Keep Your Head Up

49. Dream a Little Dream of Me

ROAD

The Impala zoomed down the road.

HOSPITAL

Bobby was lying in a hospital bed. Dean, holding his daughter, Sam and Mae were standing next to Bobby's bed.

"So, what's the diagnosis?" Sam questioned.

"We've tested everything we can think to test," the doctor replied. "He seems perfectly healthy."

"Except that he's comatose," Dean said.

"Mr. Sniderson, you're his emergency contact. Anything we should know? Any illnesses?"

"No, he-he never gets sick. I mean, he doesn't even catch a cold."

"Doctor, is there anything you can do?" Mae asked.

"Look, I'm sorry, but we don't know what's causing it... so we don't know how to treat it. He just... went to sleep, and didn't wake up."

Dean, Sam and Mae shared a look, then looked over at Bobby.

MOTEL ROOM

The three hunters and Faith, being held by her mother, entered the room.

Sam asked, "So, what was Bobby doing in Pittsburgh?"

"Unless he was taking an extremely lame vacation..." He closed the door as they walked into the center of the room.

"He was working a job," Sam guessed as the trio walked around the room.

Mae frowned. "Well, you think there'd be some sort of sign of something, you know?"

Sam opened a drawer, but it was empty. Dean and Lana did the same, and it was also empty. The room looked completely clean.

"Research, news clippings..." Dean began as Sam and Mae turned to the closet. "Or a frigging pizza box or a beer can."

Dean walked away from the dresser he was looking in and Sam and Mae walked over to the closet. Bobby's clothes were hanging there, with a gap to separate them. Sam turned on the light and Dean turned around to them.

"How 'bout this?" Sam and Mae asked.

Mae moved the clothes out of the way and on the wall behind them hung all the news clippings, maps and pictures they were looking for. There were pictures of roots, mushrooms, seeds and a map where Bobby had written "Pittsburgh" in big letters and underlined it. There were Post-Its with addresses and numbers. There was a piece of paper about a plant.

Dean chuckled. "Good old Bobby, always covering up his tracks."

"Either of you make heads or tails of any of this?" Sam asked.

Mae took one of the papers about a plant and read the title of it. ""Slene capensis." I don't know what that means. And judging from Dean's shaking head, he doesn't either."

"Here, obit." He took a newspaper clipping and read from it as he skimmed it. ""Dr. Walker Gregg, 64, university neurologist.""

"How'd he bite it?" Dean asked.

"Um... actually, they don't know. They say he just went to sleep and didn't wake up."

Dean took the clipping and read it himself. "That sound familiar to either of you?"

Mae looked over the clipping. "All right, uh... So let's say Bobby was looking into the doc's death. You know, hunting after something-"

Dean looked up at her. "That started hunting him."

"Yeah."

"All right, stay here. See if you and Sam can make heads or tails of this." He pointed to the closet.