~*****~

The Impala cruised down the road as we headed for our next destination. John had sent us another set of coordinates for a case. Dean didn't hesitate, but Sam didn't seem convinced that something was wrong in the town though.

"Yeah. You probably missed something, that's what." Dean snapped.

"Dude, I ran LexisNexis, local police reports, newspapers, I couldn't find a single red flag. Are you sure you got the coordinates right?" Sam asked, glancing over at his brother from the passenger seat.

"I double checked it, Sam. It's Fitchburg, Wisconsin. John wouldn't have sent coordinates if it wasn't important." I say gently, slipping into the front seat with my map. I pointed to it and Sam sighed.

"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." Dean suggested.

"You wear that big heart of yours on your sleeve, Dean. Since when has John ever made anything easy." I say nonchalantly. Sam nodded in agreement, making that 'See?' face.

"You're a lot cuter when you agree with me, you know that?" Dean snapped at me. I shot him a glare. "Don't worry. I'm sure there's something in Fitchburg worth killing."

"Yeah? What makes you so sure?" Sam questioned.

"Cause I'm the oldest, which means I'm always right." Dean smirked. I turned to him, raising an eyebrow.

"Really? Cause the last time you were right, I got taken hostage, a chunk of my leg ripped out, and eaten in front of me, in the span of three minutes." I snapped.

"Oh come on, I got you back." He said, trying to wave me off.

"After! I got a chunk taken out of my leg!" I snap, pulling my jeans off my hips and showing the jagged scar that circled the top of my thigh. "WE! Decided to leave the decisions up to me from then on. And my decision now, is to stop for snackage!" I snap.

"Yeah, yeah. Keep your panties on." Dean muttered. Sam let out a laugh.

"Take a note, Lottie. That'll be the only time Dean ever says that sentence." Sam commented. I barked out a laugh as Dean's face turned bright red and he bunched up in embarrassment.

~*****~

An hour later, we arrive at a small town. Dean disappeared to grab some coffee for the three of us, and Sam and I were leaned against the Impala, gazing out onto the playground before us.

"Well... the waitress thinks the local Freemasons are up to something sneaky, but other than that, no ones heard about anything freaky going on." Dean announced as he took his spot besides me, handing me a cup of coffee.

"Hey, Dean?" I hum. He looked over at me mid sip and raised an eyebrow. "You got the time?"

He glanced down at his watch before turning his gaze back on me. "Ten after four, why?"

"What's wrong with this picture?" I gesture out to the empty playground. Save for the little girl playing by herself.

"School's out, isn't it?" Dean asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"So... Where's all the kids?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest. "This place should be crawling with them by now."

"Let's go find out." Dean suggested and started walking towards the park. Sam and I jogged after him after sharing a look of confusion. We approached a woman who sat on a bench, reading a magazine. "Sure is quiet out here."

The woman looked up at us, shaking her head sympathetically. "Yeah. It's a shame."

"Why's that?" I hum.

"You know, kids getting sick, it's a terrible thing." She responded, looking at her child with concern.

"How many?" Dean asked.

"Just five or six, but serious. Hospital serious. A lot of parents are getting pretty anxious. They think it's catching." She explained. I looked over at the little girl and sighed. I hated cases where children's lives were at stake.

~*****~

After talking to the concerned mother, we decided to go to the hospital and try to get information on the kids. I decided to wear a new dress I had gotten a while back for this trip. I stepped out of the Impala after Sam and Dean and swung my purse over my shoulder and hesitantly smoothed out the skirt of my dress. I started for the hospital, and Dean stood by the door, holding it open for me.

"Ladies first." He chimed, giving me his 'All American Man' smile. My lip quirked a bit, and I propped my hand on my hip.

"Then you should mosey on in." I say, mimicking the moment we broke into Sam's apartment. Dean just huffed out a chuckle and looped his arm around my waist and pulled me flush against him. He grasped my chin and kissed me gently, letting out a soft sigh as I sunk into him. A few moments later, Sam grabbed his arm and tugged him and I out of the door way. I tumbled a bit and huffed in frustration.

"Dude, I am not using this ID." Sam hissed. I cocked my head and gazed at the two.

"Why not?" I ask.

Sam rolled his eyes and glanced at me before going back to his brother. "Cause it says bikini inspector on it!"

Dean grinned and I started to snicker. "Don't worry, she won't even look that close, alright? Hell, she won't even ask to see it. It's all about confidence, Sammy." We had just reached the front desk as he said that and he spun Sam around.

"Hi. I'm Dr. Jerry Caplin, Centers for Disease Control." Sam smiled, trying to put on an act of confidence.

"Can I see some ID?" The receptionist asked, leaning on her forearms. Dean turned away as Sam shot him a dirty look.

"Yeah, of course." He pulled the ID out of his jacket pocket and quickly flashed it to her, not really giving her time to read it. "Now, could you please direct me to the pediatrics ward? Please?"

"Okay, well, just go down that hall, turn left, and up the stairs." She explained. Sam thanked her and approached us, his face contorted in anger.

"See, I told you it would work." Dean grinned.

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

Sam led us away from the receptionist, taking us down a corridor. I glanced into an open door we passed, and stared at the old lady inside. She sat in a wheel chair, and looked really feeble. An inverted cross hung on her wall, and her back was to me. Her head turned slowly, until she was facing me. My back muscles loosened a bit. She was just an old lady. Just a blind old lady. I flinched a bit as a warm hand caressed my lower back. I looked over at Dean, sighing out in relief.

"Dean, Lottie!" Sam called from ahead of us. We both turned to see him waiting for us. We spared one last glance at the old lady before continuing.

