A/N: Revised 4/17/15

From Richardson, Texas to Fitchburg, Wisconsin it is about a fifteen hour drive. Sam had been sprawled out in the backseat, passed out. It was a little after 2AM when Dean pulled onto the shoulder of the road, turning down the radio.

"Hey Jen? You wanna drive for a while? I'm beat."

"Sure." I scooted to the driver's side and Dean walked around the car. As soon as he was in I sped off.

"Take it easy there tiger."

I looked over at him, raised my eyebrows and just turned up the radio, a little CCR was blasting out of the speaker. He just shook his head, crossed his arms, leaned against the window and fell asleep. The roads were fairly clear so I was able to keep the gas pedal to the floor. Right as the sun was rising in the east Dean stirred.

"Hmm..." He stretched, "The hell are we?"

"Just about to cross into Illinois." I said as I rubbed my eyes. "Have about eight hours left."

"K..., " He reached into the back seat and shoved Sam's leg, "Get up, we have calls to make."

Dean then turned to me, "You want me to drive?"

"No, I'm good."

Sam sat up in the back and grabbed his phone and started making calls. Dean watched the road in front of him. A few hours later Sam hung up from his last phone call. "Guys we got nothing."

Dean shook his head, "Yeah. You probably missed something, that's what."

"Dude, I ran LexisNexis, local police reports, newspapers, I couldn't find a single red flag. Are you sure you got the town name is right?"

"Yeah, I double checked. It's Fitchburg, Wisconsin. Dad wouldn't have sent us anything if it wasn't important Sammy."

Sam was getting frustrated, "Well I'm telling you I looked and all I could find was a big steamy pile of nothing. If Dad's sending us hunting for something I don't know what."

"Well maybe he's going to meet us there."

"Yeah. Cause he's been so easy to find up to this point."

I was frustrated, "Hey boys! Sam you are a real smart ass you know? Dean, I am sure there is something worth killing there if your dad sent us that."

They both quieted. Then Sam mumbled at Dean, "I don't know what makes you so sure about all of this."

"Cause I am the oldest, which means I'm always right."

"What? No it doesn't."

"I gotta agree with Dean on this one. The oldest always knows what's what."

Dean smirked and then held out his fist which I bumped. I drove the Impala past a sign that said 'Welcome to Fitchburg'.

"Well, here we are." I parked the Impala on the main street. Dean hopped out.

"I'm gonna grab us some coffee." He said as he started across the street. I leaned back against the car and looked around. It was chilly out, but for early December it wasn't bad. Snow littered the ground in patches but not piles. Something was definitely wrong, the town was small but not small enough to have this few of people running around. Dean was coming back across the street and handed us each a coffee, "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. Coffee alright?"

I nodded.

"Hey, either of you two got the time?" Sam asked.

Dean looked down at his watch, "Ten after four. Why?"

I pointed at a playground down the street a little, only one little boy was playing, "Awful quiet around here for mid-afternoon? I know it is a two goat town but..."

Dean thought for a moment, "Yeah, school should be out?"

Sam nodded and walked up the street. Me and Dean stay by the car and watch him approach a women on a bench. She was probably the boy's mother. He sat and talked with him.

"What do you think is going on here?" I asked.

Dean kicked the ground with the toe of his boot. "I don't know yet, but you were right earlier about Dad sending us here. He wouldn't have done that unless there was something going on here."

After a while Sam came back over, "She said that kid's have been getting sick for a few weeks. Like incurable sick. She said like five or six."

"Alrighty then, " I said, "Let's get to the hospital."

Dean drove us to Dane County Memorial hospital. We changed into suits and then walked into the reception desk. Dean reached into his pocket and flipped out a business card that he showed me, I sniggered. He smiled and handed it to Sam, who immediately panicked, "Dude. Dude I am NOT using this ID."

I tried not to smirk and failed, "Why not Sam?"

"Why not? Smartass. Cause it says bikini inspector on it!"

Dean jerked his head toward the receptionist, "Don't worry she won't look that close all right?

Hell, she won't even ask to see it. It's all about confidence Sammy."

He spun Sam around and pushed him to the desk. The receptionist looks up and Sam smiles awkwardly, "Hi...hi I'm Doctor Jerry Caplin, Centers for Disease Control. "

"Can I see some ID?" Dean looked over at me and I had to bite down on my tongue to keep from busting out laughing. Sam turned and gave us a dirty look, Dean cleared his throat and shrugged. Sam quickly flashed the ID, holding his thumb over part of it, "Now could you direct me to the pediatrics ward please?"

"Okay well, just go down that hall, turn left and up the stairs." Sam turns and has a major bitchface going. Me and Dean are grinning and Sam pushes past both of us. "Follow me. It's upstairs."

Me and Dean lose it in the stairwell, "You two need to grow up."

We reach the upper floor and walk down the hall. Dean grabs my shoulder and points. In the room he is pointing at is an awful looking old lady sitting in a wheelchair. There is an inverted cross hanging on the wall. I look up over my shoulder at Dean and he makes an 'I got nothing' face.

"Guys!" Sam yells over his shoulder. We ask around until we find the chief of staff for the pediatrics, a Dr. Heidecker.

"Thanks for seeing us doc." Dean is all in professional mode. We all introduced ourselves.

