A Season In Hell

the thought rattles my brain

John Winchester was dead. Because of course he was. 6 years ago he collapsed in a hospital and didn't get up again. His death certificate was right there on Penelope's laptop screen.

"I'm sorry, Reid. ", she said and it's not like she wasn't genuine. Penelope might be the most genuine person Reid had ever met. But her tone was so careful and that ticked Reid off. Everyone was so careful with him these days. They touched him like he was made of glass, like he'd shatter at the slightest friction. Maybe he would. That didn't mean that Reid liked being treated like that.

But it wasn't Penelope's fault, it wasn't anyone's really. So he didn't go off on her. He just nodded along because what else was he supposed to do.

John Winchester was dead.

Reid wasn't sure how he felt about that. It's not like he had just lost another father figure, he didn't have that kind of relationship with the man. But it did cause the hopelessness to creep back in. The feeling that there was nothing left for him to do.

Penelope seemed to notice the shift in him because she quickly tried to salvage the situation. "Do you wanna know what else I found out?", She asked and Reid glanced up at her.

"That wasn't everything?", He asked and he hated how his voice cracked.

"Nope... There is always more. So I did a little research and I don't know if you know this but you have two half-brothers.", She went on and Reid nodded along. He did know that, his mother had mentioned a Sam and a Dean in her diaries. But he had been so focused on John that he hadn't really consciously thought about them.

"Yeah, Sam and Dean Winchester. Did you find them?", he asked perking up in his seat.

"Yes and no. Let me just say that your pops and his sons are really good at avoiding tracking. None of them have an online presence or a permanent state of residency. The boys moved schools a lot. The younger one was in Stanford for a while, which is the longest time either of them were documented somewhere. But the last couple of years there is nothing.", she explained and Reid let out a heavy sigh.

"So that's a dead end, too?", he asked. If his father was dead then his half-brothers were Reid's next best option at getting answers. All of that was meaningless, though, if they couldn't find them.

"Oh come on, boy wonder, you don't really think that that's all I can do?", Penelope smirked before pulling up a new file. "I went over the accounts of John Winchesters death and even though it was later ruled as a death of natural causes there had been a very short investigation. As I said, his death was natural but the police did confiscate his phone which is why I was able to get my hands on his phone records and that's how I found a guy that he repeatedly called over the course of several years called Robert Singer and Robert Singer has a permanent residency in Sioux Falls South Dakota.", Penelope rattled down and a slight smile appeared on Reid's lips.

"Penelope, you are a national treasure. Can you give me the address?", Reid asked, getting up from his chair, his mind already racing a mile a minute. He knew that he was grasping at straws now but at this point he was pretty much willing to try anything. Anything to give himself a task. He needed something to focus on or he'd go off the rails. If he needed to go to South Dakota to prevent that, then so be it.

"Wait, you wanna go there? Are you sure, Reid? What if the guy is an axe-murderer? Not to be rude but your dad seemed like a kinda shady dude just judging by how much effort he put into staying off the radar and this Robert guy might be, too?", Penelope argued, the expression on her face concerned. Reid wondered, if the concern stemmed from his actions actually being concerning or if everyone was just generally concerned with whatever he did these days.