The Impala was driving along a highway as the trio were following coordinates sent to them by John leading to Fitchburg, Wisconsin. Although Sam is finding nothing going on in Fitchburg when he did some research which made them confused as to why John was sending them. But while y/n and Sam were confused, Dean had faith in his dad like always and this led the boys to start bickering.
"Yeah, you probably missed something, that's what," Dean said.
"Dude, I ran LexisNexis, local police reports, newspapers-- I couldn't find a single red flag," Sam stated.
"Dean, are you sure you read the coordinates right," y/n asked.
"Yeah. I double checked. It's Fitchburg, Wisconsin. Dad wouldn't have sent us coordinates if it wasn't important guys," Dean stated.
"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 it is," Sam said as he was getting frustrated.
"Well maybe he's going to meet us there," Dean suggested.
"Right, totally. Since he's been so easy to find up to this point and how willing he is to work as a team, I'm sure he's there patiently waiting for us," y/n said sarcastically.
"You're a real smart ass you know," Dean spat as he glared at her through the rearview mirror.
Y/n rolled her eyes as she honestly didn't want to argue with Dean about this. When it came to John, it was like arguing with a brick wall sometimes. Dean sighed as he looked back at the road.
"Don't worry I'm sure there's something in Fitchburg worth killing," Dean said.
"Yeah? What makes you so sure," Sam asked.
"Because I'm the oldest, which means I'm always right," Dean stated.
"No, it doesn't." Sam said.
"Yeah it totally does," Dean said as he glanced at Sam before looking back to the road.
They soon arrive in town and stop to get coffee. They were parked near a playground which was almost deserted except for a little girl and her mom. This was odd as it was a late afternoon on a school day. Dean came back with some coffee and gave y/n and Sam each a cup.
"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 informed.
"Dean, you got the time," Sam asked.
"10 after 4:00. Why," Dean asked as he looked at his watch.
"Do you notice something wrong with this picture," y/n asked, indicating to the playground.
Dean looks at the playground and sees the one girl playing. This made him confused as he double checked his watch.
"School's out, isn't it," Dean asked.
"Yeah yet there's only one kid at the playground," y/n said.
"Where is everybody," Sam asked.
Dean noticed the girl's mom sitting on the beach reading a magazine.
"You two stay here. I'm gonna see if I can get some answers," Dean said.
Dean walks over to the woman while y/n and Sam stay at the Impala.
"What kind of monsters only target kids," y/n asked.
"I don't know," Sam admitted.
"That's just messed up. I mean all the monsters we've hunted are all kinds of evil but this. Going after kids? That's all kinds of messed up," y/n stated.
"Yeah," Sam muttered.
Y/n sighed as she took a sip of her drink. She put her cup on the roof of the Impala and reached into her jacket and pulled out her switchable. She doesn't open it but she just starts spinning it in her fingers.
Sam notices and figures that's something she does when she's on edge as this wasn't the first time she did that. Not to mention that switchblade was important to her since she didn't go anywhere without it. Also the necklace she was always wearing.
After Dean finishes talking to the mother of the girl, he tells them what he learned. Apparently kids around town have been getting sick and six are already in the hospital. So they figured that was a good place to start. So they suited up and headed to the hospital to investigate.
However, Dean gives Sam a badge which he wasn't too pleased to be given.
"Dude, dude, I am not using this I.D," Sam stated.
"Why not," Dean asked.
"Because it says 'Bikini Inspector' on it," Sam exclaimed, annoyed.
"Why the hell do you even have that," y/n asked Dean.
Dean grins. "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 spins Sam to face the desk as he pulls y/n along with him to keep walking so they can watch this unfold. The receptionist looks up at him and Sam has to act like everything is fine.
"Hi. I'm Dr. Jerry Kaplan, Center for Disease control," Sam said, trying to be confident.
"Can I see some I.D?"
Dean stifles a chuckle as hit his arm. Sam looked at them as y/n had a fake smile as Dean looked away, rubbing his arm and trying so hard to not laugh. Sam glared at his brother before looking back at the receptionist with a smile, trying to play it cool.
