that – everything else could be dealt with later.

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Dr. Marshall looked at the two men before him and wondered just what was going on. Neither one looked like any CDC official he'd ever met before, and that was enough to make him wary. However, as they continued to discuss the illness that seemed to be racing through the small town's children, it became obvious that these men were really there to help and not get some thrill of snooping around.

"Has there been any pattern to the kids affected?" John asked while writing notes in a small notebook.

Shaking his head, Dr. Marshall sighed. "We now have three children dead, one in critical condition, two in severe condition, and four more who have been admitted in the last couple of days. All in school and in relatively good health except one, a two year old little girl who's now in critical condition and honestly… we have no idea how she's survived this long." Seeing the puzzled looks on the men's faces he shrugged slightly. "Apparently she was born two months premature which lead to problems with her lungs and heart, causing frequent illnesses as she's grown. Her father brought her in with what was initially thought to be just the beginnings of a chest infection but she hadn't been here twelve hours before it was a fight for her life. While the other children would go about a week before their condition worsened, she's been here four days and like I said, we're expecting her to be the next casualty."

Nodding sadly, Dean wasn't sure what to say. They had a job to do, but it always seemed harder when it was a kid… and a sick one too – damn it! "Uh… we'll need to talk to all the parents. Maybe they can help us figure out if they all had someplace in common. A lot of times people don't remember a place until they start talking about their routines."

"Of course. Several of the parents are taking a break in the café downstairs if you wanted to talk to them away from the rooms."

"Before we do that though, we'll need a list of children affected as well as their contact information. Although we don't want to disturb those who are already mourning, they might have information we need without realizing it." John said as he watched the doctor begin to reach for a file on his desk. Impressed that the man had anticipated his query, he was about say something about not being used to helpful people when the doctor paused.

Dr. Marshall knew that these men were there to help, but he had to warn them – it wouldn't be fair not to. "Mr. Page, Mr. Osborne, I need to advise you to take special care with the little girl I mentioned. Her father doesn't do well with people uh… 'poking their noses around and not helping the situation' as he says. Apparently it's just been the two of them for quite awhile, and while that wouldn't seem to be anything to worry over, he has already knocked out one of our security staff and threatened to call the cops himself if anyone tried to remove him from her side again." Sighing, he had to agree with their shock. "One of the nurses tried to bully him into leaving while she tended to the toddler. When he refused, she misinterpreted it as him having an inappropriate attachment to the girl and called security. Instead of finding out what was going on, he took the call at face value and tried to subdue the man only to wake up on the floor after everything had been settled."

"Excuse me… but why did the nurse assume that something 'inappropriate' was going on?" Dean asked. He knew that there were times that doctors and nurses had tried to make a mountain out of a molehill when he was a kid, but if this man was really doing anything to his little girl, then they needed to have a discussion – mainly Dean's fist with the man's face.

"Well, you have to understand. We're a small town, and the nurse came to us from New Jersey's Protective Services. I don't know how many times she's thought someone was doing something they shouldn't. I guess if you've seen it enough times, you start to see it everywhere." Dr. Marshall said wryly.

John looked at the man closely. "So there's nothing to her claim?" he asked. He wanted to be sure that they weren't about to make a kid's life into even more of a living hell.

Laughing, Dr. Marshall shook his head. "Oh God no! Trust me… when you actually see them together, you'll understand."

Both John and Dean left the doctor's private office and were halfway down the hall when John stopped reading the list and in fact stopped dead in his tracks.

"Dad? Hey… Dad! What the hell's wrong with you?" Dean whispered harshly. Normally he wouldn't question his dad this way… hell, who was he kidding, he wouldn't question the man at all… but they were supposed to be acting like they knew what they were doing, not like some bumbling amateur who was about to get caught red handed.

"Help me find room 212." John said brusquely as he walked briskly down the hall, looking at the door numbers along the way. It had to be a mistake… there was no other explanation for it.

Dean's slight whistle turned him down a small alcove that housed two rooms out of the way. Taking a deep breath, he pushed past his oldest son who was silently demanding answers, and walked into the room.

The room was darkened which only brought the focus of the area to the small body on the bed attached to wires, tubes, and equipment that helped her to breathe. At least John hoped it was just to help the small body breathe and not actually doing all the work itself. The figure sitting next to the bed didn't acknowledge his entrance, just continued to stay facing away from the door, watching the person on the bed. The sound of a heavy sigh made him realize that the man was more aware than what he thought.

"She's the same Anna, and no… I don't need anything. Thank you." Sam said wearily. He was getting tired of meaningless interruptions and wished that they would all get the hint.

"It's not Anna, Sam." John said brusquely and watched as the man sitting in front of him tensed before slowly turning his way, his shock quickly giving way to horror.

"No… no… you can't be here. If you're here then… oh GOD! Get out!" Sam demanded, barely registering his brother standing next to his father. All he knew was that if they were there then this wasn't some natural occurrence; that this was something supernatural and it was after his baby girl. "You heard me… get out!"

The shocked look on John and Dean's faces turned to absolute fear when the alarm on the monitor started to wail, causing Sam to yell for help while pulling the little girl into his arms.

Dr. Marshall ran into the room with nurses by his side and quickly took little Mary from her father. He barely noticed that the two CDC guys pulled Sam out into the hallway, his focus only on bringing the little girl back to them and her daddy.

The hallway wasn't that large, but it was enough for Sam to pace back and forth as he listened to the doctor try to get his baby's heart started again. Each jolt that he heard made him jerk in response until he finally heard the rhythm of Mary Jess' heartbeat on the monitor inside the room. Sighing, he slumped with relief before turning to the two men he'd never thought he'd see again.

"So what is it really? Did you bring it with you, or did it just happen to be my lucky day?" Sam asked sarcastically.

"Hey!" Dean called out, stepping close to his brother. "That's uncalled for. We didn't know you were here to begin with, and if you think for one second…"

"You know what… I don't think I care! You made it clear how you felt, so deal with it… just leave me and Mary Jess out whatever it is you're here for." Sam said as he turned to go back inside. "I don't want to know… I have enough to deal with, just leave."

Dean was about to say something else but he was stopped by John. Turning in outrage, he was about to blast his dad when John shook his head.

"Not right now. We have a job to do… everything else can wait."

Knowing his dad was right, Dean gave Sam one last look before he followed to find the café in an effort to get more information.