Heidecker nodded, "Well I'm glad you guys are here. I was just about to call CDC myself. How'd you find out anyways?"

Dean looked over at us and then back at the doc, "Oh some GP, I forget his name, he called Atlanta and, uh, he must've beat you to the punch."

Sam stepped in before this got away from Dean, "So you have six cases so far?"

"Yeah, five weeks. At first we thought it was garden variety bacterial pneumonia. Not that newsworthy. But now..."

"The kids aren't responding to treatments." I finished.

The doc looked at a loss, "The kids aren't responding to antibiotics. Their white cell counts keep going down. Their immune systems just aren't doing their job. It's like their bodies are ... wearing out."

"You ever see anything like this before?" Sam asks.

"Never this severe." A nurse comes over and gets Heidecker to sign some paperwork, "And the way it spreads...that's a new one for me." She adds.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

She looks up, "It works its way through families. But only the children, one sibling after another."

Dean nodded, "You mind if we interview a few of the kids?"

"Oh, they're not conscious." she replies. Sam is taken aback, "None of them?"

"Nope."

That is a new one for me. "Can we talk to any of the parents then?" I ask. Heidecker shrugs, "Well, if you think it'll help."

"Yes, who was the most recent?"

"That would be Mary and Bethany Jackson. I will go and get their parents for you guys."

I turned to the boys, "What the hell?"

"I'm at a loss." Sam said. Dean was just standing there, I could see that he was thinking about something but he wasn't sharing. Dr. Heidecker walked back with a man that looked like he hadn't slept in days.

"Mr. Jackson, these are Dr. Caplin and Roth from the CDC, they are investigators." He turned to me momentarily, "I'm sorry I forgot what you do."

I reach out my hand to Mr. Jackson, "I am Dr. Jones, I am a specialist in pulmonary bacteria and viruses."

He nods and Heidecker leaves us with him, "I should get back to my girls."

Sam puts on the puppy dog , concerned face, "We understand that, and we really appreciate you talking to us. Now you say Mary is the oldest?"

"Thirteen."

"Ok. And she came down with it first, right? And then..."

Mr. Jackson nodded, "Bethany, the next night."

"They got sick within twenty-four hours of each other?" I asked

"I guess. Look, I, uh, I already went through all this with the doctor."

Dean nodded, "Yeah, just a few more questions if you don't mind. How do you think they caught pneumonia? Were they out in the cold, anything like that?"

"No. We think it was an open window."

"Both times?" Dean looked surprised.

"The first time, I, I don't really remember but the second time for sure. And I know I closed it before I put Bethany to bed."

"Did she open it up then?" I inquired.

"It's a second story window with a ledge. No one else could've."

I smiled, "Thank you for your time Mr. Jackson."

We turn and walk back down the hall. Dean smiles.

"Hi, I'm doctor fancy pants specialist," He mocks my voice.

"Alright there Dr. Roth. It worked, plus everyone brings their A-game when they think they are being watched by someone competent."

"You know this might not be anything supernatural. It might just be pneumonia. " Sam says.

Dean shakes his head, "Maybe. Or maybe something opened that window. I don't know man, look, Dad sent us down here for a reason. I think we might be barking up the right tree."

"You know boys, I bet that house is going to be empty for a while. Doesn't look like either of the parents are in a hurry to leave."

It wasn't even a challenge to break into the house, the window in their kitchen wasn't latched. We were in the girls' bedroom, going over every corner with the EMF.

"Either of you got anything?" Sam asks.

"Nada." I answer. Dean just shakes his head. I put my EMF away and start going all detective on the room. If there is no EMF that rules out spirit, demon and the like. So that meant it had to be some sort of monster or spell. In that case there had to be something left behind. I started by searching the edges of the room until I got to the window. I snap my fingers, "Hey guys. You need to see this."

Right on the ledge of the window was a rotted hand print, "Looks like you were right Dean."

Sam looks confused, "What in the hell leaves a handprint that rots out wood?"

I look over at Dean, he looks like he is going to be sick, "I know why Dad sent us here. He's faced this thing before. He wants us to finish the job."

"What is it?" I ask.

Dean swallowed hard, "It is a shtriga."

We pull up to a motel office and we all pile out,

"So what the hell is a shtriga?" Sam asks. Dean just kinda shrugs his shoulders, "It's ... kinda like a witch I think. I don't know much about 'em."

Sam's voice begins to raise, "Well I've never heard of it. And it's not in Dad's journal. "

"Dad hunted one in Fort Douglas, Wisconsin, about sixteen, seventeen years ago. You were there. You don't remember?"

"No"

"And I guess he caught wind of the things in Fitchburg now and kicked us the town."

I grab Dean and turn him around, "So this shtriga, your dad hunted one before?"

"Yeah, maybe..."

Sam is getting even more frustrated, "But if Dad went after it why is it still breathing air?"

Dean becomes more animated, huffy, "Cause it got away."

Sam scoffs, "Got away?"

Dean is getting pissed, I turn to Sam, "Back off for a second Sam."

Sam ignored me, "What do you remember?"

"Nothin'. I was a kid all right?" Dean said a little too defensive. We leave Sam standing at the car, "Dean? What is up?"

He shook his head, "Not now..." He turns to the boy behind the counter, "Two rooms please."

