AN: Well, it looks like I need to apologize once again for the ridiculously long wait - I hope you all can forgive me and that you still like me even after you get to the end of the chapter. Take care!

Feeling as if he were being stretched in two different directions, Dean struggled to open his eyes only to hiss at the pain that his newfound awareness brought to his attention. He could already tell that wherever he was, it was dark and cold… not a combination that he liked on a decent day, and he was getting the distinct feeling that he wasn't having a decent day at all. Suddenly full awareness slammed into him and he forced his eyes open and looked around.

"Sammy!" he hissed, not sure if he was hoping to hear something or not. He would have loved to hear his little brother's voice, but that would have meant that Sammy had been taken too and possibly even…

"Damn it Sammy, if you're here you better be ok." he whispered as he looked up at his bound wrists and continued to struggle in the hopes of loosening the bindings that held him suspended from what looked to be a cave ceiling. Hearing something coming closer he stilled his movements and closed his eyes, hoping for the element of surprise. Although he still wasn't sure what he was going to be able to do the way he was tied up.

The cave was still and quiet except for the small movement that seemed to scurry closer to Dean, which puzzled him. Whatever it was definitely wasn't a mouse, but wasn't the creature that took him either. Not sure what to make of it, he forced himself to wait until…

"Dean…" Sammy whispered as he got closer to his brother. He didn't want to attract the attention of the Wendigo, but he felt fairly certain that the creature was far enough way at the moment that it wouldn't hear if he was really quiet and maybe blended in as much as possible.

Startled, Dean snapped his eyes open and stared at this little brother for a moment before letting loose a list of words that would have earned him a slap on the head if their dad ever heard him. Finally calming down he looked at Sammy closely and wondered just what the hell had happened.

"I tried to hide like you said Dean, but I couldn't let it… I couldn't let it hurt you anymore. It brought me with you, but left me at the entrance… I think it thought I was dead." Sammy said quietly as he reached up and gave his big brother a drink of water from a canteen he'd found. He'd already tried it and knew the water was fresh which meant there was someone else in here… somewhere. Seeing his brother's question he sighed, "I had one of my episodes again… I think it left me there to rot."

Hearing Dean cussing again, Sammy tried to calm his brother down. At the moment the creature seemed to think that Dean was by himself and he hoped to use it to their advantage.

Dean didn't care about the creature that had him trussed up like a Christmas goose; his main focus now was to get his little brother out of there before he got himself killed. "Sammy, get out of here, go find dad and…"

"Dean… dad will find us… it… it's leading him here. We need to get you out of here before that happens." Sammy said, worried about how he was going to get Dean down.

"Hey Sammy, don't worry, we'll figure something out, ok?" Dean said confidently. If anyone could come up with an idiotic plan that would somehow work, it was him, but one question started to plague his mind. "Sammy… how is it that it doesn't know you're here?"

"Uh… you really don't want to know Dean… please don't make me tell you." Sammy whispered miserably. He knew Dean would have a fit at what he'd done, but it was the only thing that made sense to him at the time… no matter how disgusting it was. Seeing how his brother was looking at him, he knew he didn't have a choice. "Ok I'll tell you, but you can't get mad… ok? I took the jacket off a body and then rolled around in the dirt."

Starting at Sammy, Dean wasn't sure what to say. Sure the whole cave smelt like death so he hadn't noticed any difference, but to think that his little brother was wearing Odor de Cadaver, well… it wasn't something that would ever help him sleep, that's for sure. He was just about to say something to that effect when he noticed Sammy's eyes and groaned… 'Ah c'mon kiddo… not now.' He thought as he heard something from one of the other chambers and it was getting closer.

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John didn't understand it… in fact, if someone had told him even a day ago that he would have messed up this badly, he'd have kicked that person's ass for the mere suggestion. However, it was a moot point now and all he could think about was how his failure to check things out ahead of time was the direct cause of this fiasco.

It hadn't taken too long to get to the trunk and get the supplies he knew he'd need, but it was the campsite that took him the longest. He could tell that his boys put up a hell of a fight - he could even see Sammy's shoe prints where he must have confronted the Wendigo after Dean had fallen. A mixture of pride and fear battled within him as a bloody scenario played out in his mind, one that he didn't like, one that meant that he could very well be alone in the world.

Aggravation turned to anger as he pushed away his paranoia and focused on the facts. There was a damn Wendigo on the loose and he was standing there wasting time mourning for his boys even though he didn't have a clue whether or not they were dead.

"Idiot!" he cursed himself as he trudged through the forest, following the blatant trail. "The boys are strong, they're fine." He muttered, even while trying to keep that damn doctor's voice from echoing through his brain. "Yeah well… we'll deal with any complications as they come up doc… until then, get out of my damn head!"

Satisfied that he could now focus on the task at hand, he set back out and rushed to where he knew his boys were; where he knew a trap lay.

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"Sammy… SAMMY!!!" Dean hissed loudly, snapping his brother out of his trance. "Get out of here, now!"

Shaking his head, Sammy knew he couldn't leave his big brother there by himself, so opted for the next logical step… he made himself into part of the scenery. Lying flat on the cave floor, up against the wall, he was in the darkest part of the chamber and easily fell into the shadows. Keeping his eyes as closed as possible, he vowed not to make a sound, no matter what happened. He had to stay strong for Dean; he couldn't let his brother down.

