The Scandal: Part 3

..part 2

Sam groaned quietly. "Great. Another thing to worry about."

Dean pursed his lips. "Well, we can't go back to the hospital right now. So we have to figure something else out. Do you have any ideas? They could all be related."

"How'd we not notice this earlier? Dean asked angrily, glancing between Cas and Sam, Jesus christ!"

Sam raised his arms in the air, exasperated. " don't know! How was supposed to know the accident was bad news?! he snapped at Dean.

"I'm sorry, okay?! If I had known, wouldn't have brought her to that damn house! I wouldn't have brought you there either! What was supposed to do?! Just stand there and watch you guys break up?!"

"Well don't remember you offering to help us figure it out!" Dean yelled back.

"Guys!" Sam exclaimed in surprise when Dean raised his voice yet again. He stared at them in amazement. Then, he sighed heavily. "Can we get on track here? Because, honestly, I am not in the mood to fight right now."

The three men fell silent and stared at each other for a few seconds before breaking off the stares to look around. They began walking along the sidewalk, keeping an eye out for anyone they knew. After half an hour or so of searching, they sat on the floor. Almost immediately, they spotted two figures coming towards them from the opposite direction. The two figures came to a halt a few steps away from them.

"Hey, hey!" one of the figures exclaimed excitedly. "You guys alright? You're not hurt, are you?"

One of the two figures walked over and helped them up, patting Castiel on the back, who winced slightly at how hard the man's hands were shaking.

When the man pulled away from him, he caught sight of Dean and froze.

"Who are you guys?" he asked suspiciously.

"Um... we're uh..." Sam stammered, unsure of how to respond. The man glared angrily at Dean, whom he still held onto, before looking down at Castiel, who was rubbing his forehead.

"Uh, yeah. We are," Castiel finally answered.

"And why aren't you answering my questions?" The man narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

Castiel glanced at Sam. "Because we don't want you to think we are injured." Castiel paused for a moment before adding, "Or worse, dead."

"Oh," the man replied. "Well, that makes sense."

" And our names are Castiel, Sam, and Dean" Cas added quickly.

"Oh!" The man paused for a moment before saying, "Well you guys can call me Chuck and these guys over call me Balthazar. The man looked back at his friend, who was giving him a confused stare "Sorry, babe,' Chuck chuckle.

Silence fell between the five.

After a few minutes, Sam looked up and noticed another group of people walking their way. One of them was holding something that resembled a camera.

"Is that a camera?" Dean asked curiously.

Chuck and Balthazar exchanged glances with each other and Chuck smiled warmly at Dean. "No, it isn't a camera. It's actually an XR3."

Cas tilted his head slightly, looking at Chuck curiously. "An XR3?"

"Uh, yeah," Chuck grinned widely and gave the others a nervous glance before continuing, "XR3 cameras are used by people with diseases like AIDS to document people experiencing symptoms, sometimes things like seizures, heart attacks, and respiratory problems. In fact, we have quite a few in storage at the bunker."

Balthazar chuckled slightly as Castiel glanced up at him in astonishment.

"So why are you guys here? And how did you get here, in area?" Dean questioned once again as Balthazar moved closer to Dean.

Chuck shrugged his shoulders and scratched his temple lightly. "Well, that's kind of the thing, Dean."

Cas furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

"There is a reason we're here," Balthazar explained. "We're doing research on and we got lucky today."

"Lucky?" Castiel repeated, confused. "You're not investigating the hospital?"

Chuck shook his head and sighed in annoyance. "No, I mean lucky. We found something really interesting."

"What did you find?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

Chuck glanced at his friend and shrugged. "A lot."

"Well... spill," Sam said impatiently. "And tell me it's not going to kill Alex."

Chuck glanced down before taking a deep breath. "Alright, fine, but you need to promise me that you won't freak out. Can you do that?"

"Why wouldn't we freak out? Is it bad?" Dean asked worriedly.

Chuck shook his head. "Not necessarily. But..." he hesitated for a second before finishing his sentence "...it could be."

To be continued...