"Yeah, of course," Sam said as he reached into his jacket.
He quickly showed the receptionist the ID before putting it back in his jacket.
"Now, could you direct me to the pediatrics ward please," Sam asked.
"Okay, just go down the hall, turn left, up the stairs."
Sam gave her a smile as he thanked her. His smile then fell to an irritated expression when he turned to face his brother.
"If it makes you feel better, this ass did the same thing with me with a fake 'male-muscle examiner' badge," y/n said.
"And both times, it worked like a charm," Dean said.
Sam was still irritated that not only did Dean make him do this but apparently this wasn't the first time he pulled this crap.
"Follow me. It's up stairs," Sam growled.
The trio head upstairs and walk down the corridor. Just as they turned the corner, Dean stopped to look into a room. But they snapped him back to reality and continued to move to the pediatric ward. They make it to the pediatric ward where they meet Dr. Hydeker, the doctor on the case
"Well, thanks for seeing us, Dr. Hydeker," Dean said.
"Well I'm glad you guys are here. I was just about to call CDC myself. How'd you find out anyways," Dr. Hydeker asked.
"Oh some GP, I forgot his name, he called Atlanta and, uh, he must've beat you to the punch," Dean said.
"So doctor, you say you got six cases so far," y/n asked.
"Yeah, five weeks. At first we thought it was garden variety bacteria pneumonia. Not that newsworthy. But now," Dr. Hydeker said as he began to trial off.
"Now what," Sam asked
"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. Hydeker explained.
A nurse came up to him and handed him some forms to look over and sign.
"You ever seen anything like this before," Sam asked the doctor.
"Never this severe," Dr. Hydeker said.
The nurse added that it was only spreading to children. Not to mention the disease works itself through siblings in a family which was odd. Dean asks if they could talk to any of the kids but Dr. Hydeker tells him it isn't possible since they are all unconscious. So they were left to talk to the parents.
They talk to Bethany's father, whose daughters were the most recent patients admitted with this mysterious disease. He reveals that it was his daughter Mary, his oldest, who got the illness twenty-four hours before Bethany. He admits that it's possible the window was open but he remembers he closed it before Bethany got sick. And since it was a two story window with no ledge, Bethany had to be the one to open. He then asked if he could please go see his daughters with his wife which they let him. Needing further information, the trio decide to investigate Bethany's currently empty house.
They track down the address and sneak into the house. Since Bethany was the recent victim, they figured that would be the best place to start and head to her room to look around Bethany's room for clues to what happened.
"You got anything over there," Sam asked.
"Nah, nothing," Dean replied.
"Nada," y/n said.
They keep searching and Sam finds something on the windowsill.
"Hey guys," Sam called out.
"Yeah," y/n and Dean said in unison.
"Dean, you were right. It's not pneumonia," Sam said, staring at the windowsill.
Y/n and Dean walked over to the window to see what Sam was talking about. They saw a black semi-human handprint rotted into the wood.
"It's rotted. Either of you boys know something that leaves a handprint like this," y/n asked.
"No," Sam said.
Dean looked at the handprint and looked a little sick as he recognized the print.
"I know why Dad sent us here. He's faced this thing before. He wants us to finish the job," Dean said.
That night the trio head to a motel and unpack the Impala in the motel's parking lot.
"So what the hell is a Shtriga," Sam asked Dean.
"It's kind of like a witch I think. I don't know much about 'em," Dean said
"Well I've never heard of it. And it's not in Dad's journal," Sam said.
"Dad hunted one in Fort Douglas, Wisconsin, about 16, 17 years ago. You were there. You don't remember?"
"No," Sam replied.
"And I guess he caught wind of the thing in Bitzburg now and kicked us the coordinates," Dean said.
"So you think this Shtriga is the same one John fought almost two decades ago," y/n asked.
"Yeah. Maybe," Dean said, shutting the trunk and walking to the Motel Office.
"But if Dad went after it, why is it still breathing air," Sam asked.
"Because it got away," Dean said.
"Got away," Sam asked surprised.
"The John Winchester actually let something get away," y/n asked, in disbelief.