The boy who is like twelve, looks up boredly from the game he is playing, "A king or two queens?"

Dean glances outside at Sam who is still pouting, "Whatever she wants and two queens..."

"Yeah I'll bet." The boy says under his breath. Damn. Little smartass.

Dean turned to the boy, "What'd you say?" he was in no mood for that shit.

"Nice car!" The boy smirks. I place hand on Dean's chest and push him back. He just looks down at my hand and then shrugs it off. A women enters and smiles at us.

"Hi." She says.

Dean nods at her, "Hi"

"You two checking in?"

"Yes." I reply.

She turns to her son, " Ahh, do me a favor, go get your brother some dinner."

"I'm helping a guest!" The boy wines. She gives him a look and he turns to go, speaking over his shoulder, "Two queens and whatever the woman wants."

Dean lets out a fake laugh, "Funny kid."

"Oh, yeah. He thinks so. Will that be cash or credit? Oh and for you ma'am?"

"A king and do you take MasterCard?" She nods and I hand her my credit card. She takes it, runs it and hands it and two keys to me.

"Here you are."

I smile, "Thanks"

For hours the three had been sitting in the boy's room looking at paper after paper and web page after webpage. Dean was agitated and pissy, both Jen and Sam had noticed. He couldn't sit still and kept moving from his bed to the table and back. Jen watched him in between reading the kids' medical files, she knew something was off. She was genuinely concerned for him, Sam just ignored Sam looked up from his laptop, "Well, you were right. Heh. It wasn't very easy to find but you were right. Shtriga is a kind of witch. They're Albanian, but legends about them trace back to Ancient Rome. They feed off spiritus vitae. "

Dean pressed his face together, "Spiri-what?"

Jen spoke up absentmindedly, still focusing on the files, "translates to breath of life. It's Latin."

Dean and Sam looked over at her, surprised. She looks up, "What? My Latin is not as rusty as some other ancient languages."

Dean looked over at her, brow furrowed, "You speak Latin?"

She kept reading, "Latin, a couple of old Nordic dialects, most European stuff I can figure out but I will admit it won't be exact. African dialects are a crap shoot and anything Asiatic really sucks."

Jen looked up again and Sam and Dean where looking at her like she was crazy,

"What?" She was taken aback and looked between them. They looked at each other and shrugged. She sat up real quick and looked over, "So are these things like dementors?"

Dean looked confused and Sam just laughed, "I guess so, sure."

"What the hell is a dementor?" Dean asked. Sam laughed again, "It is from Harry Potter. They suck out souls. I guess that is a pretty accurate comparison."

"Nerds." Dean sighed. "Anyways didn't the doc say that the kids' bodies were wearing out?"

Sam nodded, "It's a thought. you know she takes your vitality maybe your immunity goes to hell, pneumonia takes hold. Anyway, shtrigas can feed off anyone but they prefer..."

"Children". Dean replied firmly.

"Guys this is bothering the hell outta me." Jen was flipping through the files, "Not that I have a strong medical background but I wouldn't have diagnosed these as a string of pneumonia cases...Like here, Bethany and Mary aren't responding to antibiotics. It should have cleared up their lungs and stuff like that, but they are only getting worse because of it. It is weird..."

"I wouldn't worry about that right now, " Sam trailed off looking at the page he had found, "Get this, it says ' Shtrigas are ...invulnerable to all weapons devised by God and man.'"

Dean shook his head, "No, that's not right. She's vulnerable when she feeds."

Sam looked up, confused at what his brother thought he knew, "What?"

"If you catch her when she's eating you can blast her with consecrated wrought iron. Ahhh... buckshot or rounds I think."

"How do you know that?"

"Dad told me. I remember." Dean replied, getting frustrated again.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Oh. Huh. So uh, anything else Dad might have mentioned?"

"Nope, that's it smartass." Dean got up and towered over his sitting brother. Sam went to get up and face him. Jen knew she had to jump in before shit got too out of hand. She ran in between them, "You two need to cool it. Now. Let's take a walk Dean."

She practically had to drag Dean out of the door.

"Walk." She told him sternly and shoved him forward. He obliged. That was one of the things he really respected about her: she was a ballsy little shit. But he was too pissed at Sam to even smirk. They walked side by side on the walkway for a while in silence. She had her hands shoved in her jean pockets and his were stuffed into his coat. Jen finally broke the silence, "So are you gonna tell me what's up your ass?"

"Don't know what you are talking 'bout." Dean never looked over and just kept walking.

"Dean, talk to me. Something is up." They had reached a park and Dean sat down on a bench, arm across the back. Jen didn't even hesitate to sit underneath it. She looked over at him, waiting. He leaned forward and put his hands in his face for a moment, thinking. Jen just waited, giving him time.

"You are the oldest, right?" He finally asked.

"Yeah, I have two younger sisters."

"And you would do anything for them? Die, kill, whatever it takes? As long as they were safe?"

Her mouth twitched and hardened, "Wouldn't even hesitate."

Dean looked over at her set face for a moment, he nodded, "That's why you left them, huh?"

Jen just sat there staring forward, jaw clenched. This was not something that she wanted to get into right now. It still hurt, but she could live with her choices.

"Yeah, that's what I figured... But this isn't about you." He sat back up and put his arm behind her. He absent-mindedly played with her long curls, "You know when you are like ten, twelve and you love them but you just get sick of them? You think you're too cool for them?"

