"I SAID STAY BACK POWELL!" Blake ordered.

Powell had attempted to take another step towards the group but jumped back upon hearing Blake's order. A look of confusion was on his face as he still didn't seem to understand why everyone except Mike and Sam seemed to be afraid of him and why his partner was now pointing a gun at him. Sam just continued watching the standstill with her familiar creepy smile. As for Mike, he didn't know what to do. There was no doubt that the mark on Powell's arm was a bite made by Norton. It didn't look too bad and basic first aid from Richter would ensure it didn't get infected. But it was the fact the bite was made by Norton who was transforming into a wendigo at the time that was making the others nervous.

"Blake what are you…?" Powell asked as he slowly raised his arms only to finally notice the bite. "Oh sh…Blake no! It's nothing, I swear!"

"Nothing!" Alice shouted from behind Blake. "Norton bit you! Don't you know what that means?!"

"It just means I've got a nasty wound on my arm and I should probably let Richter take a look at it."

Richter shook his head, "forget it, I'm not getting anywhere near you."

"But Richter," Mike said, "you need to. The wound might get infected if it's not taken care of."

"It's already infected Michael," Tyler said.

"No Tyler, it's just a bite. Powell will be fine once Richter's checked it out."

"You hear that Blake?" Powell said, "Michael says it's nothing. You said it yourself that he knows more about this stuff than we do."

Blake's hands were now beginning to shake, "everyone shut up for a minute! Let me think!"

Mike carefully took a step towards Blake, "Detective put the gun down, please. I'm telling you that nothing is going to happen because Norton bit Detective Powell."

"Are you sure about that Mike?" asked Sam.

Mike looked at Sam in shock, "what? Sam you know there's nothing…"

"What do I know? You didn't listen to me the last time we were in a situation like this."

"SAM!"

"QUIET!" Blake shouted silencing Mike and Sam. "Believe me Powell, I don't want to do this but…if Norton bit you….you could turn into one those things."

Blake's last statement caused Mike to freeze. For a second he thought heard Blake speaking in his voice. Not only that but she even used words that he himself used just three weeks ago. The place even seemed to change around him so that it looked like the lodge's basement. He shook his head in an attempt to bring himself back to reality. This proved futile as Sam spoke next.

"That's a valid concern Detective. Besides don't forget what Mike said when he was telling you guys how wendigos are created. He said it was from EATING each other - remember he said it!"

Mike would have snapped at Sam for encouraging Blake to kill Powell but he was thrown off when she suddenly started sounding like Ashley. Mike was beginning to sweat. Right before his eyes, the incident in the basement was happening all over again. He frantically shook his head again but then Powell spoke in what he heard as Emily's voice.

"You're going to shoot me? Me?"

"No," Mike softly said, "not again."

"I have no choice Powell." Blake said, "you're putting us ALL in danger."

More of Mike's own words were used again by Blake. Each word felt like a sharp blow striking Mike's head. Mike grabbed his head to try and ease the pain but it was no use. With a near perfect reenactment of the events in the lodge's basement going on in front of him, it brought back all the pain and guilt he felt after he killed Emily. Besides leaving Josh behind, killing Emily was the moment that ate at him the most. Even if he did find Josh alive to atone for the former, the latter was something he could never take back. True he thought that coming back to the mountain to help the rescue workers would give him the chance to do some good. But now he was beginning to feel there was no hope of ever getting rid of the guilt he felt about what happened to Emily. His thoughts were interrupted when he managed to fight through the pain to see that Blake was beginning to pull the trigger.

"NOOOOO!"

(BANG!)

A shot was fired but Powell was unhurt. Before Blake finished pulling the trigger, Mike managed to lunge for the gun and push it to the side. After the initial surprise of Mike's interference, Blake gripped the gun harder anticipating that Mike was going to try and disarm her. That wasn't what Mike did however. Instead he dropped to his knees and moved Blake's gun so that it was pressed right up to his forehead. It was then Blake saw that Mike was crying. This didn't go unnoticed by everyone else in the group who were surprised to see the one guy who always seemed to keep a cool head suddenly break down. Blake tried to move the gun away from Mike's head but Mike held it firmly in place.

"Let go Michael," she said.

Mike didn't move or say anything in response to Blake's request. The others in the group shared nervous glances while silently wondering what Mike was doing. Blake told Mike to let go of the gun one more time but Mike just continued to cry while keeping the gun pointed at his head. Nobody dared to move a muscle. The tension was so thick a person could cut it with knife.

"Please Michael," Blake pleaded, "I don't want to kill you."

"Go ahead," Mike sobbed, "at least I would deserve it, unlike Detective Powell."

