21; Why Are We Here?

After driving for most of the day, only making stops for bathroom breaks and to fill up, the group arrived in Fitchburg, Wisconsin sooner than they planned.

Dean turned on to the main street, making his way through the small town. He saw Mackenzie turn onto the street minutes after him. Seeing a diner up ahead, he pulled off of the road and parked the car across from the building.

As he stepped out of the car with Sam; Mackenzie parked the Jeep behind the car and stepped out. She saw Quinn push the passenger side door open and jump out as she released her long hair from the messy bun and ran a hand through her hair- lightly rubbing her scalp, hoping for some relief from the headache that hit her earlier.

"So, do we know why we were sent here yet?" Mackenzie walked over toward the brothers, with Quinn walking along behind her.

"I was just talking to Dean about that," Sam answered. "I've looked at newspapers, police reports, and everything, but can't find anything strange going on in this town."

"Maybe the coordinates are wrong?" Quinn suggested.

Dean scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I know how to read a set of coordinates."

"I was just asking." Quinn held up her hands in surrender- not wanting to set him off. She wasn't looking to go another round with him.

Mackenzie shot Dean a quick look, warning him not to start. "If there's nothing going on here, what should we do?"

"There is something here," Dean stated. "If Dad sent us here, something is going on. We just have to find it."

"Maybe it wasn't really from your dad, maybe it's a trick or something," Mackenzie argued.

"Look it was from Dad and we're staying," Dean angrily said.

"But there's nothing here, Dean," Sam pointed out, siding with Mackenzie.

"Well, maybe he's going to meet us here or something. I don't know!" Dean snapped, getting annoyed. He didn't know what was bugging him more; that neither of them thought something was there or that they were siding together against him.

"Yeah. 'Cause he's been so easy to find up to this point," Sam sarcastically said.

"You're a real smart ass, you know that?" Dean said to his brother. Turning his attention to the group, he added, "Don't worry, I'm sure there's something worth killing here."

"Okay, Mr. Know-it-all, what should we do then?" Mackenzie folded her arms across her chest and shot Dean an annoyed look.

"Fan out, ask around, research. The usual." Dean moved his arms to gesture around the main street at all the businesses and the few people who were walking around.

Dropping her arms, Mackenzie released a sigh. "Okay, I guess Quinn and I will start at the library."

"I'll ask around at some of the stores," Sam added.

"Good." Dean nodded, glad they were finally getting on board. He pointed to the diner behind him and said, "But first I'll run inside the diner and grab us all some coffee. I have a feeling we'll need a lot of it."

He had only taken a few steps when he heard Quinn call out his name. He turned to see what she wanted and saw her take a step toward him. "Is it okay if I come with you? I need to use the restroom."

Dean shrugged. "Yeah, whatever, come on."

Mackenzie watched her sister and Dean walk across the street toward the diner, then turned around to lean back against the Impala. She folded her arms across her chest as her attention was on the playground in front of her.

She saw Sam leaning against the car beside her from the corner of her eye, but didn't turn to look at him until she heard him clear his throat before speaking.

"So how are you doing, Kenzie?"

Mackenzie turned her head to look at him, a slight breeze blowing some hair in her face. She brushed it behind her ear and said, "I'm okay, Sam, how are you?"

"Good," Sam said. He paused for a moment, wondering if he should say something or not- in the end, he decided to just go for it and hope to get some answers from her. "The reason I asked is because, I, um, I know."

"You know what?" She lowered her eyebrows in confusion.

"About you and Dean...about your past I mean," he said.

"So he finally told you, huh?" She turned her head to avoid looking at him and watched a little girl play on a jungle gym.

"Yeah," he slowly said. "There's just one thing I can't figure out...why are you so mad at him?"

"If he told you what happened, then you should know, Sam," she snapped, then instantly regretted it. She didn't mean to take it out on him, she just wasn't in the mood to bring up the past- that was one road to memory lane she did not want to take.