She laughed and finally looked up at his face, he looked back and smiled played on his lips. She nodded and he continued, "It was about then, Sammy would have been like six, we had been in this shitty motel for almost a week. I was climbing the walls and he was asleep. I stepped out and played arcade games for a few hours, I didn't even realize what time it was until the guy workin' kicked me out. When I came back in, somethin' was off. I grabbed the shotgun and went into Sam and that damn thing was feeding on him. I just stood there, scared. Dad comes running in seconds later and tries to shoot the damn thing, but it was too late. It is my fault he missed his shot, it is my fault these kids are getting hurt"

"Dean, you were ten. You can't hold that over yourself."

He just shook his head and turned away from her, "You don't understand."

She reached up and grabbed his chin which was rough from the hair starting to grow in. Jen makes him look her in the eyes, "I understand perfectly. You wanna know why I left home? Because I was putting my sisters in danger, putting my family in danger. I understand how much that shit sucks. I know how when anything happens to them, anything, a freaking skinned knee, it feels like it is your fault. But man, the past is the past. You can't change what has happened. You just gotta saddle up and get back on the damn horse."

He chuckled. Dean tightened the arm behind Jen and pulled her in, so that her head was tucked under his chin. He loosens slightly and kissed her on the head. He wanted to do more but stopped himself. Dean didn't know why but he couldn't bring himself to just treat Jen like the women he picked up at bars. She commanded more respect than that. So he just sat there for a moment like that. And it was weird to him, because he noticed things about her that he didn't with other women. Like what she always wore when they were hunting: jeans, boots, tank with a button down and an oversized, worn dark brown leather jacket. Or the fact that she always wore five different band rings; three on the right and two on the left, all silver. Jen wore a short cross necklace and had leather braided bands on her left wrist. Her hair was always a long mess, but sexy as hell. Dean didn't understand why he noticed, and he didn't necessarily like that he was, he just did.

"Thanks Jen. I think I'm cool enough to head back." Dean finally said. They got up to go, after about ten steps Dean sighed and reached to pull her hand out of her pocket. He felt her hesitate, he pushed his fingers between her fingers and eventually Dean feels Jen relax. They walk like that until they are about to turn the corner for the motel, when she lets go.

As soon as they entered the room Sam started talking, "So, assuming we can kill it when it eats we still gotta find the thing first, which ain't gonna be a cakewalk. Shtrigas take on a human disguise when they're not hunting. "

"Human form? Great." Jen rolls her eyes.

"What kinda human disguise?" Dean asks.

"Historically, something innocuous. Could be anything, but it's usually a feeble old woman, which might be how the witches as old crones legend got started."

Dean starts shaking his hand and crosses the room, "Hang on."

Jen follows him, "What is it?"

Dean grabs a map and Jen looks at it over his arm,

"Holy Shit." She breaths.

Sam scrambles over, "What?"

Dean points, "Check this out. I marked down all the addresses of the victims. Now these are the houses that have been hit so far, and dead center? "

"The hospital." Sam says.

Dean smiles, "The hospital. Now when we were there I saw a patient, an old woman."

Sam looks amused, "An old person huh?"

"Yeah."

"In a hospital? Phew." Sam sniggers, "Better call the Coast Guard."

Jen giggles, Dean shoots her a dirty look, "Well listen, smart-ass, she had an inverted cross hanging on her wall."

Sam goes deadpan and Jen tries to wipe the smile off her face. Dean raises an eyebrow and Jen sighs and nods.

That night right before dawn, we were running quietly down the hall, guns drawn, along the edge of the wall. I was the first to the corner of the next corridor and I crouch and look around the edge. I wave my hand down and Dean and Sam stop where they are and duck down. Heidecker is walking away down the corridor, talking to a nurse. Suddenly there is a crash behind me. I whip around, gun drawn. Sam had backed into a cart. I glance around the corner, Heidecker is looking, turning to walk back down. Shit. I wave my hand at them and we take off back the way we had just come and duck into a room and wait.

"Dumbass." I say under my breath at Sam. He steps on my foot and I kick him in the shin. Dean tries not to laugh. Once Heidecker passes we sneak back out and head down to that old lady's room, Dean enters first. Sam and I hang back, guns drawn. Her wheelchair is facing away from us, I think she is sleeping. Dean turns and gives me a questioning look, I just shrug my shoulders. He keeps leaning closer and closer to her, trying to see if she was the shtriga.

"Who the hell are you?" She yells in his face. We all jump and I almost unload my gun into her just on reflex. Dean leaps back against a cabinet, spilling the the contents of the shelves, pulling up his gun.

The old woman snarls, "Who's there? You trying to steal my stuff? They're always stealing around here."

Sam recovers the quickest and turns on the lights, "No! Ah, ma'am, we're maintenance. We're sorry. We thought you were sleeping."

"Ahhh, nonsense. I was sleeping with my peepers open, " She cackles and then points at the wall, "And fix that crucifix, would ya? I've asked four damn times already!"

I could still see that Dean was freaked, but he flips the crucifix, "There you go ma'am"

Well this turned out to be a huge bust. Right as the sun was coming up we pulled back into the motel parking lot. Sam starts laughing, "I was sleeping with my peepers open?"