Alice gasped, "what are you talking about Mike?"

"The mistake you're all about to make is exactly the same one I did with Emily."

Blake looked at Mike confused, "I don't understand. When I interviewed you three weeks ago, you said that Emily was infected and that you had to stop her from changing."

Mike shook his head, "that's what I thought would happen at the time. It was only after I killed her that Sam and Ashley found out wendigo bites weren't infectious. (sob) I…I killed Emily for nothing. I haven't had a good nights sleep since that night because I keep reliving the decisions I made that got my friends killed in my nightmares. Every time I wake up, I ask myself why I'm still alive and they're not. When I heard that you guys were in trouble up here, I thought that I was being given a chance to make up for what happened that night. But who was I kidding. People are still dying because of decisions I've made. I don't…I don't deserve to live if all I do is get people killed. So go ahead Detective Blake, pull the trigger."

While Mike continued sobbing, Blake looked to the others for help. With the exception of Sam, everyone else had their heads bowed in sadness. Then Richter looked up to Blake and shook his head. Alice and Tyler followed suit. After looking at Powell one more time, who was still looking at her with pleading eyes, Blake sighed and let go of her gun. Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief when she did. The biggest sigh came from Powell who was about ready to collapse. The sighs caused Mike to open his eyes and look at Blake with confusion. Blake then knelt down so that she was eye level with Mike and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Listen to me Michael," she said, "I understand how you feel. Being a cop, I've had to make a lot of life and death decisions. Unfortunately not all of them worked out how I wanted and people died. The thing is you can't let those moments define you. Even if you've made some mistakes, you've done some good too. You saved Alice when Norton attacked her and just now you stopped me from unnecessarily killing my partner. You're a good kid Michael and you care about the well being of others. A person like you doesn't deserve to die. Now how about you help us get out of here."

Looking behind Blake, Mike saw the others smile at him. As Blake's words went through his mind, he realized she was right. What happened to Emily was terrible and it was okay if he always had regrets about it but it didn't have to be his defining moment. He could still do some good with his life and rescuing these people and Josh could be the start. Mike stood up with Blake and held out her gun for her to take back. He then walked with her over to Powell who was still recovering from nearly being shot.

"It's okay Detective," Mike said, "it's over."

"Powell," Blake said, "I know nothing I say can excuse what I did and I wouldn't blame you for not forgiving me but I really am sorry. If we get out of here and you don't want to be partners anymore, I'll understand."

Blake turned to walk away but was stopped when Powell held her back, "Blake, don't beat yourself up over it. If the roles were reversed, I'd probably have done the same thing. The important thing is that you stopped yourself before it was too late. When we get out of here, I'd rather we just put everything that's happened here behind us. What do you say…partner?"

Powell held out his hand as he finished speaking. The gesture was a great relief for Blake who happily shook Powell's hand. The group was then pleasantly surprised when Powell pulled Blake in for a hug. Seeing the two partners reconcile did bring some happiness to the group…but alas it didn't last long.

Mike was so focused on the happiness surrounding the reconciliation that he almost didn't notice that Powell's attention was now on Sam. When Powell saw her, his face became the familiar shade of red that Mike had gotten used to seeing. The same was true with Sam who appeared to be unfazed by Powell's angry stare. When the others noticed it as well, they held their breaths as they waited for the seemingly inevitable charge Powell was going to make. Even Blake didn't seem to be willing to stop Powell this time. Powell's charge was only stopped by Mike stepping in his way. Unlike the last time Mike stood between Powell and Sam, he didn't pull out his shotgun but that was because he knew he wouldn't need it. Powell was about to order Mike to move aside but stopped when Mike held up a hand to silence him. Mike then gestured for Powell to come closer so that he could whisper something. When Powell listened to what Mike said, his facial color returned to normal and his eyes looked at Mike with confusion. Mike merely responded by nodding his head to indicate that he meant what he said. With nothing else to say, Powell turned to head back towards the others.

"Sam," Mike said when Powell had walked away, "can I talk to you for a minute…alone?"

Sam raised an eyebrow at Mike but shrugged her shoulders and gestured for Mike to lead the way. Mike proceeded to lead them down a passageway that would take them back to the elevators where they had originally found Blake, Powell and Tyler. Once they had vanished from view, Powell instructed the rest of the group to gather around. He was waiting for everyone else to get in a circle before he started speaking but Richter beat him to it.

"What's going on Detective?" he asked. "What did Michael say to you?"

Powell sighed, "he said that he was going to have a word with Sam about what just happened and that he wanted me to talk with you guys about what our next step is going to be while we wait for them to come back."