Dean stopped and turned to face them.
"Yeah guys, it happens," Dean said.
"Not very often," Sam said.
"Well I don't know what to tell you, maybe Dad didn't have his wheaties that morning," Dean said as he started to walk again.
"What else do you remember," Sam asked.
"Nothing. I was a kid, all right," Dean said defensively and entered the office.
"Now this might just be me reading too much into this but does it seem like Dean got tense when we found that handprint," y/n asked.
"It's not just you," Sam said as he leaned against the Impala and glanced to look at Dean inside. "He's hiding something."
Y/n looks through the window to see a little boy with blond hair behind the desk looking at them.
"Little young for a job," y/n joked.
"This doesn't make any sense," Sam said. "Our Dad wouldn't let something get away, especially not for this long."
"No hunter would, especially John," y/n stated. "I don't know about you but this whole job is just rudding me off the wrong way."
"I know what you mean," Sam said.
"I mean a monster that only goes after kids and Dean's hiding something. This whole thing is just all kinds of odd," y/n said.
Dean gets the keys for the rooms and they head inside the boys room. Sam sat on his bed doing some research on his laptop while Dean stood at the bar pouring himself a drink reading a few books and y/n was on the table with one of the books.
"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," Sam explained.
"Spirit what," Dean asked.
"Spiritus vitae. It's Latin for breath of life. Which is basically a person's life force," y/n explained.
"How the hell do you know that," Dean asked.
"Have you heard of books," y/n asked.
Dean looked at her annoyed as she turned her attention back to Sam.
"Didn't Dr. Hydeker say the kid's bodies were wearing out," y/n asked.
"It's a thought. You know, she takes your vitality, maybe your immunity goes to hell, pneumonia takes hold," Sam said. "Anyway, Shtrigas can feed off anyone but they prefer--"
"Children," y/n and Dean said in unison.
"Yeah. Probably because they have a stronger life force. And get this--Shtrigas are invulnerable to all weapons devised by God and man," Sam said.
"No, that's not right," Dean said as he walked over to his duffle bag on his bed. "She's vulnerable when she feeds."
"What," Sam asked.
"If you catch her when she's eating, you can blast her with consecrated wrought iron, buckshots or rounds I think," Dean said as he took out a black book from his bag and walked back to the bar.
"How do you know that," Sam asked Dean.
"Dad told me. I remember," Dean simply replied.
"Oh. So is there anything else John might have mentioned that you like to share with class," y/n asked.
"Nope, that's it," Dean said.
But y/n and Sam don't believe him.
"What," Dean asked.
"Nothing," Sam said before continuing while y/n just looked away from him while shaking her head. "Okay, 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."
"What kind of human disguise," y/n asked as Sam sets his laptop aside and walks to the kitchen area.
"Historically, something innocuous. It could be anything, but usually a feeble old woman, which might be how the witches-as-old-crone legend got started," Sam explained.
"Hang on," Dean said as he grabbed a map.
"What," Sam asked.
"You got something," y/n asked.
"Maybe. Check this out," Dean said as he laid the map on the counter. "I marked down all the addresses of the victims. Now these are the houses that have been so far, and dead center--"
"The hospital," y/n and Sam said in unison.
"The hospital," Dean said, nodding. "When we were there, I saw a patient, an old woman."
"An old person huh? At the hospital," y/n asked.
"Yeah," Dean replied.
"Whoo. Better call the coast guard," Sam said, shaking his head and sniggering.
Y/n laughed as it was kind of funny.
"Well listen, smartass, she had an inverted cross hanging on her wall," Dean said.
This made y/n and Sam stop laughing as this could be serious. So they head back to the hospital that night. They saw Hydeker and a nurse so they duck back, trying to stay hidden.
After Hydeker passes by and the nurse is gone, they head towards the old woman's room. They open the door and sneak inside. Dean goes in the front while y/n and Sam stay in the back and silently pull out their guns.
Dean moves closer to her as she is sitting completely still with her eyes open. Then she moves, and quickly accuses the trio of stealing her stuff. Realizing she isn't the Shtriga they put away the guns and claim to be hospital maintenance. Believing them, she tells one of them to fix the cross and turn it the right way, since she had been asking someone to fix it for a while now.
