THE GIVING TREE

n a suburban house, a little girl kneels by her bed. "Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep, may angels watch me through the night and keep me save til morning light. Amen." She says.

Her Dad helps her into bed. "Amen." He repeats. "Night Monkey Puss."

"Daddy, is Mommy coming home?" The Little Girl asks.

"No honey, she's spending the night at the hospital with your sister. You sleep tight now." He says and leaves.

Outside, a tree branch scratches against the window. The girl sits up in bed, afraid. She gathers her courage, races to the window and pulls the curtain across, then hides back under the covers. The scratching tree branch turns into a long spindly fingered hand and the window is slowly pulled open.

A shadow approaches the bed, the girl is wide eyes and terrified under the covers. The hand is placed on her shoulder, she is turned and see's someone in a hood, only their mouth and chin visible. The skin is deeply wrinkled, the mouth opens and a bright light is emitted. The little girls begins to scream.

he Impala cruises down a country road. "Yeah. You probably missed something, that's what." Dean says.

"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 asks.

"Yeah, I double checked. It's Fitchburg, Wisconson. Dad wouldn't have sent us coordinates if it wasn't important Sammy." Dean says.

Sam gets 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." He says.

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

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

"You're a real smart ass you know that?" Dean says, then softens when he looks over at Sam. "Don't worry I'm sure there's something in Fitchburg worth killing."

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

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

Elena shakes her head. "No it doesn't." She and Sam say at the same time.

"It totally does." Dean glances at Sammy then looks back at the road with a little grin. The impala cruises past the sign for Fitchburg, population 20,501.

[ ☼ ]

am leans against the Impala staring ahead. Dean and Elena cross the road to him. Dean holds two coffees while Elena takes a sip of her own. Glasow's Diner can be seen in the background.

"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 and hands Sam his coffee.

"Dean you got the time?" Sam asks.

Dean looks at his watch. "Ten after Four. Why?" He asks.

"What's wrong with this picture." Sam has been watching a playground. It is deserted, only one child climbing around.

"School's out isn't it?" Elena asks.

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

A woman sits on a park bench reading a magazine. Dean approaches. "Sure is quiet out here." He says.

"Yeah, it's a shame." The Woman says.

"Why's that?"

"You know, kids getting sick, it's a terrible thing." She responds.

"How many?" Dean asks.

"Just five or six but serious, hospital serious. A lot of parents are getting pretty anxious. They think it's catching." They both watch the little girls playing by herself.

[ ☼ ]

am, Elena and Dean enter and approach the reception desk. "Dude. Dude I am not using this ID." Sam says.

"Why not?" Dean asks.

"Because it says bikini inspector on it." Sam says.

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 and keeps walking. The receptionist looks up.

"Hi. I'm Doctor Jerry Caplin, from diesease control." Sam says.

"Can I see some ID?" She asks.

Further down the corridor Dean sniggers and Elena smacks him on the arm. Sam throws Dean a dirty look. "Yeah of course." He says and quickly flashes the ID. "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 says.

Sam approaches a grinning Dean, giving major bitchface. Dean is still grinning. "See. I told you it would work." He says to Sam.

"Follow me it's upstairs." Sam growls.

Upstairs, Sam, Elena and Dean walk down the corridor. Dean looks into a room they pass. An old evil looking woman sitting in a wheelchair slowly turns her head to look at him. An inverted cross hangs on her wall.

"Dean!" Sam yells. Dean follows Sam, glancing back toward the room.

Sam, Elena and Dean walk into a Hospital Corridor with a Doctor. "Thanks for seeing us Dr Heidecker." Elena says.

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

"Oh some GP, I forget his name, he called Atlanta and musta 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. And now..." Doctor Heidecker starts.

"Now what?" Sam asks.

The Doctor looks down. "Kids aren't responding to antibiotics. Their white cell counts keep going down. Their immune systems aren't doing their job. It's like their bodies are wearing out."

A Nurse interrupts the four of them. "Excuse me Dr Heidecker." The Nurse hands him some forms to look over and sign.

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

"Never this severe." Heidegger says.

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

"What do you mean?" Elena asks.

"It works its way through families. But only the children, one sibling after the other." The Nurse says.

"You mind if we interview a few of the kids?" Sam asks.

"They're not conscious." The Nurse says.

"None of them?" Elena asks.

"No."

"Can we, uh, can we talk to the parents?" Dean asks.

"If you think it will help." The doctor says.

"Yeah. Who was your most recent admission?" Dean asks.

man sits on a chair against the wall, Sam, Elena and Dean stand in front of him. "I should get back to my girls." The Man says.

"We understand that, and we really appreciate you talking to us. Now you say Mary is the oldest?" Sam asks.

"Thirteen." He says.

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

"Bethany, the next night." The Man says.

"Within 24 hours?" Sam asks.

"I guess. Look I already went through all this with the Doctor." The Man says.

Dean turns to the Man. "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?" He asks.

"No. We think it was an open window." The Man says.

"Both times?" Elena asks.

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

"So you think she opened it?" Sam asks.

"It's a second story window with a ledge. No one else could have." The Man says.

Sam, Elena and Dean walk back down the corridor. "You know this might not be anything supernatural, it might just be pneumonia." Sam says.

"Maybe. Or maybe something opened that window." Dean says.

"I don't know man, Dad sent us down down here for a reason. I think we may be barking up the right tree." Sam says.

"I agree." Elena says.

"I'll tell you one thing." Sam says.

"What?" Dean asks.

"That guy we just talked to? I bet it will be a while before he goes home."

n Bethany's room, Sam and Dean check the room with EMF while Elena watches. "You got anything over there?" Sam asks.

"No nothing." Dean says.

"Yeah, me neither." Sam says. They keep checking. Sam moves to the window. "Hey Dean?"

"Yeah." Dean says.

Sam stares at the windowsill. "You were right, it's not pneumonia." He says.

Dean comes over and they stare at a handprint rotted into the wood. "It's rotted. What the hell leaves a handprint like that?" Elena asks.

[ ☾]

oung Dean and Sam. Young Dean (around 9-10) is staring at a photo of the same handprint. John comes out of the bedroom, loading his sawn off shotgun. "All right. You know the drill Dean. Anybody calls, you don't pick up. It's me, I'll ring once then call back. You got that?" John orders.

"Mm-hmm. Only answer the phone if it rings once first." Young Dean says.

"Look alive, this stuff is important." John says.

"I know, it's just...we've gone over it like a million times and you know I'm not stupid." Dean says.

"I know you're not, but it only takes one mistake you got that?" John continues gathering his things. "All right, if I'm not back Sunday night...?"

"Call Pastor Jim." Dean finishes.

"Lock the doors, the windows, close the shades. Most important..." John starts.

"Watch out for Sammy." They both look to Sammy, sprawled on the couch watching TV. "I know." Dean says.

"All right. If something tries to bust in?" John asks.

"Shoot first, ask questions later."

John takes Dean's his shoulder. "That's my man." He says.

"I know why Dad sent us here. He's faced this thing before. He wants us to finish the job." Dean says.