"What else did he say?" Blake asked nervously. "I saw the way you looked at him and he said something that surprised you. What was it?"

"Well," Powell said as he looked towards the direction Mike and Sam left, "he told me that we are not to interrupt his conversation with Sam….no matter what sounds we might hear coming from that direction."

"I have to say that was some show you put on back there Mike," Sam chuckled.

Mike didn't respond to Sam's comment. His focus was solely on the elevator shaft they were approaching. He also tried to keep a step ahead of Sam as they walked so that she couldn't see the anger on his face at that moment. There was no point in tipping her off to what they were going to talk about until they were at the elevator shaft. Though he wasn't sure he would make it to the elevator shaft because Sam was still testing his patience by continuing to talk.

"You actually came pretty close to topping my jumping up and down on the bridge in terms of craziness. I also don't know if I've ever seen you cry like that before. Nice to know the great Michael Munroe is not just another tough guy who hides his emotions."

If Sam had been paying attention to Mike's hands, she would have seen that they were clenching into fists. She also didn't seem to be noticing that Mike's breathing was getting heavier. Instead the only thing she was noticing was that he wasn't talking to her. Of course she decided that meant she could keep talking.

"So are you going to tell me what you wanted to talk about? Mike? (chuckle) Oh wait, I get it. You wanted to get me somewhere alone so that we could…you know. I'm flattered. Just give me a minute to…"

(SMACK)

Thankfully for Mike, they had reached the elevator shaft. He turned around and threw a hard slap right across Sam's face. Sam reached up to rub her cheek but didn't seem to be the least bit surprised by what happened. Instead, to Mike's frustration, she was silent for only a second before she started laughing.

"Oooh so you're the kind of guy who likes it rough. Okay, I'm game."

(SMACK)

Mike slapped Sam again. She just laughed it off like she did the first one. Mike didn't know what was worse, the fact that he was slapping Sam or the fact that Sam was so far out of it that she was finding humor in it. Still he had to do something. He couldn't just ignore Sam's mental state anymore. It was time for him to confront it head on and try to see if he could get the old Sam back. The first thing he was going to try to do was see if he could get her to explain what happened during the standoff.

"Sam," he said tensely, "what the hell were you doing back there? You know as well as I do that the wendigo bites aren't infectious. So why did you try and talk Detective Blake into killing Detective Powell?!"

Sam started rubbing her chin pretending to think, "hmm…I don't really know. It just seemed like a good idea at the time."

(SMACK)

"Bullshit!" Mike said, "Look Sam, I don't care how mentally damaged you probably are. There's a reason you wanted her to pull the trigger and I want to know what it was."

"(chuckle) I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sam!"

"Come on Mike, we're wasting time. Let's go back to the others."

Something was different with Sam's last comment. It was subtle but Mike could detect a hint of fear in Sam's voice. Since arriving at the mountain, Mike couldn't remember anytime where Sam seemed nervous, let alone afraid of anything. He also remembered how she was unusually calm during each of their encounters with wendigos. Yet there was something about the conversation they were having that made her nervous and want to drop the subject. Sensing an opening, Mike kept pushing.

"Is it because Detective Powell has had it out for you ever since we first found everyone?" he asked.

"N…no," Sam stuttered, "I…I mean yes. Yes that's exactly it. Ding, ding, ding we have a winner! You figured it out Mike! Bravo! Can we go now?"

Sam turned to leave but was stopped when Mike grabbed her arm, "you're lying Sam. As much as that would be the easy answer, there's more to it than that. Why didn't you help me talk Detective Blake down?"

Silence. That was the only response Mike got from Sam. Up until that point he had thought it would take taping Sam's mouth shut to get her to be quiet but now her lips were sealed. There was even a tear starting to appear in her eye. Mike felt like he was getting close to figuring out what was going on Sam's head but he didn't know what to say next. He was afraid if he pushed her anymore she might withdraw completely. The only thing he could think of was changing gears and trying a gentler approach.

"Look Sam," he said, "I just don't understand why after that pep talk you gave me about helping the others that you would suddenly turn around and be wiling to let someone die."

More silence.

"Okay, fine. If you're not going to talk to me, I won't push anymore. We'll go back to the others but I want to be clear about one thing. I meant everything I said when I held Detective Blake's gun to my head. I can't bear to see anymore of the people I'm trying to protect die because of my bad decisions. All I ask is that you don't make my decision to trust you one of the bad ones. Now come on, the others are waiting for us."