The next morning, the trio head back to the motel, with y/n and Sam still laughing at Dean for almost shooting the old lady.
"I was sleeping with my peepers open," Sam said, mocking the old woman as y/n continued to laugh.
"I almost smoked that old gal, I swear. It's not funny," Dean grumbled.
"Oh, you should have seen your face," y/n said, still laughing.
"Oh, yeah, laugh it off. Now we're back to square one." Dean said, looking away as Sam unlocked their room.
Dean noticed the boy, Michael, who helps his mom run the motel. He was sitting on the bench outside looking unhappy. Dean approaches him to see why he was upset with y/n and Sam following him.
"Hey, what's wrong," Dean asked as he crouched down to Michael's level as y/n and Sam stood behind him.
"My brother's sick," Michael replied, sadly.
"The little guy," Dean asked and Michael nodded.
"Pneumonia. He's in the hospital. It's my fault," Michael said.
"Ah come on, how," Dean asked.
"I should have made sure the window was latched," Michael sniffled. "He wouldn't have gotten Pneumonia if the window was latched."
Dean looks at Sam and y/n as they felt bad for Michael.
"Listen to me. I can promise you that this is not your fault, okay," Dean assured Michael.
"It's my job to look after him," Michael said.
Y/n and Sam look between Michael and Dean as Michael's mother appears, and is in a hurry to get to the hospital.
"Michael."
Michael stands up and walks over to her as she packs the car.
"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."
"I'm going with you," Michael said.
"Not now, Michael."
"But I gotta see Asher," Michael exclaimed.
"Hey Michael. Hey," Dean said, walking over to them. "I know how you feel. I'm a big brother, too. But you gotta go easy on your mom right now, okay?"
Michael's mom closes the car and drops her purse. Sam picks it up for her and, noticing her flustered state, Dean offers to drive her to the hospital, which she accepts. Before leaving, Dean looks at y/n and Sam.
"We're gonna kill this thing. I want it dead, you hear me," Dean said firmly.
While Dean is at the hospital, y/n and Sam head to the library to research the Shtriga. Y/n was skimming through books while Sam was using a microfiche machine. Sam gets his phone and calls Dean.
Sam asked how Asher was doing which caught y/n's attention. But he then shook his head, telling her that Asher wasn't doing well. That upset her clench her fist, ready to hurt someone or something. But she went back to research while Sam tells Dean what they found.
Sam tells him that they found reports dating back to the 1890s of similar cases of children becoming ill and dying over the course of a few months, with a new town being hit every 15 to 20 years. The Shtriga goes through a dozen kids before moving on. The kids that were unfortunate to become victims just languish in comas before they die.
Y/n gets upset and closes the book as it doesn't tell her squat. She stands up and paces back-n-forth a bit as she combs her hair with her hand and takes a deep breath. She then looks at the screen to see Sam reading one of the articles. She then sees a picture and it looks funny.
She walked up to him and told him to focus on the picture. He does what she asked and makes the picture the focus. The picture was from the year 1893 and it was a group of doctors treating a kid. And in the picture was Dr. Hydecker. This meant that the doctor is the witch. Dean hangs up the phone and y/n gets pissed.
"That sneaky bastard," y/n grumbled.
"Yeah. The perfect disguise. Everyone trusts him and he can get close to the victims without any issue," Sam said.
"Fuck," y/n exclaimed as she stormed out of the library.
"Y/n," Sam called out.
"Shhh."
Sam turns his head to see one of the patriots looking at him a bit annoyed with her finger over her lips, shushing him.
"I'm sorry," Sam said.
He quickly packed up everything and followed y/n out the building. He comes out of the library and looks around trying to spot her. But he doesn't see her.
"Damn it!"
He turns his head and heads to the source. He turns the corner of the library and sees y/n just punching the wall, upset.
"Fuck," y/n grumbled as she punch the wall.
Sam rushed to her and grabbed her wrist as she was about to punch the brick wall again. He saw her fist was shaking as it was red and bleeding.
