A little less than an hour later, Sam, Dean and Zoë are sharing a table in Taco Bell, just a milestone away from the boys' motel. All scheduled in some time to trade their business suits for their everyday cloths. Dean is comfortable in his old leather jacket and his worn off jeans, while Sam is dressed a little bit more fancier white shirt. Zoë looks like a totally different person now that she left her black pumps, jacket and trousers in her motel room. She's wearing her hair down, which seems to curl a bit. Her grey shirt looks vintage, 'Born to be wild', it says, as if she drew it on the shirt herself. Her brand new biker jacket hangs over the back of the bench while she plays with the loose tie of her All Stars shoe, wiggling it rhythmically. U2's Beautiful Day is playing over the speakers, ironically yet true, considering the clear blue sky and warm sun outside. It's one of the rare occasions since they've met that they don't argue or actually talk at all. Satisfied they all eat their taco, Zoë as if she's intending to break the world record tailed by Dean. Stunned and a little disgusted, Sam stares at them both, as she finishes her first taco and starts off on the next one. Apparently Zoë doesn't feel the need to hold back now that it's their second lunch together. Dean doesn't even notice her manors as he shares her appetite, he's more annoyed that she's in the lead with almost half a taco. He looks up for a moment as she licks the sauce of her fingers after finishing her second one, then continues eating even faster than he did a moment ago.
"Dude! Seriously, a foodrace?", Sam cries out.
"Wholth?", Dean says with his mouth full.
He swallows his bite, which apparently still contains a big piece of taco shell. He coughs and hits his chest with his fist, Zoë can't help to laugh when she sees tears appear in his eyes.
"What are you? Five?", she grins.
"I wasn't racing you", he muddles.
"Oh, you were so into it", she glares at him smiling. "But you're right. You can't really consider it a race when I'm already far across the finish line".
Obviously enjoying herself she wait for his reaction, as expected he goes for the counter attack.
"I wasn't racing you", he repeats. "Cause if I did, you would be many taco lengths behind, woman".
"That's what's bugging you the most, isn't it? Dean just got defeated by a girl", she nags.
"I can take you with ease", he claims confident.
"You wouldn't stand a chance", she laughs in return.
"Wanna bet?", Dean looks deep into her eyes.
"Knock it off you two", Sam breaks it up and looks from the one to the other. "Now could we concentrate on the case, we all got better things to do".
"I have better things to do, you just have the obsession of helping me", she corrects as she drinks from her milkshake.
Dean chuckles and receives a glare from his younger brother.
"I'm not obsessed", he mumbles.
"Whatever, man", Dean lets out a small burp after finishing his lunch. "But story short, we're dealing with a frustrated kid who kills everyone involved with her death".
"Looks like it", Zoë confirms.
"So, what do we do about it?", he throws the question in the group.
"That's where we have the first problem. I already burned her bones", Zoë blows bubbles through the straw in her milkshake, apparently a little bored.
"She must be connected to some kind of object then, are you sure you burned everything?", Dean checks.
Zoë slightly tilts her head and glares at him insulted, but Sam jumps in line for her.
"We're sure, I was there with her", Sam ensures.
"Nothing more romantic than a night at the graveyard", Dean comments sarcastically.
"Beg pardon?"
Zoë sets down her milkshake and stares from one to the other.
"Never mind", Sam quickly cuts in, giving his brother a look.
With a grin Dean lays back in his chair as Zoë keeps observing them with a confused look upon her face. He decides to continue with the original conversation without wondering off, otherwise Sam might kill him.
"Anyway, the little brat is still around, so we need to figure out what's keeping her here so that we can all go our separate ways and never see each other again", he states with a cynical smile on his face.
"The people who are connected to her death are keeping her here. I don't think she'll rest until she killed every single one of them", Zoë speaks up.
"Or she wants the truth out in the open", Sam considers.
"So, who could be her next target?", Dean wonders.
