family line, supernatural [ 1 ]

031. child soul sucker

They get to a town that John sent them on a case for. Natalie and Sam are leaning against the Impala, the former wishing she were anywhere but here.

Dean walks over, two coffees and one hot chocolate in hand.

"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." Dean says, giving Sam his coffee and Natalie her hot chocolate.

"Dean, you got the time?" Sam asks.

"Ten after four. Why?" Dean asks.

"What's wrong with this picture?" Sam nods to the park where only one kid is playing.

"School's out, isn't it?" Dean asks.

"Yep." Natalie nods.

"So, where is everybody? This place should be crawling with kids right now." Sam says.

+++

"Dude. Dude, I am not using this ID." Sam hisses as the three walk into the hospital.

"Why not?" Dean asks. Natalie looks at it, giggling when she sees it.

"Cause it says bikini inspector on it." Sam states.

"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." Dean spins Sam to face the front desk, Dean and Natalie continuing to walk a bit away.

"Hi. I'm Doctor Jerry Caplin, Centers for Disease Control." Sam says.

"Can I see some ID?" The receptionist asks.

Natalie and Dean contain their laughter as Sam glares in their direction.

"Yeah, of course." Sam awkwardly smiles. He quickly shows her the ID, his thumb covering the bikini inspector part. "Now, could you direct me to the pediatrics ward, please?"

"Okay, well, just go down that hall, turn left, and up the stairs." The receptionist informs. Sam nods in thanks, walking to his siblings.

"See. I told you it would work." Dean says with a grin.

"Follow me. It's upstairs." Sam grumbles.

They get upstairs and walk down the corridor.

"Dean!" Sam calls when he realizes the older one stopped. Dean quickly catches up to the twins.

"Well, thanks for seeing us, Dr. Hydecker." Dean tells him.

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

"Oh, some GP, I forget his name, he called Atlanta and, uh, he must've beat you to the punch." Dean says.

"So, you say you got six cases so far?" Sam asks.

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

"Now what?" Natalie asks.

"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." Hydecker says.

"Excuse me, Dr. Hydecker." A nurse gives him some forms.

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

"Never this severe." Hydecker says.

"And the way it spreads... that's a new one for me." The nurse says.