Dean shook his head, "I almost smoked that old girl, I swear. It's not funny!"

I snorted, "You and me both."

Sam kept sniggering, " Oh man, you shoulda seen your guys' faces. I thought you were going to shit yourselves."

I sigh, "Keep on laughing Sam. Now we are back to square one, which means we have jack-shit."

We were heading to their room when Dean held out his arm, "Hang on."

I look over and the boy that checked us in is sitting on the curb in front of the office looking depressed as all hell. Dean walks up to the boy, "Hey what's wrong?"

"My...my brother is sick." he looks up at Dean and then at me.

"The little guy?" Dean asks

The boy nods, "Pneumonia. He's in the hospital. It's my fault."

"Ah c'mon, how?"

The boy sniffles, trying to control his voice, "I shoulda made sure the window was latched. He wouldn't've got pneumonia if the window was latched. "

Dean looks between me and Sam. I frown, shit. The damn thing came here while we were chasing down that old bag at the hospital. Dean kneels down and looks at the boy, "Listen to me. I can promise you that this is not your fault. Okay?"

"It's my job to look after him."

I look over and see the mother running out of the motel toward the car, scrambling to get her stuff together. She calls over to the boy, "Michael, I want you to turn on the no vacancy sign while I'm gone. I've got Denise covering room service so don't bother with any of the rooms."

"Mom, I'm going with you."

"Not now, Michael"

"But I gotta see Asher!"

Dean puts his hand on the kid's shoulder, "Hey Michael. Hey. I know how you feel - I'm a big brother too - but you gotta go easy on your Mom right now, ok?"

The mother drops her handbag, "Dammit!"

I reach and pick it up. I hand it to her.

"Thank you" she says.

Dean speaks up behind me, "Listen, you're in no condition to drive - why don't you let me and Jen give you a lift to the hospital."

"No, I couldn't possibly..."

I smile at her, "It is really no trouble at all. We insist."

Dean takes her keys off of her and climbs into the drivers seat of her car. I climb into the back. The entire way to the hospital Dean gives me looks in the rearview mirror. I am texting Sam, deciding what our next move will be. No one talks. When we get out at the hospital the mother runs ahead of us. Dean turns to me, "We're gonna kill this thing. I want it dead, now."

"Okay Dean, let's check on the kids. I texted Sam on the way here and he is going to the library to read on old cases.

For hours Jen and Dean walked around the hospital, questioned staff, and just waited. Now they were sitting inside the pediatrics ward on a couch, waiting for Sam to call. It was one of those small couches like you would find in a library, hard and uncomfortable. Jen was laying with her head on his one leg and her legs reached over the arm of the couch on the other side. She had been watching the staff for hours while pretending to flip through magazines, the medical files still bothered her. Dean's phone rang and they both jumped up.

"Hey" Dean whispers, but Jen stands close enough that she can hear Sam on the other line.

"Hey. How's the kid?"

Dean shakes his head, "He is not good. Where are you at?"

"I am at the library.I've been trying to find out as much as I can about this Shtriga."

"What you got?"

"Well, bad news. I started with Fort Douglas around the time you said Dad was there" Sam stated.

Dean nodded and sighed. "Yep."

"Same deal. Before that, there was, uh, Ogdenville, before that North Haverbrook, and Brockway. Every 15 to 20 years it hits a new town. Dean, this thing is just getting started in Fitchburg. In all these other places it goes on for months. Dozens of kids before the shtriga finally moves on. The kids just ... languish in comas and then they die."

Jen looks at Dean and mouths, 'how long?'.

Dean relays the question to Sam, "How far back's this thing go?"

"Ah, I don't know. The earliest mention I could find is this place called "Black River Falls" back in the 1890s. Talk about a horror show... Whoa."

Dean panics, "Sam?"

"Hold on... I'm looking at a photograph right now of a bunch of doctors standing around a kid's bed. One of the Doctors is Heidacker."

"And?" Dean said rolling his eyes.

"And this picture was taken in 1893."

Fuck. That was the only thing that went through Jen's head.

Dean's jaw clenched, "You sure?

"Yeah, absolutely."

Dean snapped the phone shut. Dr. Heidecker was sitting on Asher's bed. Dean swung his hand to the back of his pants and made a move forward. Jen stepped in front of him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She tried to make it look as natural as possible as not to alert anyone else waiting in the room. She caught his hand on the gun and tried to pry his hand off of it. Dean pushed against her at first. She stood on tip-toes so that she could hiss in his ear, "Dean. Listen to me. It isn't going to do any good. He needs to be feeding."

He lessens his grip but still holds on to it. She places a hand on his chest, "You are no use to those kids from a jail cell."

Dean dropped his hands pulled her to him. Jen's face was buried in his chest, he rested his chin in her hair, "Jen, we are going to get this son of a bitch. Tonight."

Just as they had turned their back, Heidecker walked out of the ward and cleared his throat. Dean looks up but Jen keeps watching Dean's face.

"So what's the CDC come up with so far?"

Dean can't speak because he is biting his tongue so hard. He looks like he is still considering shooting Heidecker. Jen finally turned around, staying between the two.

"We are working through a few ideas, " she smiled, "You will know as soon as we do."

"Well, nothing's more important to me than these kids. Just let me know if I can help."