"It could be anyone, but the biggest candidates for a one way ticket to the land of the dead are probably Mrs. Shire and her son, maybe even Mrs. Dawlson", Zoë realizes.
"Who?", Sam and Dean question at the same time.
"Her teacher at her Elementary School. She knew about the abuse", she informs, sipping her cold drink.
"How do you know that?", Dean likes to know.
"I had a chat with her", she explains simply.
Dean takes her words for granted and doesn't notice that Sam and Zoë's eyes meet. As soon as he sees the look she gives him, he knows she didn't talk to Mrs. Dawlson; she saw it all happen.
"There could be a dozen more possible victims we don't know about", Sam states as he breaks the strange silence.
"True, but to figure that out we need to find more info on what happened to Laura", she declares.
"We already know what happened to her. Her dad abused her till death followed, nothing to add to that", Sam says.
"No, I mean after that", Zoë leans forward and puts her hands together, resting her elbows on the edge of their table. "Don't you think it's a little strange that no one found out about this murder yet? Laura was buried without a conviction, while she obviously did not die a natural death. She must have been a mess, considering what her victims look like", she ponders.
Both boys nod as a sign of agreement, she has a point. Dean rubs his chin as he thinks.
"Dr. Judigtsteyn", he says out of the blue.
"I know that name", Zoë realizes, trying to remember where she heard it before.
"It's the doc from the morgue", he fills in. "He did the slicing on Shire's dead body. I thought he responded weird when Sam mentioned the Hobbiton dude".
"Is the Methodist Medical Center the only dead men's storage in town?", Zoë asks the brightest of the boys.
"Not sure, let me check", Sam takes out his laptop and sets it up on the table.
As he works the computer, Zoë continues their brainstorming session.
"One way or the other, we have to get our hands on Laura's death report and we need to figure out who wrote it. I'm guessing someone covered for Shire", she speaks up.
"Is that actually possible these days?", Sam responds, surprised by her statement.
"You think we're the only ones who lie and deceive?", Zoë returns with a bit of an attitude.
"This dude was a well appreciated doc, right? Maybe he had some influence in higher places", Dean brings to mind.
"Blackmail", his younger brother concludes.
"I'm just saying it's a possibility", Dean admits.
"Mrs. Shire might know more in that case", Sam mentions.
"If it is blackmail, she might, but we can't run off and confront her with it just like that. If she doesn't know, it's just gonna bring a but load of drama and a hell of a lot explaining to do when she starts asking questions", Zoë makes clear.
She forks her fingers through her hair and checks her phone for the time; it's almost 1 PM. She's frustrated about the many blank pages of this case, there's so much what she doesn't get.
"I don't understand why she isn't just gone. There was nothing left of her remains", she sighs.
"There has to be an explanation for that", Sam ponders, as he stares at his screen.
"Got something?", Dean checks when he sees the change in Sam's facial expression.
"No other morgues than the one at the Medical Center on W. Kingshighway", he concludes from the single address on his computer.
"I tell you what", with a neat throw Zoë tosses her empty plastic cup into the garbage can across the aisle. "Sam, you keep an eye on the Shire family, Dean's gonna have a chat with that Judig-what's-his-face, see if you can get some info on that death report. I'm gonna tail that teacher for a while", she decides.
"Sounds good to me", Sam nods approving as he shuts down his computer and gets up.
"Make sure you keep your eyes open, that little pain in the ass manages to beat up grown ups without the people next door noticing", Zoë warns as she picks up her helmet from the bench.
"You think this is our first hunt or something?", Dean responds insulted.
"You didn't saw me comin' the other night in Rochester", she counters smartly.
As she passes him she pets his right shoulder, which she shot only two nights ago. Dean quickly grabs his shoulder as the pain shoots through his arm again. Before he can call her names, she leaves the fastfood restaurant and the door slams in his face.
"Mark my words, one of these days I'm gonna shoot her down", he spits frustrated.