"Y/n, calm down," Sam said.
"How am I supposed to remain calm when that bastard is killing innocent kids while possing as their fucking savior? That's all kinds of fuck up Sam," y/n exclaimed, pissed.
"I know. I understand that you're pissed but you're just hurting yourself," Sam said. "Plus, you can't let your emotions get the better of you, it'll cloud your judgment and you make mistakes you wouldn't normally do."
Y/n took deep breaths to calm herself. After a few breaths she felt her body relaxed. She then groaned a bit as she now felt the pain her fist was suffering.
"There you go," Sam said softly.
"Where the hell did you even get those words of wisdom," y/n asked as she rubbed her hand.
"From you," Sam said. "Remember, you told me that when I was so upset I could shoot some stupid beer cans."
Y/n's eyes slightly widen as she remembers that day. It was one of the times Bobby taught them how to get better at their gun work. Y/n and Dean were getting the hang of it and hitting the cans almost at every first shot. But Sam was having trouble aiming and doing it as fast as them. This made him upset and it didn't help that Dean laughed at him. This led to y/n giving him those words along with some pointers and him finally hitting all the cans.
Y/n lightly chuckled. "You actually remember those words after all these years?"
"Well, I try to live by them as much as I can," Sam admits. "It's good advice after all."
Y/n chuckled but winced as her fist was hurting.
"Come on, let's get you patched up," Sam said as he gently held her hand.
They head back to the motel and Sam treats y/n's injury. After disinfecting it, he gently wraps her fist. This action makes y/n's heart squeeze since she never really had anyone treat her injuries. She's always had to treat her own so it was nice for someone to treat her for once. This made her smile as it made her feel...safe.
Sam then puts the first aid stuff away and Dean comes through the door, still angry as he tells about his time at the hospital. That Hydeker spoke with him about Asher and he was barely able to contain his anger, but didn't attempt to attack the doctor.
"We should have thought of this before. A doctor's a perfect disguise. You're trusted, you can control the thing," Sam said.
"That son of a bitch," Dean said as he threw his jacket and paced the room agitated.
"I'm surprised you didn't draw on him right there," Sam admitted,
"Yeah well, first of all, I'm not going to open fire in a freaking pediatrics ward," Dean said.
"Smart," y/n commented.
"Second, wouldn't have done any good because that bastard's bullet proof unless he's chowing down on something. And third, I wasn't packing, which is probably a really good thing cause I probably would have just burned a clip in him on principle alone," Dean said, very angry.
"You're getting wise in your old age, Dean," Sam remarked.
"Damn right. 'Cause now I know how we're going to get it," Dean said as he walked over to y/n and Sam. He was about to talk when he noticed y/n's bandaged hand. "The hell happened to you?"
"You weren't the only one pissed by that bastard," y/n said.
"Interesting," Dean mumbled.
"But back to what you were saying, Dean," Sam said.
"Right. The Shtriga works through siblings right," Dean asked.
"Right," Sam confirmed.
"Well last night..."
"It went after Asher," y/n said, finishing his sentence.
"So I'm thinking tonight it's probably gonna come after Michael," Dean said.
"Well we gotta get him outta here," y/n stated but Dean shook his head.
"No. No, that would blow the whole deal," Dean said.
"What," y/n asked.
"Yeah," Dean said.
"Hold on...Are you saying we should use him as bait," y/n asked him.
Dean doesn't respond but his silence answers and her eyes widen.
"Are you crazy?! No," y/n stated, just appalled that Dean would even think that.
"She right, forget it. That's out of the question," Sam said.
"It's not out of the question guys, it's the only way--If this thing disappears, it could be years before we get another chance," Dean stated.
"Michael's a kid. And we're not going to dangle him in front of that thing like a worm on a hook," Sam said.
"Dad did not send me here to walk away," Dean said, angrily.
"Send YOU here? He didn't send you here. He sent us here," Sam said.
"This isn't about you or y/n, Sam. Alright, I'm the one that screwed up. It's my fault. There's no telling how many kids have gotten hurt because of me," Dean said as he turned away and took a few steps away from them.