"I will do that, " Dean manages to spit out. Heidecker nods at each of them and walks away.

"Dean, " Jen shoves him to the exit, "We have to go now."

Jen never lets go of his arm the entire way down to the lobby. She flips open her phone while

they are still in the stairwell.

"Yeah? Sam, you need to pick us up now. We are going to keep walking toward the motel."

Sam was pretty sure he knew why. He caught up to them about a mile from the hospital. Jen had to pretty much shove Dean into the car. She was watching him warily. When they were back at the motel Sam finally spoke, "We should have thought of this before. A doctor's a perfect disguise. You're trusted, you can control the whole thing."

Jen nodded, "He can put whatever he wants on the files, no one will ever suspect him."

Dean throws his jacket against the bed and begins pacing, "That fucking son of a bitch."

Sam sighed, "I'm surprised you didn't draw on him right there."

Jen was perched on a chair still watching Dean, " Oh, trust me. He gave it a shot."

Dean mumbles, "Yeah well, I'm not going to open fire in a freakin' pediatrics ward."

"You thought about it." Jen accused.

"Wouldn't have done me any good, because the bastard's bullet proof unless he's chowing down on something." He turns to Jen, "You should have let me."

"I wasn't packing," she said, "Which is probably a really good thing cause I probably would have just put a clip in him on principle alone. You wouldn't have even had to draw up."

"See Dean, she is learning." Sam says.

"Doesn't matter cause now I know how we are gonna gank it."

Sam was confused and looked over at his brother, "What do you mean?"

"Shtriga, they work through siblings right?"

Jen knew exactly where this was going, it had crossed her mind too. But she would do anything to get the job done and wasn't sure if this was crossing the line a little bit.

"You think it is coming after Michael next." Jen said.

Sam looked horrified, "Well we gotta get him outta here."

Jen shook her head but Dean spoke up, "No. No, that would blow the whole deal. "

Sam turned astonished at his brother, "What?"

Jen looked down and nodded, " We need to use the kid to kill the shtriga."

"You wanna use the kid as bait? Are you nuts? No! Forget it. That's out of the question."

Dean gets up and faces Sam, "It's not out of the question Sam it's the only way. If this thing disappears it could be years before we get another chance.

"Michael's a kid. And I'm not going to dangle him in front of that thing like a worm on a hook."

"Dad did not send me here to walk away."

"Send YOU here? He didn't send you here - he sent us here."

"This isn't about you, Sam. I'm the one who screwed up, all right. It's my fault. There's no telling how many kids have gotten hurt because of me." He stopped himself, looking nervous and ashamed, Sam just looked at Dean, "What are you saying, Dean? How is it your fault?"

Jen spoke quietly, "Dean, you need to tell him what you told me."

There was long pause and the Dean told the story that he told Jen the previous day. His voice was filled with regret, he was so ashamed of himself. Finally, Dean finished, "...Dad just ... grabbed us and booked. Dropped us off at Pastor Jim's about three hours away, but by the time he got back to Fort Douglas the shtriga had disappeared, it was just gone. It never surfaced until now. You know, Dad never spoke about it again, I didn't ask. But he...ah...he looked at me different, you know? Which was worse. Not that I blame him. He gave me an order and I didn't listen, I almost got you killed. "

Sam echoed Jen from earlier, "You were just a kid."

"Don't you do that too. Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. He sent me here to finish it."

Sam shook his head again, unsure, "But using Michael - I don't know Dean. I mean, how 'bout one of us hides under the covers, you know, we'll be the bait."

"It won't work," Jen said, "If it has to feed, it will be able to tell. It will see us and book."

Dean nodded, "It's gotta be the kid." And he walked right out of the room.

I ran after Dean when he left the room and Sam was hot on my heels. Dean headed straight for the motel's office.

"Hey Michael!" He yells.

The boy came running up to the front, "Have you heard anything about Asher?"

"Sorry kid we haven't heard anything," I say, I am trying to find a good way to break it to the kid

that a monster is actually what made his brother sick. Honestly though, Sam might be the best one for this job. He is more of a people person. But it is Dean who speaks up, "Kid, we need your help to catch the thing that hurt your brother."

"No one hurt my brother, he got sick cause the window was open." Michael was nervous. Sam spoke softly, "No, your brother was attacked by a monster."

Michael goes for the phone, I go to cut him off but Dean puts his arm in front of me. Michael picks up the phone, "You're crazy! Just go away or I'm calling the cops."

Dean holds up his hands, "Hang on a second. Just listen to me. You have to believe me, ok? This thing came through the window and it attacked your brother. I've seen it. I know what it looks like. Cause it attacked my brother once too."

Michael looks between all of us and slowly begins to hang up the phone, " This thing...is it...like...it has this long...black robe?"

I nod, "You saw it, didn't you?"

"I thought I was having a nightmare. " He whispered. Dean looked at the boy, his eyes were sad, "I'd give anything not to tell you this, but sometimes nightmares are real."

"So, why are you telling me?"

"Kid," I step forward a little bit, "We need your help to get it."

"My help?"

Dean nods, "We can kill it. Me and him and her, that's what we do. But we can't do it without you."

"What? No!"

Dean face hardens, "Michael, listen to me. This thing hurt Asher. And it's gonna keep hurting kids unless we stop it, understand me?"