"Well I know his side of the story," he stated. Giving her a look, he waited until she finally turned her head to look at him. "But what's your side of it?"

Blowing out a breath, she turned her head to look at the small play area as she debated on if she should open up to him or not. In the months that she had hunted with them, she had grown close to Sam, but at the end of the day Dean was his brother and she would hate to pull him into the middle of anything- even if he was the one asking.

In her opinion some people wanted the truth until they heard it- then most had no idea what to do with it. Plus, she couldn't deny that the selfish side of her was worried he would side with Dean and then she would lose a really good friend.

For a moment Sam thought she was going to tell him her side of the story, but instead, he saw her watching a little girl playing by herself with a confused look on her face. He was about to ask her what was wrong, but before he could she spoke up to ask him a question.

"Hey, Sam, what time is it?"

Glancing at his watch, he answered, "Ten after four. Why?" He couldn't help but wonder if this was her way of changing the subject or if she was just seeing something that he wasn't.

"Notice anything strange?" She nodded her head toward the playground.

Looking over at the small play area, he was confused for a moment- wondering where she was going with this until he finally understood.

"School's out, isn't it?" he wondered out loud.

"Yeah. So where is everybody?" She questioned. "This place should be crawling with kids right now."

"Come on." Sam lightly grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the playground. Seeing a lone woman sitting on a bench, they walked over toward her, making it seem like they were just on a casual stroll through town.

Sitting down beside the woman on the bench, Mackenzie gave her a dimpled smile and called out a friendly greeting. Nodding toward the little girl playing, she added, "Cute kid."

"Thank you," the woman said back with a smile of her own. Looking at the young couple, she asked, "Do you two have any kids?"

"Uh, no. No kids." Sam chuckled as he stood beside the bench.

"Well, he means, not yet," Mackenzie lied as she laid a hand on her stomach. She glanced up at Sam, trying not to laugh out loud at the wide-eyed look he was giving her. He couldn't believe she just said that. He knew they played different roles all the time to gain information, but he never saw that coming.

"Aw, that's great! Congratulates!" the woman exclaimed.

"Thank you!" Mackenzie said back. Playing the part, she added, "We're very excited. First baby and all, you know?"

"I remember how that felt." The woman smiled. "Did you two just move here?"

"We're thinking about moving here. At the moment we're just exploring," Mackenzie answered. Looking at Sam again, she grinned. "Right, honey?"

Sam shook his head and fought back a smile at her antics. Clearing his throat, he said, "Right, sweetie."

Flashing him a quick wink, she turned back toward the woman, getting to the real reason they were there. She nodded toward the play area. "It's kind of quiet out here."

"Yeah, it's a shame." The woman frowned.

"Why's that?" Sam questioned.

"You know, kids getting sick, it's a terrible thing," she answered.

"How many?" Sam cut his eyes over to Mackenzie, both of them wondering if maybe this was why they were sent here.

"Just five or six but serious, hospital serious," she explained. "A lot of parents are getting pretty anxious. They think it's catching."

"That's terrible," Mackenzie mumbled in concern.

"Yes, it really is," she said.

"Well, thanks for the chat, but me and my, uh, new husband should get going," Mackenzie lied as she stood up from the bench. "We wanted to look around some more before it got too late," she added to sell the story.

"I hope you two love the place, despite what's going on right now, this is a nice town," the woman said honestly.

"Thanks." Sam nodded as he grabbed Mackenzie's arm and pulled her back toward the car. Coming to a stop beside the Impala, he looked at her. "Well, I guess we found something strange."

"Yeah, but the question is what? What is going on in this town?" Mackenzie questioned.

"I don't know, but I say we go grab Dean and Quinn to update them, then start researching what could be making these kids sick," Sam suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." She turned to cross the street- her eyes on the small brick building her sister and Dean went into earlier.

"Hey, I got a question," he said as he began to walk along beside her. "What was that back there?"

"Why, whatever do you mean, Sammy?" she asked innocently. Turning her head to look at him and seeing the bored look he was giving her, she let out a laugh. "I dunno. I figured we needed to make up something, couldn't really come out and tell her who we really are."