"What are you talking about, Dean? How is any of this your fault," y/n asked.
But Dean doesn't answer and just takes a seat on his bed. Y/n was confused about what was going on and Sam sighed.
"Dean. You've been hiding something from the get-go. Since when does Dad bail on a hunt? Since when does he let something get away? Now talk to us, man. Tell us what's going on," Sam said.
Dean lets out a breath before he starts to talk. Back at Fort Douglas, Wisconsin, the third night since John left and Sam and Dean are still at the crappy motel room. Dean, at this point, was getting bored of being cooped up for so long, so he decided to go out for a bit. Before leaving he checks on a sleeping Sam, before exiting the room and heading to the arcade. After 20-ish minutes, the owner is closing up, so Dean heads back to the motel room. When he enters, he notices a light from Sam's room, and slowly walks towards it. He looks in to see Sam sleeping with the Shtriga above him, and reaches for the shotgun. He pointed the gun but was hesitant to shoot. John bursts in and fires at the Shtriga. Obviously hurt, it flees, and John rushes to check on Sam. Seeing Sam okay, John yells at Dean for not following his orders.
"Dad just grabbed us and booked, dropped us off at Pastor Jim's about three hours away. By the time he got back to Fort Douglas, the Shtriga had disappeared. It was...It was just gone. It never resurfaced until now. You know, Dad never spoke about it again. I didn't ask. But he, uh...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, and I almost got you killed," Dean said, finishing up the story as he dropped his head in shame and guilt.
"You were just a kid," Sam said softly.
"Don't. Don't. Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. He sent me here to finish it," Dean said.
"Okay but using Michael--I don't know Dean. There has to be another way," y/n suggested in a soft tone. "Like maybe one of us could hide under his cover as we'd be the bait."
"No, it won't work. It's gotta get close enough to feed. It'll see us. Believe me, I don't like it, but it's got to be the kid," Dean said.
So with not much choice, they go talk to Michael about the Shtira but he says they are crazy. And even threats to call the cops if they don't leave.
"Hang on a second. Just listen to me," Dean said. "You have to believe me, okay? 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 the three of them and slowly puts the phone down. He puts the phone back on the receiver and looks back at the trio.
"This thing--Is it, like... It has this long black robe," Michael asked.
"You saw it last night, didn't you," Dean asked.
"I thought I was having a nightmare," Michael admitted.
"I'd give anything not to tell you this, but sometimes nightmares are real," Dean said.
"So why are you telling me," Michael asked.
"Because we need your help," Dean replied.
"My help," Michael asked, confused.
"We can kill it, me and them. It's what we do. But we can't do it without you," Dean confessed.
"What? No," Michael exclaimed.
"Michael, listen to me. This thing hurt Asher. And it's gonna keep hurting kids unless we stop it. Do you understand me," Dean said.
Michael stares at him horrified and doesn't say a word. He goes in the back and the trio take that as him saying no. So they head back to the room and try to come up with another plan.
"Well that went crappy. Now what," Dean asked.
"What did you expect? You can't ask an adult to do something like that, much less a kid," Sam said.
There was a knock at the door and y/n opened it to see it was Michael. Seeing it was Michael, Dean walked up to the door and y/n stepped aside.
"If you kill it, will Asher get better," Michael asked.
Dean looks at y/n and Sam and they shrug since they had no idea. He sighed as he looked back at Michael.
"Honestly, we don't know," Dean admitted.
Michael took a moment before speaking again. "You said you're a big brother."
"Yeah," Dean said.
"You'd take care of your little brother? You'd do anything for him," Michael asked.
"Yeah, I would," Dean replied, which made Michael nod.
"Me too. I'll help."
That night, the trio placed cameras with night vision around Michael's bedroom. After getting the camera's in the right position and ready, Dean tells Micheal his part. He was going to hide under the covers. And when the Shtriga showed up, they were gonna come in with guns and he was going to hide under the bed and not come out until Dean gave the okay. Michael voices his worries about getting shot, but Dean assures him that he won't since they are good shots and they aren't gonna miss the Shtriga.