"Yeah, sure you will", Sam responds sarcastically as he puts his laptop in his backpack.
"You can have the car if you drop me off at the hospital. Let's get this over with", the eldest muddles.
Sam chuckles, enjoying the fact that his big brother is being told what to do by a girl, while normally he only takes orders from one person and one person only; his dad. Zoë seems to have a strange effect on both the boys.
"And you know what's the fun part?", Sam nags as they exit Taco Bell.
"What?", Dean says, obviously already annoyed.
They walk up to the car as Dean scans the area in order to spot Zoë's Road King, but she already took off.
"You have to dress like a penguin again", the youngest smiles as he opens the door to the passenger's seat.
His brother stares at him over the top of the car, realizing he's going undercover as the FBI agent Young once more.
"Ah come on! Can't we trade?", he asks desperate.
"No way, dude", Sam laughs and sits down.
Dean does the same and closes his door, but doesn't let his eyes of his brother.
"Ah man, I hate suits!", he cries out as he takes out his shades and puts them on.
"You think I'm comfortable in one during these temperatures?", Sam returns.
"Sam, I don't care if I'm freezing my ass off outside, I will never be at ease in that ridiculous outfit", Dean says annoyed, but then smiles as he turns the ignition and Gimme Three Steps by Lynyrd Skynyrd starts playing on the radio.
"I'm not trading places, I can work some stuff out while I'm guarding the house", Sam explains, looking outside the window, squinting against the sun.
"What stuff?", Dean questions rapidly, making sure it's not just some lame excuse.
Sam looks aside and hesitates for a moment, but then tells him anyway.
"I called some friends of Dad", he admits.
He feels Dean's piercing gaze, but doesn't look up. It's only a matter of seconds before Dean pops the first question.
"Why?", Dean asks stern.
"Why? I don't know 'bout you, Dean, but I wanna find him", Sam returns defensive.
"So do I, but I don't think it's wise to start calling random hunters to ask where he is, Sam", Dean lets him know.
"Why not?", he cries out.
"Cause Dad doesn't want to be found!", the oldest of the two brothers states.
"How could you possibly know that, Dean! Seriously, do you have some kind of telepathic connection with the guy or what?", Sam overreacts.
"Hey, you're the psychic one, not me", Dean bounces back. "If Dad wants us involved in this hunt, he will contact us one way or the other, you know that".
"No, I don't. I haven't heard a word from him since I left for Stanford. I don't understand the blind faith you have in the man", Sam argues.
"You were the one who left, Sammy, and let me tell you something", Dean pauses to enforce his words. "I trust him because he's good at what he does".
"He's human, he makes mistakes just as anyone else and this time you won't be around to back him up. This isn't some demon that he's hunting, this is THE demon, the demon that killed Mom, that killed Jess", the youngest rambles.
"You think I don't realize that, Sam? Of course I'd rather be backing him up right now, but he decided to do this alone and I respect that. That's what a son is suppose to do, he should respect his father".
Dean stares deep into Sam's eyes, the same way as John can when he makes his point. Sam grinds and looks away, there's no way he can turn Dean's mind around. He doesn't get him, he just doesn't. Dean drags him out of school to find his Dad and now that it's coming down to that moment, he doesn't want to go out looking for him. He's so sick of this 'pick up where he left off' crap, he just wants to find his Dad. It's all he can think off. Finding Dad and hunt down the bastard that killed Mom and Jessica. Scream, shout! Just say the damn words out loud! But he won't, it's no use. Just as it is with Dad, it's impossible to go against Dean. Sam huffs, and Dean claims HE is like his old man. Without saying another word, Dean drives his Impala to their motel, convinced he made his point. But Sam isn't going to let go, neither will he trade places with Dean on their jobs. During his hours of watching the Shire family, he's gonna make those calls and he is going to find their Dad, rather Dean likes it, or not.