~*****~

We met with Dr. Heidecker at the pediatrics ward. "Well, thanks for seeing us, Dr. Heidecker." Sam spoke, following after him as he walked us through the corridor.

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

"Oh, some GP, I forget his name, he called Atlanta and, uh, he must've beat you to the punch." Dean lied. We passed a glass wall, and inside, children lay in their beds, not moving an inch.

"So, you say you got six cases so far?" Sam asked as we came to a stop.

"Yeah, five weeks. At first we thought it was garden variety bacterial pneumonia. Not that newsworthy. But now...." Dr. Heidecker trailed off. I gazed at the small children, and felt my stomach twist painfully.

"Now what?" Sam inquired.

"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." Dr. Heidecker explained.

"Excuse me, Dr. Heidecker?" A nurse called as she handed him a form to sign.

"You ever see anything like this before?" I ask.

"Never this severe."

"And the way it spreads... that's a new one for me." The nurse answered as well, catching my attention.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"It works it's way through families. But only the children, one sibling after another." She explained. I cocked my head and shared a glance with the boys.

"You mind if we interview a couple of the kids?" Dean finally asked.

"They're not conscious." The nurse informed us.

"None of them?" Sam asked, shock washing over his face.

"No." She replied, gazing down.

"Can we, uh, can we talk to the parents?" Dean questioned softly, obviously aware it might not be possible.

Dr. Heidecker just sighed. "Well, if you think it'll help."

"Yeah. Who was your most recent admission?" Dean asked. After Dr. Heidecker gave us a name, I stopped Dean for a moment. "Yeah?"

"You guys take care of the questioning.... I need some fresh air." I say gently, stepping away from the two of them.

"You sure?" Sam asked. I nod and turn on my heel and travel out of the hospital. I stand on the sidewalk, holding my hand over my lips in an attempt to stop the sobs working up.

"Are you alright?" I hear a soft, frail voice ask. I whirl around in panic and stare down at a woman with a walker. She looked to be in her 90's, with the way she looked.

I let out a breath of air and nodded, before shaking my head a bit. "No, I uh... I'm with the CDC, and I guess I'm just a little sensitive about cases with children..." I admit to her. She smiles gently at me, and I feel a little relief washing over my shoulders.

"It'll all turn out okay, you'll see." She hummed, then traveled passed me at a slow rate. I thought she was going to turn to dust at any moment. "Oh, by the way;" I hummed as I cocked my head. "I'd know if any woman is experiencing a little baby fever just by looking at her, but you my dear, I'd say you demanding one." She smiled a bit as I felt that flush crawl up my neck. I stormed towards the Impala and slid inside, and pulled out my compact mirror, frowning at my appearance. I grimaced as I replayed my dream in my head....

"Dean, seriously, there's no need to get worked up about this..." I cooed gently, staring at the green eye'd man I'd come to love so dearly.

"Hey, this is my first kid, Imma make him a room that he'll love till he's 60." Dean retorted, returning to building a crib for our child.

"Are you so sure it's going to be a 'he'?" I hum, propping a hand on my hip and using the other to smooth circles over my swollen belly.

"Then it'll be a room our daughter will love till she's 80." Dean sent me a grin over his shoulder and continued to work. I snorted and shook my head before traveling back into the house. The sun shimmered into the window as dinner simmers on the stove, and low music echoed throughout the house. Then, everything warps. The light bulb flickers rapidly, and the sky is now pitch black. The wind howls and bangs against the walls of the old shack we had taken refuge in. "It'll be okay, Lottie." I hear Dean murmur, and I register, I'm laying on an old dingy bed, grasping onto his hand while he watches the scene going on between my legs.

"Dean!" I shout, trying to sit up, but from my position, all I could see was blood. Then it warps again, and I'm sitting back in a hospital bed, covering in bruises and scratches all the while holding a bundle of blue blankets, but the look on my face says terror. The baby gurgles happily as it breast feeds, but the pit in my stomach continues to grow. Dean's asleep in the chair besides me, and Sam is passed out on the floor. And for some odd reason, I feel a sense of fear creeping up.....

I rub my forehead gently, wondering what the hell kind of dream I had been having. And at that moment, I started screaming in shock as the doors pop open in an instant. I hold my chest in terror as Sam and Dean pull in. "You alright, Lottie?" Dean asks, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Yes- Yes. I'm fine..." I gasp, fumbling to put my purse away. "Where to next?"

"The last kids to get it, no ones home. So we're going to investigate." Dean comments, smiling dryly at me. I nod and exhale before leaning back in my seat and staring out the window.

'That dream... felt like those visions....'

~*****~

We pulled up the empty house after changing at the motel and decided that Bethany's room would be the easiest to break into. Dean was checking for EMF while Sam and I checked the room for physical evidence. I was crouched down by the bed, checking the floor and nightstand. "You got anything over there?" Sam called.

"Nah, nothing." Dean answered, looking over at me for confirmation.

"I haven't found anything either." I say, stretching back upwards.

"Yeah, me neither." Sam sighed. He moved over the window, shining the blue light along the sill before he opened it. "Hey, guys?"

"Yeah?" Dean called back. I stepped over to Sam and gazed over his shoulder, feeling a chill wash up my back.

"You were right... It's not pneumonia..." Sam huffed. I gazed at the black hand print on the sill. It had rotted away the wood. "It's rotted. What the hell leaves a hand print like that?"

Dean traveled over to us, and as he gazed down at it, he got this far away look in his eyes. A frown settled onto my lips as he stared intently at it. Like a bad memory surfacing....