Dean couldn't believe his eyes, but refused to say anything that could possibly give Sammy's position away. Giving up the pretense of being asleep, he instead watched the creature advance upon him and waited until it was close enough before he kicked out with both feet, connecting with its chest.

"Get out of here, lunch isn't ready, so back the hell off!" Dean yelled, hoping to keep the damn fugly focused solely on him and nowhere close to Sammy. "That's right… go get your kick off some else's Route sixty - … ARGH!!!" he screamed as the creatures claws ripped through his abdomen, not once but twice, leaving eight long gashes across his stomach and torso. Damn it hurt. He would have been more concerned about the pain if it wasn't for the fact that his little brother had witnessed it, front row center, and that the damn thing left without doing anything else.

"Damn, that hurt Sammy." He said quietly, hoping to get a reaction out of his little brother, but anything else he had to say stuck in his throat as he noticed Sammy was staring at him with a glazed look, and his breathing seemed to be shallow pants. "Sammy? Come on kiddo… you can't give up on me now. Sammy? Sammy!"

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The trail was clear and he really had to wonder if the damn thing thought he was really this stupid or if it just lacked imagination. Chalking it up to the first option, he decided to use it to his advantage and veered off the path that it had laid out for him and blazed a trail of his own – one that would hopefully lure it away from his boys and into a trap that he needed to construct fast.

He found an area and began to etch the symbols at the base of the trees until he had almost a full circle, leaving enough of a pathway for him and the evil bastard to get through before he placed the last sigil in place that he was carrying in his pocket – a stone large enough to hold the aborigines symbol, but still small enough to carry without weighing him down. Now all he had to do was be the bait.

Loading his handgun with half packed rounds, he walked away from his trap, back towards the way he came and began to listen to the area around him. Finally the faint call hit his ears and if it wasn't for the fact that he knew what he was dealing with, he would have easily fallen for it.

"Dad… Dad, please help us… Dean's hurt Daddy…"

The sound of what was supposed the be his youngest son's voice came close to being his undoing, but before he allowed himself to call out, he reiterated to himself the position they were in. A wendigo was loose, it had the boys, it was fast, smart, cunning and could even mimic others.

"Sammy! Sammy son, where are you?" he called out as he turned around in circles as if really searching for where Sammy's yell was coming from. He heard the beginnings of another call, but tuned it out and instead fired his gun in the general direction before racing off to his own safe haven – all the while hoping his boys were alright, and that he could set the trap before being ripped apart.

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Dean wasn't exactly sure what to do, but he kept his constant chatter in hopes of convincing Sammy to come back to him. He wondered if this was it though… if this damn camping trip would be the very thing that would completely rip their family apart. He knew for a fact that if Sammy died, the rest of their family would too.

"Come on little brother… this narcolepsy thing you have going on here, it's getting a bit boring don't you think?" he asked quietly, hoping to gently coax Sammy back to the land of truly living and not borderline comatose. He was about to start on his x-rated playboy bunny jokes when he finally saw it – the slight twitch around Sammy's eyes. "That's it Sammy, come back to me little brother."

"Dean?" Sammy whispered while trying hard to get rid of the dryness in his mouth. He wasn't sure what exactly happened, but from the look of Dean's shirt, it couldn't have been good. "Dean? You ok?" he asked, knowing that it was the most idiotic question that he'd asked in quite awhile.

Smirking, Dean couldn't believe it. Here his little brother was fighting to stay healthy and the kid was asking how he was doing – unbelievable. "Yeah little brother, I'm doing just peachy. Although I'd be a lot better if you could help me down from here."

Nodding, Sammy struggled to sit up and swayed where he sat, but forced himself to ignore it – ignore Dean – because everything seemed to black out for a moment while he slowly stood. It took longer than he was really ready to admit, but he was finally able to force the darkness back and face his brother once again.

"Ok…uh… Dean, I can't reach your wrists, so how am I going to get you down?" he asked, as he stumbled slightly as he made his way to Dean's side.

Worried, Dean wasn't sure if this was the brightest idea he'd ever had, but he had to take the chance. If he didn't get Sammy out of there, who knew what damage would be done. Taking a deep breath he forced an encouraging smile.

"Hey Sammy, it's no problem. Take my boot knife, then climb up me like the koala bear you used to be and while those scrawny legs of yours are wrapped around me, take the knife and cut me lose. I swear I won't land on you, ok kiddo? But we really need to get out of here."

Horrified, Sammy looked into Dean's eyes before he looked at his brother's chest and stomach and knew there was no way he could do it without hurting Dean – his big brother, best friend and protector. Shaking his head, he slowly backed away, trying hard to ignore the tears building in his eyes as he faced one of his worst fears – hurting his brother.

Dean knew that look and couldn't help but feel the kid's pain, but this had to be done. He wasn't a moron, or a masochist, he knew it was going to hurt and he wasn't going to enjoy it, but it had to be done.

"Sammy, I want you to look at me. If you don't do this, that thing's going to come back, and whatever it has in mind for me is going to be a whole hell of a lot worse than what your anorexic little ass can do. So pull the knife out of my boot, and get to climbing!"

Trying to stifle the sniffle that was doing its best to escape, Sammy reached under his brothers pant leg and pulled out the knife, all the while wishing there was another way to do this. He could tell that the wounds weren't bleeding anymore, but he also knew that when he started, they could possibly rip worse than what they were now. Looking up into his brother's eyes, he could see the faith Dean had in him and he prayed that he didn't let him down.