It's now roughly 3 AM, and the trio is waiting in another room for the Shtriga to show up.
"You sure these iron rounds are gonna work," Sam asked Dean.
"Consecrated iron rounds. And yeah, it's what Dad used last time," Dean replied.
"Alright, let's just wait for this bastard," y/n sighed.
"Hey, Dean, I'm sorry," Sam said.
"For what," Dean asked.
"You know... I've really given you a lot of crap for always following Dad's orders, but I know why you do it," Sam said.
"Oh, God, kill me now," Dean groaned.
"Why do you always do that when we try to have a nice moment," y/n asked with a light chuckle.
"Because I don't want any chick-flick moments. They're annoying," Dean stated.
Y/n rolled her eyes as Sam shook his head. They sit in silence and look at the cameras. Dean then spots something on the camera and it was some movement outside the window. The window slides open and they grab their guns as the Shtriga slips inside Michael's room.
"Now," y/n asked, eager to just kill the monster and be done with this messed up job.
"Not yet," Dean said.
The Shtriga moves closer and leans over Michael's bed. Michael's terrified but he was unable to move. The Shriga leans closer as it opens its mouth. As it's about to feed, the trio burst into the room.
"Michael, down," Dean ordered.
Michael hurries to hide under the bed and covers his ears. Once Michael was safe, the trio opened fire on the bastard. When it appears to be dead, the trio went to check on it to make sure and the Shtriga attacked again. It throws y/n and Dean across the room. Dean hits the wall and falls to the ground as y/n crashes into the bookcase. It then grabs Sam and chokes him as it begins to feed. Dean manages to get there in time and kills the Shtriga, for good this time.
"You okay, little brother," Dean asked Sam.
Sam nods his head and unsteadily holds up two thumbs-up as he tries to catch his breath.
"You okay y/n," Dean asked.
"Super," y/n groaned.
The three of them stand up and look at the Shtriga. The energy the Shtriga stole escapes its mouth as Dean shoots it a couple more times for good measure and because it deserves it. More energy escaped its mouth as it disintegrated.
Unharmed but shaken, Michael climbs out from under the bed. He stood next to them and Dean put his hand on Micheal's shoulder and smiled as it was now over.
The next morning, the trio is packing up the Impala, getting ready to head out. Micheal's mom comes out and approaches them.
"Hey, Joanna, how's Asher doing," Dean asked.
"Have you seen Michael," Joanna asked.
On cue, Michael runs up to her and gives her a hug.
"How's Ash," Michael asked his mom.
"I've got some good news. Your brother's gonna be fine," Joanna said.
"Really," Michael asked, grinning.
"Yeah, really. No one can explain it. It's, uh, it's a miracle," Joanna exclaimed. "They're gonna keep him in overnight for observation, but after that, he's coming home."
"That's great," Dean said.
"How are all the other kids doing," y/n asked.
"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," Joanna said.
"Dr. Travis? What about Dr. Hydeker," Sam asked.
"Oh he wasn't in today. Must have been sick or something," Joanna said.
"Yeah, yeah, must have," Dean said with a knowing smirk.
"So did anything happen while I was gone," Joanna asked Michael.
Michael glanced at Dean, not sure what to say. But he quickly glanced back at his mom as he figured out the right words.
"No, same old stuff," Michael said.
"Okay. You can go see Ash," Joanna said.
"Now," Michael asked, excited.
"Only if you want to," Joanna said.
Michael looked to Dean who gave him a slight nod. Michael runs to the car, making Joanna laugh. She excused herself as she went to follow her son. The trio turn back to the Impala and Dean shuts the trunk.
"It's too bad," Sam said, walking to the passenger side.
"No, they'll be fine," Dean said, going to the driver's side.
"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," Sam said. "Sometimes I wish that..."
"What," Dean asked.
"I wish I could have that kind of innocence," Sam admitted.
"Me too," y/n mumbled.
"If it means anything, sometimes I wish you both could too," Dean said.
Y/n and Sam exchange a look as Dean climbs into the car. He starts the engine as Sam and y/n climb inside. The Impala pulls out the motel parking lot and drives off on the open road.