The boy just looks at all of us horrified. Sam finally reaches past me and grabs Dean's shoulder, "Come on, man. Let's go."

We left and went back to the room. I wished the kid would have said yes, but that was a lot for an adult to handle, let alone a twelve year old boy. We entered the room, Dean turned to Sam, "Well that went crappy. Now what?"

"What did you expect?" Sam asked. I sit down on the bed, "Dean, he is just a kid, he..."

There is a knock on the door that cuts me off. Dean opens it and Michael is standing right outside, "If you kill it, will Asher get better?"

Dean lets out a breath, "Honestly? We don't know. "

Michael nods and bits his lip. I gotta give it to the kid, he is trying his best to not be afraid, "You said you were a big brother. "

Dean just nods. Michael thinks for a moment, "You'd take care of your little brother? You'd do anything for him?"

"Yeah I would."

"Me too. I'll help."

Sweet. Now we are getting somewhere. Dean looks back at me and I nod. I head out to the back of the Impala. He is going to stay with Sam and try to talk Michael through what is going to happen. I open up the trunk, unzip a bag and start throwing supplies in. Night vision camera, our handguns, shotguns, the wrought iron rounds. I threw in some extra shit for good measure.

I walked to the office without even asking the kid if it was okay and started setting up. The boys slept in the same bedroom so I started mounting night vision cameras that focused on the window and the beds. I had to do a little fancy wiring to make them a wireless feed for Sam's laptop. I am done just before dark. Dean walks in with Michael, "Jen set up these cameras with night vision so that we will be able to see you and anything else as clear as day."

Michael still looked worried, I smiled at him, "Don't worry kid, we know what we are doing. Dean these are all set up and ready to go, we got sound and sight."

Dean nods at me. Michael speaks up again, "What do I do?"

Dean sits on the bed with him, "Just stay under the covers. "

"And if it shows up?"

"We'll be right in the next room. We're gonna come in with guns. So, as soon as we do you roll off this bed and you crawl under it. "

Michael looks at him and then over at me, "What if you shoot me?"

I smirk, "We aren't going to shoot you. Dean and Sam are good shots and I am too. You will be fine.."

Dean nods, "We're not going to fire until you're clear ok? Have you heard a gunshot before?"

"Like in the movies?"

I bite my lip and then tell the kid, "It is gonna be a hell of a lot louder. You just stay down and do not come out until we say so. That way you are safe."

"Do you understand?" Dean asks. Michael slowly nods. Man the kid looked terrified. Dean looks at him, "You are sure you wanna do this?"

Michael doesn't answer for a long time, Dean looks over at me. His eyes are helpless. If this boy doesn't do this we could be screwed for another fifteen years.

"You don't have to, it's ok, I won't be mad." Dean says to him.

"No I'm ok. Just don't shoot me."

I nod, and relax, "I promise nothing is going to happen to you."

Dean gets up and we head into the next room. "Thank God." he says.

"I didn't think he was gonna do it there for a while, but the kid trusts you."

Dean smiles to himself, but I see it. We sit down with Sam. We watch the screen for hours, just waiting. I was starting to doubt the thing was going to show up. Dean yawns, "What time is it?"

I look at my phone, "Three."

"Are you sure these iron rounds are going to work?" Sam asks.

"Consecrated iron rounds, and yeah it's what Dad used last time."Sam looked uncomfortably at me and then spoke to Dean, "Hey Dean I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"You know, I've really given you a lot of crap, for always following Dad's orders. But I know why you do it."

Dean signs, rolls his eyes and leans back in his chair, "Oh, god, kill me now. "

Sam chuckles. We all sat there for a moment. On the screen, the branches start looking a little too much like hands. The window lock unhinges of its own accord. I point at the screen and both of the boys look. I check the chamber and magazine on my .45. The boys pick up their guns. The shtriga is entering the room

"Now?" Sam hisses

"Not yet." Dean replies. We all watch the screen. I can feel it in my legs and my back, how tense I am, ready to hunt this SOB. All my senses are on alert and as always, I become acutely aware of all of my surroundings. I watch the shtriga move in closer and begin to draw on Michael's' energy. I bust down the door, the boys behind me. Michael rolls down and under the bed. I empty nine rounds into the bastard and Sam and Dean totally empty their guns. The shtriga falls to the ground.

"Mike, you all right?" Dean calls.

"Yeah."

"Just hold tight," Dean tells him. I scan the room, keeping one eye on the body of the shtriga. Dean motions his gun at the thing and him and I move forward, guns ready. There is no movement. I see Dean relax out of the corner of my eye and look back at Sam. I pull down and sigh.

I catch the movement but it is too late. It grabs Dean by the throat and throws him against the wall. It turns to me, I pull my gun up but it backhands me before I can pull the trigger. I crash into the wall, pictures and objects fall down around me. I look up and the shtriga has Sam who is struggling for his gun. I can see the shtriga drawing his energy out. I keep feeling around for my gun, but it isn't there.

"Hey!" Dean yells, the shtriga looks up and he shoots it between the eyes. It falls and Sam is gasping for breath. Dean uncocks the gun and hands it to me, I am confused until I see that it is mine, "You ok little brother?"

Sam holds a thumbs up. Dean pulls me to my feet,

"Pretty risky shot, seeing as that wasn't your gun." I smirk.