"True, but did we have to be married with a baby on the way?" he joked.

"It's the first thing that popped in my head!" She laughed, then gave him a quick look. "Plus, I never had the opportunity to act and be in different school plays like a normal kid...so why not?"

Sam nodded his head in understanding. He had a feeling there was probably a lot she missed out on growing up. While most kids were doing homework, she was researching; while most girls had sleepovers and gossiped about boys, she was locked up in motel rooms alone.

He and Dean didn't have it much better, but there were times of normalcy- there were times John left them in care of someone he trusted and they were able to enroll in the local school. Even he got to act in a play once, but he wasn't going to tell her about that- he would rather leave that hiding in his past.

"Well, if someone had to be my first wife, I'm glad it was you," he joked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Thanks, baby daddy," she teased with a wink as she leaned against him- the two had a good laugh as they approached the diner.

•••

After opening the door to the diner earlier, Dean walked in first with Quinn walking in behind him. They stood still for a moment to glance around- taking in their surroundings and the diner decor. Straight ahead was a long counter where a couple of old-timers were enjoying a cup of coffee.

On their left were several booths against a huge window and a few tables set out in the middle of the room. Most of the tables were empty except for a young couple who looked like they were on a date and a family of four enjoying an early dinner.

Nodding toward the counter, Dean said, "I'm gonna question the waitress."

Spying a young boy cleaning a table, Quinn offered, "I can go ask him if he noticed anything strange."

Dean turned his head to look at her- for a moment she thought he was going to tell her to mind her business and not get involved. She knew he didn't trust her or wanted her there, but he surprised her when he gave her a short nod before he walked over to the counter. There were no words spoken, but that nod was better than nothing, she thought.

After questioning the high school aged busboy, Quinn made her way over to Dean. Coming to a stop beside him, she blew out a breath. "Well, that was pointless."

"Nothing, huh?" Dean questioned.

"Nope." She shook her head. "He spent the whole time staring at the goods and stuttering." She motioned toward her chest.

He shook his head, a slight chuckle escaped his lips. Glancing over at the teenager, he said, "I doubt he has seen anything anyways. If a set of knockers sends him into a panic, he would never recover if he came face to face with something that goes bump in the night."

"True." She nodded, then leaned against the counter beside him. "Did you have better luck?"

"Well...the waitress thinks the local freemasons are up to something sneaky but other than that no one's heard about anything freaky going on." He tapped his fingers against the countertop in annoyance. He knew there had to be something there- his dad wouldn't have sent him there if there wasn't, but so far they were coming up short on something to hunt.

"Great. Guess we're still on a search then." She sighed, seeing him nod. Pushing away from the counter, she took a step back. "But first, I need that bathroom break."

Quinn didn't wait for him to say anything back in response, mostly because she assumed he wasn't really paying attention to what she had to say. Making her way toward the back of the diner, she went into the woman's restroom.

Afterward, she flushed the toilet, then exited the stall to walk over to the sink to wash her hands. With her head down, she lathered her hands with soap then rinsed the soap off with warm water.

Shutting the water off, she raised her head to look in the mirror and felt her eyes widen when she saw a familiar man standing behind her- his eyes flashing black for a moment before going back to their usual light brown hue.

"Raymond," Quinn breathed out as she spun around to face him. After a quick glance around, she turned back to look at him- a worried look on her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Why do you think?" He took a step toward her, causing her to take a step back, her back hitting the sink.

"It's good to see you again, Quinn." He laid his hands on her hips and pulled her toward him, her chest flushed against his. Flashing her a smug smile, he added, "Damn good to see you."

•••

A/N; Thank you to everyone reading and/or adding the story. Also big thanks to Winchestergirl5, Demon2Angel, Deangirl93, adaddario, BlackBloodRose64, Coffee to go, Sage Londyn, gaarsaku4ever and deanstheman for reviewing.

Happy reading!
xx