With nothing more to say, Mike began walking back the way they came. He didn't get far when he noticed that Sam didn't move an inch to follow him. When he called for her to come with him, she continued to remain still. From where Mike was standing, he could only see the back of her head so he couldn't get a read on what she was thinking. He doubted it was cold enough in the mine that Sam could be frozen solid. Against his better judgement, he carefully reached to tap Sam on the shoulder.

"At least you tried."

Mike stopped short of Sam's shoulder when he heard her speak, "what?"

Sam slowly turned around to face Mike and it was then the tears were visible. Not just one tear like what Mike saw back at her house. These were almost waterfalls flowing from her eyes. There was no way Sam was merely faking sadness. Besides when she gave him the pep talk, this was the most emotion Sam had shown Mike in three weeks.

"At least you tried to help them," Sam said, "do you really think you're the only one who feels guilty about that night? You keep talking about how you want to make up for the stuff you did that got our friends killed but you can't see that you at least tried to save them. What did I do? NOTHING! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO HELP OUR FRIENDS! I didn't stop you from sending Josh out to the shed which led to Chris getting killed and I didn't even try to stop you from killing Emily like you did for Detective Powell."

"But Sam," Mike said, "I was the one who made those decisions. Their deaths are on me."

"That's what I kept trying to tell myself…but what about Ashley? You weren't there when she died so you can't blame yourself for that. The thing is…(sob)…I wasn't there either. We were coming to warn you about the wendigos in the sanatorium and we climbed down this hatch to enter a tunnel to take us there. Ashley thought it would be a good idea to close the hatch in case something was following us. I was in such a hurry to find you that I brushed her off by telling her to close it and catch up with me as soon as she could. Don't you see Mike…I LEFT HER! And worst of all I didn't even try to look for her when I noticed she never caught up with me! I just assumed she went back to the house. When we found her head in that cage hanging in the wendigo den…(sob)…I LEFT HER ALONE MIKE AND SHE ENDED UP DEAD! AND I DID THE SAME THING WITH JOSH! You told me there was no way Josh would be able to climb out of the wendigo den. I should have stayed and went out with you guys the way we came but for some stupid reason I was in a hurry to get back to the lodge so I climbed up the wall anyway. Maybe if I had been there, you and I could have saved him together. Why did I do that Mike? I left the brother of my best friend and…(sob)…and the boy I loved behind. Who am I kidding? I even left my best friend behind too. When Hannah ran out of the lodge last year, you wanted to go after her but I stopped any of us from following her and Beth. If you ask me Mike, you have no reason to feel guilty when you consider the stuff I've done…or rather DIDN'T do. When we were rescued from here three weeks ago, I was filled with so much guilt that it hurt. I just couldn't take the pain anymore so I started thinking to myself that nothing I did would have made a difference. No matter what, everyone will die eventually so there's no point in trying to prevent it."

Mike's eyes widened when a realization hit him, "so you weren't trying to get Detective Powell killed. You just didn't care what happened to him one way or the other."

Sam nodded, "yeah. The way I saw it, if I didn't care about what happened to people and just let them die, then I don't have to feel guilty for not doing anything to save them. If I didn't have anything to feel guilty about, then maybe the pain would go away and never come back. It seemed to be working too…(sob)…until now. Now that you've forced me to think about stuff I locked away three weeks ago. So I hope you're happy Mike! THANKS FOR MAKING ME REALIZE I'M A HORRIBLE PERSON!"

Suddenly Sam dropped to her knees and cried. Initially Mike couldn't do anything but look on in sadness. He had finally found out what brought about the change in Sam's mental state but it was not what he expected. It turned out that both he and Sam had been dealing with guilt following that night. Their reasons for feeling guilty were different but it was a similar type of guilt they were feeling. Another difference between them was how they handled their guilt. While Mike had decided to accept the guilt and let it eat away at him, Sam had chosen to lock her guilt away to avoid the pain it brought. Even though it meant locking away all of her other feelings as well. But now that Mike had brought all those feelings back, the bottled up guilt was hitting her full force. Mike was glad that the mystery was solved. However he felt bad that he had to push Sam into her current state to solve it.

When Mike felt that he had given Sam enough time to grieve, he knelt down and hugged her. To his surprise, Sam hugged him back and so hard he'd have thought she hadn't been hugged by someone in a while. It then dawned on him that maybe she hadn't. If she had been keeping her distance from people, she would have avoided any attempts they might have made to comfort her. Now that she was being hit by the guilt again, Mike's hug might have been the reassuring gesture she desperately needed.

"It's okay Sam," Mike said as he began patting Sam on the back, "it's okay."

"No it's not," Sam sobbed while shaking her head, "I just said that I'm a horrible person and now I feel so bad about it that it hurts."