"Ahh, I know what I'm doing most of the time," He smiles back and winks, then goes to help Sam up. The energy that the shtriga stole begins to evacuates its body.

"Jen, you wanna put another in it for good measure?"

"My pleasure." I raise my sights and put my last round into its center mass. More energy escapes and the shtriga disintegrates into a pile.

"It's ok, Michael, you can come on out." Dean says. Michael climbs out from under the bed and stands beside Dean and smiles tentatively. Dean places his hand on his shoulder and smiles back. I exhale. Another one down, a few hundred who-the-hell-knows left to go.

..

Michael sits in the boys' room with Jen, Dean and Sam for the rest of the night. Jen had figured he wasn't going to sleep, but she passed out on Dean's bed. She had only had a couple hours of sleep since Richardson and wasn't going to pass up the few she could grab. Dean played cards with Michael until the morning. Sam started to pack up all of their crap. The mother's car pulled in right after eight. Michael ran out and talked to her. Dean smacked Jen's shoulder and she looked up at him with one eye, sleepily. He chuckled, "Time to get your lazy ass up."

She moaned at him. As he walked toward the door he grabbed her ankles and jerked her to the bottom of the bed. Jen let out a yelp. Him and Sam busted out laughing, "You asshole."

"You bet" He walked out with his bag to pack the Impala. Jen headed to her room and grabbed her shit. On her way out she heard Dean talking to the mother, "How is Asher doing?"

"We got good news this morning. He s going to be fine."

Michael smiles, "Really?"

"Yeah. Really. No one can explain it - it's a miracle. They're going to keep him in overnight for observation and then he's coming home."

Dean smiles, "That is great."

Jen approaches, "How are the other kids?"

"Good. Real good. A bunch of them should be checking out in a few days. Dr. Travis says the ward's going to be like a ghost town."

Sam made a face, "Dr. Travis? What about Dr. Heidacker? "

"Oh he wasn't in today. Must have been sick or something."

Dean looked over at me, "Yeah. Yeah must have."

Michael and his mother left to go to see Asher. The three finished packing the Impala and just as they were finishing up Sam spoke, "It's too bad."

Jen looked over, confused, "About what? We killed the monster and saved the kids. I would call that a win."

"That's not what I meant. I meant Michael. He'll always know there are things out there in the dark - he'll never be the same, you know? Sometimes I wish that..."

"What?" Dean asked.

"I wish I could have that kinda innocence."

Dean sighs, and speaks slowly, "If it means anything...Sometimes I wish you could too."

They exchange a look and then Dean breaks it. He climbs in the car and starts the engine. Sam and Jen get in and Dean pulls the car away.

TWO WEEKS LATER...

In over fifteen days of driving around the Midwest they still hadn't picked up a prospective hunt, New Years passed. And eventually they did what anyone who needed something to do, would do and went out drinking. Jen was at the bar, doing shots with the locals. Dean was hitting shamelessly on a blonde. Sam, of course, was moping on the corner on his laptop, trying to find work. Dean saw him and told the blonde that he would be back in a minute.

"Hey Sammy, you know you can't get laid until you get out from behind that computer, right?"

"So what are you tonight Dean...military, reality star, what?"

"Talent scout. She has this friend, I could hook you up."

"Dean..." Sam trails off.

"What Sam?" Dean says, annoyed.

"I don't know what the hell is going on with Jen but..."

"Whoa, whoa, there is nothing going on with Jen." Dean says defensively. But he sneaks a look over at her and feels the twinge of guilt.

"Whatever man. But in all seriousness, you need to talk to her. She is the only...well...friend that you have. You can't lead her on and then drop her."

"I have lots of friends."

"Really Dean? Name two."

"Uhh..." Dean looks at the ceiling.

"Exactly. You know, you couldn't do much better. At least you wouldn't have to lie to her about what you do."

"Sammy, I am not looking to have a girlfriend. I'm looking to hook up."

Sam just shakes his head, "Whatever. I have never seen you like this. You like her, but you won't do anything about it. She clearly likes you. What the hell is the problem?"

"Sam, with what we do... that isn't fair to either of us. Now is not the time for that."

"I'm tellin' you Dean, you are going to piss her off and you will lose her if you don't tell her that. She is better than most women because any other one after watching you hit on other women would either shoot you or give up. She has stuck around so far."

"Whatever Sam. I am going back to drinking. You can stay here and mope." Dean walked back to the bar and to the blonde. He started doing shots, hard. Trying to forget about what Sam had just said. It didn't matter how much he drank, he still kept looking at the other end of the bar. Hours later Sam waved Jen over.

"What ya got Sam?"

"New York. Family gets murdered."

"Alright, that happens all the time."

"My Dad has the area marked in his journal. At least three or four others in the last hundred years."

"Well if we can drag Dean's ass out of here, let's go!"

Jen walked right up to Dean at the bar, "Come on, we have something."

"I'm good here." He was sloshed, actually, passed sloshed. Flat out walks up behind Jen

"Oh look, killjoy." Dean pointed and almost fell backwards. Sam grabbed him before he fell, "Little help?"

Jen grabbed Dean under the other arm. Together they drug him to the car and stuffed him in the back seat. He mumbled and passed out.

"Does he ever get that drunk?"

"Not usually, he must have something bothering him."