Mike broke the hug and locked eyes with Sam, "you are not a horrible person. If you were, you wouldn't be feeing anything at all. I don't blame you for wanting to bury all that guilt. There were times I wish I could do that myself. Unfortunately it will always be there and, as you've just learned, all it takes is one chink in the dam to make it all come pouring out."

"(sob)…I just want the pain to go away."

Mike sighed, "I wish I could say it will Sam but I can't. Even after the pep talk from Detective Blake, my guilt is still there. I think the best we can do is lessen the pain by always remembering our friends and trying to do better for them. That's one of the reasons I came back here. I wanted to do for the rescue workers what I failed to do for our friends and you can do the same. Also don't forget, Josh could still be alive up here too."

"Oh Mike…(sob)….I don't think I can face him after what I did to him."

"Sam, the important thing is that you are here to help him now. When we find him and you tell him that you love him, everything will work out fine."

What happened next was what Mike could only describe as a miracle. Sam smiled at him. It wasn't the creepy smile that she had been sporting since Mike saw her at the police station either. It was a genuine happy smile. Mike couldn't help but smile back. The old Sam was back and this time for good. Sam hugged Mike again while whispering "thank you".

"AAAHHHHHH!"

The happy moment was interrupted by a scream that Mike and Sam instantly recognized as coming from Alice. Mike looked to Sam to see if she was ready to come with him. She gave him an answer by checking to make sure there was a fresh flare in the flare gun and nodding. Mike followed suit by putting fresh rounds in his shotgun. Armed and ready, Mike and Sam ran to investigate the scream.

Upon reaching the spot they left the others, Mike and Sam raised their weapons ready to shoot. However there wasn't anything to shoot. Alice was crying while Blake and Richter were trying to comfort her but everyone else was fine and there didn't appear to any immediate danger. Once they lowered their weapons, Tyler and Powell pulled them aside.

"Well?" Powell asked regarding Mike's talk with Sam.

"She's fine Detective," Mike replied, "I'll explain later but right now I want to know why Alice screamed."

Tyler answered Mike's question by pointing further down the path, "she went down there to use the bathroom and she tripped over something. It turned out to be a human head. Looks like it's been down here a while."

"Was is a girl?" Sam asked.

Powell rolled his eyes in frustration, "I thought you said she was fine Michael. Alice has been traumatized and all she wants to know is if the head was a girl. What kind of question is that?"

Though Mike knew he should probably scold Sam for her question, he didn't want to ruin the progress he had made with her. Still he had to admit that the question seemed to be inappropriate. But then Sam looked at him and used their special silent communication to indicate that it was urgent she get an answer to her question. He looked at her with confusion because he couldn't see why that was. Sam just continued looking at him with urgency. Suddenly the significance of Sam's question hit Mike.

"It might have been Beth's head," he said.

"Hannah's twin?" Tyler asked.

"Yes," Sam replied, "Mike you remember what Emily said when she came back to the lodge? She found Beth's head near the spot where she and Hannah fell into the mines last year."

"That's right," Mike said continuing Sam's thought, "and that place would mean something to Hannah. If she was looking for a new den, I'll bet that's the place she'd pick to have it. We go there…"

"We find Josh." Sam finished.

The mere mention of Josh's name got everyone quiet, including Alice. All eyes turned to Mike in anticipation of his next order. Unfortunately Mike didn't know what it should be. He still wanted to get everyone out of the mine right then and there but now they were so close to finding Josh. There was no telling how much time Josh had left. Could they really afford to let him wait longer? Once again Mike needed to make a life-or-death decision and and it was one where he didn't like any of the options. Blake sensed Mike's hesitation and looked to Powell who nodded before turning to Mike.

"Look Michael," he said, "we were actually talking while you were with Sam and we've decided we still want to help you find Josh. We know you want to get us out of here and I was all for it myself but we don't want to leave until everyone, including Josh is accounted for. This is our decision Michael. Whatever happens, it won't be on you."

The others nodded to show they agreed with Powell. Mike sighed but then a smile slowly appeared. As much as he still didn't like bringing the others along, their support made the decision to let them help get a little bit easier. After doing a check to make sure everyone still had their makeshift flamethrowers, the group headed out.

It was a slow trip towards the new den but not because of distance. The group had to move slowly to ensure they didn't get ambushed by Hannah. She may have last been seen at the bridge but she could have easily gotten ahead of them by taking a different route they weren't aware of. They also briefly stopped when they came across the head Alice found. Mike and Sam were able to confirm that it was Beth's despite the shape it was in. A little further, they stopped again because of something they heard. It sound like…a voice. As they got closer, they began to understand what it was saying.

"No…no no….I don't!…YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"